Every year on April 13-14, Sri Lanka celebrate the National New Year, which they call Aluth Avurudu. Aluth Avurudu is celebrated with great pleasure both by Tamils and Sinhalese. This is a revered family holiday. The Sri Lankans meet it with their family and friends. Also, this date often coincides with the period of rice harvest by Sri Lankan farmers and at the same time is the time of the beginning of spring, the harvest of fruits.
The date of the New Year is considered to be the end of the movement of the solar disk from the constellation Pisces to the constellation Aries, just at this time the Sun passes directly over the Island. So the New Year symbolizes the end of the old solar cycle and the beginning of a new one. The Sri Lankans have a legend that it was on this day that the Intraverda, the Prince of Peace, came to earth. He came to give happiness and peace to all people on earth. Also Sri Lankans "April" sounds like "Back". From Sanskrit it is translated as "happy, fortunate."
The Sri Lankans meet Aluth Avurudu not at midnight, like the traditional New Year, but strictly at the hour indicated by astrologers. They accurately calculate the time of the end of the old year and the beginning of the new, and the difference between these significant events, as a rule, is several hours. This time is Nonagathe (Neutral Period). This is a transitional period of planetary movement and astrologers call it unfavorable for starting any business.
Alut Avurudu is a unique and one-of-a-kind holiday. It unites Hindus and Buddhists, blesses all life on earth and brings peace and good fortune with it in all matters.
The management and employees of the IIDE of the Belarusian National Technical University heartily congratulate our Sri Lankan students on their national holiday, wish them health, academic success, and the fulfillment of all their wishes.
Happy holiday dear friends!
