The timing of the Sinhalese new year coincides with the New Year celebrations
of many traditional calendars of South and Southeast Asia. The festival has
close semblance to the Thai New year, Bengali New Year, and Sankranthi festival
in India.
Cultural anthropological history of the 'Traditional New Year' which is celebrated
on month of April, goes back to an ancient period in Sri Lankan history. Various
beliefs, perhaps those associated with fertility of the harvest, gave birth to many
rituals, customs, and ceremonies connected with the New Year. The advent of
Buddhism in the third century BC (300BC) led to a re-interpretation of the existing
New Year activities in the Buddhistic light. The majority of the people in the
country are Buddhists, and as such, it is that the Buddhist outlook was
predominant in transforming the New Year rites to what they are now.
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