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Sri Lanka is a country with a rich agricultural heritage, therefore the Sinhala & Tamil New Year festival and all accompanying traditions have evolved with the village culture as their basis. While being anointed he/she stands on a bed of medicinal leaves while the prelate chants verses that impart wishes for good health. The chief prelate anoints each member of the community with specially prepared medicinal oil that is believed to contain healing powers that will bestow the individual with a healthy start to the New Year. In between the day of festivities and leaving for work, a special ceremony of anointing the people with herbal oil is performed in the village Temple. After the festivities are over, people leave for work at an auspicious time, usually a few days after the main festival day. The Sinhala and Tamil New Year is a time for everyone to return home and celebrate with family. In Sri Lanka, many born and bred in the beautiful villages all over the island leave their homes in order to find work in big cities. The Rabana a wide, flat drum is an important feature of the Avurudu celebrations, and it is played by groups of villagers, mainly females accompanied by lyrical versus called raban pada. Gifts are also exchanged and the rest of the day is spent visiting relatives and engaging in New Year games with members of the community. Presenting elders with a sheaf of Betel leaves and paying homage is a custom practiced on all important occasions in Sri Lanka, New Year included. The first business transaction of the New Year too is carried out at a specified time. Kiribath (milk-rice) is prepared and the family partakes of a meal which also includes the previously prepared sweetmeats and fruits (bananas). Families gather around the fire to watch the milk boil over as it is considered a symbol of good luck. The auspicious times for lighting the hearth and boiling a pot of milk are announced by thousands of firecrackers. A Cuckoo bird known as Koha ( කොහා) is in its mating season around this time and the unique mating call of the male is regarded as the harbinger of this festival. Traditional sweetmeats such as Kavum (small oil cakes), Kokis (a crisp, crunchy sweetmeat), Aluwa (diamond shaped sweets made of rice flour), mung kavum and many others are also prepared in advance and stored in readiness for the great day. A very important purchase is the new clay pot in which the milk will be boiled on New Year’s Day. Preparations for this great festival begins weeks in advance when families clean and paint their homes, buy new clothes and gifts for family members.