Avurudu Litha 2015 (Auspicious Times).

This is our Avurudu Litha for 2015, or sheet of auspicious times.

This content is brought to you by Paan Paan, which has great platters for any occasion, including kiribath and roti platter for avurudu time.

This April 13th and 14th are holidays when Sri Lankans celebrate the New Year. This is one instance where Sri Lankans are all on time.

The Stars

While the sun is passing from the house of Pisces (Meena Rashiya) to Aries (Mesha Rashiya) you stop all activity. Once it’s moved houses (astrologically at least), the New Year has begun, with kiribath and sweets and games and new clothes.

If you’re interested in the astronomy of it all, you can use smartphone apps to actually track the sun as it moves. It actually moves much slower than the astrology suggests, but it is moving ‘from’ constellation to constellation, at least relative to us.

The Culture

Even if you’re oblivious to the stars, there are still things that Sri Lankans do at certain times. This is partly for good luck, but it is also valuable in that the whole country sort of draws breath together and starts the year in the same. Avurudu is a time to clean house, forgive old hurts and move forward with hope and good will.

Avurudu is a time when everyone goes back to their villages, which means that Colombo is basically deserted. Nothing will be open so stock up on supplies before. It’s a good time to learn how to drive because the streets are empty. Do note that before Avurudu, public transit gets insanely crowded and – if at all possible – you should avoid it.

When Avurudu ends is somewhat debatable. It’s technically only two holidays – Monday and Tuesday – and people should be back on Wednesday the 15th. According to the astrology it’s actually a week off – you only need to return on the 22nd, which is the next Wednesday. That’s obviously not binding for employers or employees. Some people don’t come back to work for a month and some people never come back at all.