In Sri Lanka, April arrives with the melodious ‘cuckoo-cuckoo’ sound of the koha, the Asian koel bird. It’s when we know that the Sinhala & Tamil New Year is on the way. It’s the time when streets conceal flowering trees, while men, women and children crowd their favourite clothing shops in search of new outfits. This cultural harvest festival—known as Aluth Avurudda in Sinhala and Puthandu in Tamil—rises above religious and ethnic confines, bringing Sri Lankans together under the warmth of the April sun. Across Sri Lanka, it’s a festival that celebrates unity, renewal, and prosperity. So this April, join us at our Sri Lankan restaurant in London, where we recreate the culinary traditions of our island home, bringing the spirit of the New Year to the heart of London. 

A harvest festival

The Sinhala & Tamil New Year usually falls on April 13 or 14 every year, but for Sri Lankans, it’s not just another day. It’s deeply etched in the island's culture, traditions and folklore, and marks the astrological journey of the sun, from the House of Pisces to the House of Aries. It’s also the end of the paddy harvesting in Sri Lanka, where farmers reap golden paddy before monsoon rains arrive. Many decades ago, villagers would celebrate the New Year as a way to show gratitude to the sun god for a bountiful harvest.  

Before the New Year begins, local families observe ‘punya kalaya’ or ‘nonagathe’—the time between the old year and the new year. During this time, people would abstain from work, and light oil lamps as an offering to the Buddha or Hindu deities. In the past, families would coat their houses in a new layer of paint before celebrations began as a way to give their home a new look, a new beginning. 

Auspicious rituals

The festival hosts several rituals steeped in ancient culture, all tied to auspicious timings decided by astrology. And If you are in Sri Lanka during the Sinhala & Tamil New Year, you can’t, quite truly, escape the sound of burning crackers during these auspicious timings, like the beginning of the New Year or the time where everyone across the island gathers to devour their favourite dishes.

While there are many rituals, nothing is as symbolic as lighting the hearth to boil milk or prepare kiribath—slender rice cooked in creamy coconut milk in a clay pot. It symbolizes new life, prosperity and good fortune. 

Kiribath is perhaps the island’s most beloved celebratory dish, and locals often eat it with lunu miris, a spicy onion relish made with chilli and a sprinkle of lime. But kiribath also pairs well with sweet accompaniments, like jaggery, banana or kevum, a New Year sweetmeat that is essentially a deep-fried rice flour cake. Kiribath is so iconic that it’s also part of the weekend brunch menu at Kolamba, our Sri Lankan restaurant in Soho. 

During the New Year, children would take blessings from their elders. Meanwhile, another time-honoured tradition includes a transaction with the well, a natural water spring that provides water for drinking, cooking and bathing for the household. Our parents or grandparents would throw a coin and fragrant jasmine flowers into the well, as a way to show thanks for providing a continuous supply of water.

Culinary traditions

No celebration in Sri Lanka is complete without the island's unique, diverse cuisine. While kiribath dominates the New Year table, there’s much more. Local families prepare special sweetmeats and snacks a few days before the celebrations, which are then meticulously packed and ferried to our neighbours. These sweetmeats include kevum and aasmi, a deep-fried noodle-like rice flour snack topped with coloured sugar syrup. There’s also kokis, a crunchy rice flour and coconut milk snack made using a mould—depending on the mould, kokis can be flower-shaped or butterfly-shaped. Others include confections like dodol—gooey, dark brown blocks of palm sugar, coconut milk and rice flour.

These sweets aside, New Year lunches are a lavish affair at home, often featuring several vegetables, meaty curries, pickles and condiments. You’ll often come across the sweet, sour and spicy Malay achcharu, a delicious, aromatic pickle made with carrots, shallots, green chilli, ginger, mustard seeds, dates and vinegar. Some of our common lunch dishes at Soho’s Sri Lankan restaurant are also rooted in these culinary traditions, like the everyday chicken curry cooked on the bone and flavoured with tangy tamarind and rich, creamy coconut milk.

Fun & play

The New Year is more than delicious food and rituals—it includes fun games and activities like musical chairs that bring communities together. Celebrations usually last for days and weeks, and you’ll often see people of all ages organising carnivals, creating a joyous atmosphere filled with nothing but good vibes. 

While Sri Lanka prepares for New Year celebrations, Sri Lankans across the world —from Melbourne to London and Tokyo—come together to celebrate the festival, thousands of miles away from home. All of this is evident that Sinhala & Tamil New Year is more than just a festival. For many of us, it’s a mark of identity, belonging and our shared cultural heritage. 

And if you love Sri Lanka, or if you are someone who cherishes the traditions and customs of our island home, our Sri Lankan restaurant is always open in the heart of London’s Soho—a warm, welcoming place where friends can share a meal, and create lifelong memories. For us, the magic of the New Year lies in laughter over a shared meal, the clinking sound of tea cups and the irresistible taste of slow-cooked beef steeped in jaggery and spices.