This festival marks the beginning of the New Year according to the traditional Sinhala and Tamil calendars. The celebrations begin several days before the actual New Year’s Day, with people cleaning their houses and preparing special traditional foods, such as kiribath (milk rice) and kokis (crispy fried sweets). On the day before the New Year, known as “Punya Kalaya,” people visit temples to perform religious rituals and make offerings.
Sinhala and Tamil New Year’s Eve Sri Lanka
