The Aluth Sahal Mangalle or the New Rice Festival is a
harvest festival
A harvest festival is an annual celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different places. ...
of the
Maha kannaya
Maha and MAHA may refer to:
* Maha (name), an Arabic feminine given name
* ''Maha'' (film), a Tamil thriller film
* MaHa, Nepali comedy duo, Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansha Acharya
* Maha Music Festival, an annual music festival held on th ...
in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. The first batch of new rice after being plucked,
threshed and
winnowed
Winnowing is a process by which chaff is separated from grain. It can also be used to remove pests from stored grain. Winnowing usually follows threshing in grain preparation. In its simplest form, it involves throwing the mixture into th ...
is offered to the Buddha and deities.
Annual New Rice Festival of Sri Dalada Maligawa
/ref>
Every January Poya Day
Poya is the name given to the Lunar monthly Buddhist holiday of Uposatha in Sri Lanka, where it is a civil and bank holiday.
Full moon day is normally considered as the poya day in every month.
Poya
A Poya occurs every full moon. , new rice festival commences. Rice and paddy donated to Temple of the Tooth
The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic or Sri Dalada Maligawa, ( si, ශ්රී දළදා මාළිගාව) is a Buddhist temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which ho ...
are stored at Kundasale
Kundasale ( si, කුණ්ඩසාලේ, translit=Kuṇḍasālē; ta, குண்டசாலை, translit=Kuṇṭacālai) is a former town, now a suburb of Kandy in Kandy District, Central Province of Sri Lanka. The town is situated to ...
Pallekele
Pallekele ( si, පල්ලෙකැලේ) is a suburb of the city of Kandy in Kandy District, Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province, Sri Lanka. The suburb is home to the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, the Trinity College, Kand ...
in a separate location allocation and distribution of Rice and paddy to Devales relevant, is done. A traditional procession takes place from the Palace to Kundasale headed by Diyawadaered to the sacred tooth relic.
Only after the new rice festival at the Sri Dalada Maligawa and offering rice to the sacred tooth relic, can the farmers around the country collect their harvest and commence their own new rice festivals in the respective villages.
The most important new rice festival that happens afterwards is the Aluth Sahal Mangalle at the Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...
.
This festival was started by a king called Sri weera parakrama narendrasinghe in 1707. Diyawadana Nilame does the main part in this festival. This is about the first harvest in paddy situated in kundasale. Diyawadana nilame and the rest of the people got Kundasale with perahara and take the harvest and come back to the temple of tooth relic. This is done in nice fashion always, according to the tradition these traditions are done in much respect, for tooth relic of Buddha. A man called Nakath Mohottala also does a main part in this festival. He prepares an agenda called 'Nakth pathraya' and whole things were done on it.
References
Buddhist holidays
Buddhist festivals in Sri Lanka
Annual events in Sri Lanka
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