By Vinod Moonesinghe
This year, Sri Lankans celebrate their traditional mid-April Solar New Year amidst controversy. Known to the Sinhalese as Aluth Avurudhu and to the Tamils as Puthandu, the New Year is marked by the transition of the Sun from the constellation Pisces, known in Sanskrit (the language of Indic astrologers) as Meena Rashi, into the constellation Aries, Mesha Rashi. This generally takes place on 13 or 14 of April.
The festival has not been without controversy in the past. In 2008, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government of Tamil Nadu attempted to legislate its replacement by the Hindu harvest festival of Thai Pongal, with the Tamil Nadu New Year (Declaration) Bill.
However, widespread opposition swiftly emerged, reflecting the festival’s entrenched roots and cultural importance. Ultimately, the Puthandu holiday was preserved in honour of the esteemed Dalit Buddhist leader, B. R. Ambedkar, when the Tamil Nadu Assembly quietly rescinded the controversial legislation, reaffirming the enduring vitality of the Tamil New Year festivities.
The hullabaloo this year came about because the 42-seer astrology panel of the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs could not decide on the auspicious time schedule. The majority ruled that people should light their hearths at 23:06 on 13 April and consume their first meal at 00:06 on April 14. This ruling caused a storm, with the seer minority predicting dire consequences, while more practical people pointed out that midnight was when demons and spirits climb trees – a thoroughly inauspicious time.
Others pointed out that, based on the boundaries laid by the International Astronomical Union, the Sun’s procession into Mesha Rashi takes place on 18 April. This occurs owing to the earth’s axial precession, in which the Earth’s axis slowly wobbles over time.
The sidereal year, which determines the Avurudhu calculation, exceeds the tropical year (on which the Gregorian calendar in use today is based) slightly, leading to a gradual divergence in dates over time. Indeed, in antiquity, the sun’s transition into Aries aligned with the equinox, indicating the ancient roots of the festival.
The Babylonians first developed the Zodiac system about 2,500 years ago, and it may have travelled to India in the cultural baggage of the Achaemenid Persian. Hence Mesha Sankranti, the festival of solar transition to Aries, must post-date this. However, the modern festival may have evolved from a fusion of a “spring” harvest festival with Mesha Sankranti. We find references to the New Year based on the transition in the Sangam literature, between 300 BCE and 300 CE.
The festival diffused throughout India and several of its nations celebrate it today. Notably, Bengalis mark Pohela Boishakh and Malayalees revel at Vishu, while Sikhs celebrate Vaishak as the start of Spring. Nepalis also observe it as the Biska Jatra and the Maithils of Nepal and Bihar as Jul Sital. However, its spread did not stop at the borders of old, unified India. The people of Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand partake in Songkran, also known as Songkan, Thyingmai, Pi Mai, and Choul Chnam Thmey. The Dai people of Yunnan province, who are Theravada Buddhists, linguistically related to Thais, celebrate it as the “Water Sprinkling Festival”, called Pōshuǐ jié in Chinese.
Water sprinkling or splashing constitutes a specifically Southeast Asian feature of the festival (although in some villages in South India, a separate water-splashing festival called Okhali takes place on the same day). It may have originated from the Sub-continental bathing ritual, becoming a ritual of “bathing the Buddha” (statue). A hot day, water pots at hand, neighbours dressed in their best, the temptation must have been irresistible!
The Buddha-statue-bathing ritual still takes place, but is followed by water-splashing, in which everyone carries a vessel of water and splashes everyone in sight, this “sprinkling” being in the manner of a blessing, ritually washing away sins. Nowadays, some people use water pistols or even garden hoses as more efficient means of spreading hydraulic blessings.
Water splashing has become a huge tourist attraction and, proving that New Year controversy is not limited to the Sub-continent, has provoked its share of uproar. People (both male and female) going topless in what is a religious festival has caused police action. Another source of controversy has been foreign tourists getting drunk and cavorting publicly with prostitutes, causing resentment.
Even worse, a diplomatic incident nearly took place when Singapore organised a water festival in 2014, to the chagrin of the Thailand Tourism Authority, which claimed copyright. Consequently, Singapore toned down its festivities.
Dragon-boat racing constitutes another feature of the Southeast Asian Solar New Year, differing from its Sub-continental relative. This tradition probably came down from China, which has had dragon-boat races for over two millennia. Teams row their dragon boats as fast as possible on rivers and lakes to win prizes.
Apart from these innovations, most of the Southeast Asian rituals and festivities follow their Indo-Sri Lankan roots, such as ritualistic house-cleaning, observing the inauspicious intercalary time, Buddhist religious activity, honouring one’s elders, eating New Year rice and specially-prepared sweetmeats, and playing traditional games. The betel leaf is a common symbol.
This shared festive tradition stands as one of the oldest and most cherished traditions in the South and Southeast Asian region, resonating deeply with the cultural fabric of communities across borders, symbolising unity and shared heritage. It serves as a compelling example of how cultural practices disseminated in ancient times.
While some historians speculate that Songkran may have been introduced to Thailand during the Chola Empire’s brief rule, the widespread observance of the festival among cultures untouched by Chola influence suggests a predominantly more peaceful, organic diffusion rather than forcible imposition. The existence of parallel Hindu festivals in India and Buddhist celebrations in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia indicates transmission through migration and cultural exchange.
Notwithstanding past and ongoing controversies, the South and Southeast Asian New Year celebrations exemplify the rich tapestry of cultural intermingling and mutual enrichment that characterises the history of the region. They foster bonds of kinship and solidarity transcending geographical boundaries, across the Bay of Bengal. Together they constitute one possible aspect of an alternative, bottom-up, people-based cultural globalism to combat “McWorld” – commerce-driven, mono-cultural globalisation.
Vinod Moonesinghe read mechanical engineering at the University of Westminster, and worked in Sri Lanka in the tea machinery and motor spares industries, as well as the railways. He later turned to journalism and writing history. He served as chair of the Board of Governors of the Ceylon German Technical Training Institute.
Factum is an Asia Pacific-focused think tank on International Relations, Tech Cooperation, Strategic Communications, and Climate and Environment accessible via www.factum.lk.
The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the organization’s.
