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Today christians around the world and here in Sri lanka commemorated the Good Friday. Good Friday is a holy day observed by the Christian community, commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus. According to the Bible, Jesus is believed to have died around 3 p.m. in the afternoon. Jesus was crucified for the sake of humanity in 33 A.D. It was termed as the victory of good over evil and since then, the day has been celebrated as Good Friday. The need of sacrifice for human sins is acknowledged in most of the world's oldest religions. It is believed that Jesus was the medium between human and God. He was God's perfect sinless substitute, who bore the punishment on behalf of the sinful human race. Through his sacrifice, Jesus became the bridge between humans and god. He is believed to be the son of God.

Importance of Good Friday
Good Friday is a day of mourning in church. It is observed as a day of fasting and penance in the memory of Jesus. On this day, the followers solemnly remember the atonement of Lord Jesus Christ and His great sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. It is followed by peaceful prayer and mediation. The service also calls for reading from all the four gospels. These gospels recount the events of the passion, from the Last Supper through the Crucifixion and the burial of Jesus.

Good Friday rituals and traditions are distinct from those of all other Church observances and add to the day’s considerable significance. The entire ceremony is somber, with priests and deacons dressing in black vestments. The pulpit and the altar are bare, and no candles are lit. The purpose behind the solemn presentation is to create an awareness of grief over the sacrifice of God's only begotten Son.

The Roman Catholic Church observes Good Friday with several long-standing traditions, all of which aim at remembering Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for the sins of humans. Good Friday is a day of fasting and the altars of the churches are made without candles. The Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross and Holy Communion also takes place on this day. Though Good Friday is celebrated in different ways around the globe, the basic essence of the holiday remains the same.

With the month of April comes the sweet scent of erabudu blossoms and the haunting melody of the koel reminding us that once again it is time to celebrate the Sinhala and Hindu New year. It is the time to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the New Year. All the customs and rituals connected with this traditional celebration are centred around auspicious times set by astrologers. In the olden days,

The National Archives Department has a vast collection of the national intangible cultural heritage of Sri Lanka. People who want to study the intangible cultural heritage could visit the National Archives Department, Directress Dr Saroja Wettasinghe told the Daily News. If people handover any of their intangible cultural heritage collections the National Archives Department is ready to protect them for the future generation, she emphasized. Language, customs, dress,

Vesak is the festival, which is celebrated with high enthusiasm and elaborate preparations and "Vesak" is a word in Singhalese, the language of the majority Buddhists in Sri Lanka. Also, Vesak, the most important day in the Buddhist calendar around the world, celebrates the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Gautam Buddha. This festival is celebrated in all the countries where Buddhists live in considerable number. These include Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Tibet, Laos and Myanmar.

A New Year has dawned. Next month the trees will bear juicy fruits. The changing climate would be warm and bring about significant changes in the new year. This would be the time to review our Folk Culture. Specially about playing our folk games in our villages. There are mainly two kinds of folk games indoor games and outdoor games. Usually women play indoor games.

The Sinhalese have celebrated New Year from time immemorial. Robert Knox writes that during his time New Year was a major festival of the Sinhalese and it was celebrated in March. It could be that during the latter part of the Kandyan rule, the Nayakkar Kings who gave royal patronage to New Year shifted the festival to April to fall in line with Tamil New Year called "Pudu Varsham.

In our country some festival or other is celebrated almost every month. As Sri Lanka is a meeting point of four world religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and

Sinhala and Hindu New Year custom and traditions are mainly based on Ayurveda system of Medicine which has been developed on the Principles of Hindu Philosophy.

The New Year begins with the offerings to various gods. As a method of wading off evil spirits and misfortunes brought about by different planetary positions. By performing these rituals and pujas, mental tranquility, is achieved.

 

There are many cultural and systematic differences between the lifestyles of Sri Lanka and USA. Below are some of the differences in contrast to how we do it in our ways. This is a collection of points from a research done using international students here in United States.

It has mentioned in our chronicles, the Mahavamsa and the Chulawamsa, that the flag with the symbol of the lion was invariably used by the monarchy from the reign of King Vijaya, who was the first and foremost Sinhala king of this small, beautiful island. This nation's flag was thus used up to the fall of the Kandyan kingdom, during the reign of King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, on March 02, 1815.

The two Tamil words "Thai" and "Pongal" are important. "Thai" means the month of January. The word "Pongal" means milk rice. This is a harvest festival the Tamil equivalent of Thanksgiving. It is held to honor the Sun, for a bountiful harvest. Families gather to rejoice and share their joy and their harvests with others. The Sun is offered a "Pongal" of rice and milk.The main meal is actually a breakfast meal, similar to rice pudding and called pongal.