Avurudu celebrations at Bentota Beach Hotel

Inspired by the lake known as ‘andara wewa’ that is located at the Bentota National Holiday Resort by Galle Road, Bentota Beach Hotel created an ancient village called ‘andara watta’ in the garden of the hotel to celebrate the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. ‘andara watta’ was a model description of a typical village in ancient times, and comprised of prominent places in such a village that made up the true culture of village life in Sri Lanka.

These included places such as ‘pansala’ or the village temple, ‘arachchi gedara’ or the residence of the village headman, ‘gama gedara’ a typical village house, ‘kopi kade’ or the coffee shop, smith’s shop or ‘kammala,’ a workshop that is commonly seen in a village and the ‘kamatha’ or the threshing floor.

The purpose of creating such an environment was to give guests, both local and foreign, a chance to celebrate the New Year in its truest sense, and experience the traditions and activities that are conducted to mark the dawn of the New Year in the village.

These activities ranged from playing the traditional ‘rabana’ and singing folk songs known as ‘Raban Padha’, lighting the traditional oil lamp and partaking of a special meal comprising of milk rice and special sweetmeats known as ‘Rasa kavili’, and taking part in special games just to name a few.

This innovative programme conducted by Bentota Beach Hotel not only gave an opportunity for those participating to revive the lost traditions of Sri Lankan culture but also to educate the younger generation on such traditions. On 14 April, local and foreign guests along with the staff celebrated the New Year and recollected some fun-filled moments.