The Embassy of Sri Lanka hosted a day long event with the Sri Lankan community in Israel to celebrate the Sinhala and Tamil New Year on 13th April 2013 at the Beth Dani Hall in Tel Aviv amidst the presence of a large gathering of dignitaries from the Diplomatic Corp and senior Israeli officials from various governmental agencies.
The day long event which began with the hoisting of the National Flag of Sri Lanka by His Excellency Sarath Wijesinghe, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the State of Israel was followed by the traditional lighting of the Oil Lamp. Ambassador Wijesinghe speaking to the gathering spoke of the need to safeguard Sri Lanka after the hard won peace that we have achieved. He further elaborated on the traditional customs and traditions that are stringently followed in every home in Sri Lanka for the benefit of the Israeli audience.
His Excellency Mr. Prahlad Kumar Prasai, Ambassador of Nepal who was the Chief Guest at the event highlighted that the Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrated in most countries in South Asia interconnected these countries spiritually and culturally through the celebration of the event.
As part of the festivities, traditional sporting events such as tug of war, nailing the elephant and other activities were held and these drew large crowds from the Sri Lankan community. Traditional sweetmeats were served to all.
The event culminated with a very popular Sri Lankan musical group from Jerusalem performing in the evening. The well known popular songs kept the crowd captivated until the wee hours of the morning. Some of the highlights of the well attended event are shown below-
