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| FOUR FESTIVAL |
| New Harvest Festival ( Alut Sahal Mangallaya ) |
| This constitutes the new rice festival, which is conducted in the month of January every year. When the harvest of paddy is complete, certain quantities of rice were carried in pingos to the temples and devales and offered to Buddha and the respective divinities. It is said that King Narendrasimha initiated this festival after repairing the harvest from the paddy field he prepared in his resident area, Kundasale. The day before the festival, the officials of the Dalada shrine and the devales proceed in procession to Gurudeniya Barn on the outskirts of Kandy. On the festival day the procession with elephants bring bags of rice to the Dalada shrine and the Natha Devale. Milk rice is prepared from this newly harvested rice and offered to the Tooth Relic and the other presiding divinities. The offerings thus made to the Temple of the Tooth Relic signify the offering of food made to the Buddha and his disciples. |
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