"The mythological conception of a `Aluth Avuruddha' is that the Prince of Peace called Indradeva descends upon the earth to ensure peace and happiness. He comes in a white carriage wearing on his head a white floral crown seven cubits high. He first dips, like a returning space capsule plunges, breaking earth's gravity, into a `kiri' or sea of milk.

"It was incredible. The moon, like the sun, had been, up to that moment, mysterious, sacred and elusive, smiling down on earth through centuries, keeping us in awe. As children we learnt to trace the outline of a hare on it during Poya. We were told that Handa Hamy, peeped down on us children and often provided us with milk and honey. Lovers kissed under and poets wrote - about the moon. She hung, like the Mona Lisa, above us."

The coming together of the old and the new. Between the death of an old year and the birth of a new year lies a period referred to as the Nonagatha Kalaya meaning period of doing nothing until the sun has moved to its new astrological position in the sky. May be we could use this period to think positively about sharing and nurturing good feelings, habits of cultivating peace and harmony.

In 1969 on July 20, Neil Armstrong, Commander of space ship - Apollo - 11 made history by landing on the moon. When he left a footprint he said: ``This is just one small step for a man but a giant leap for mankind.''

`They have done it. They have reached the moon!' Man had broken through a barrier of centuries.

Barriers

We are now celebrating the national and astrological festival of a Sinhala and Hindu Tamil New Year.

Maybe hereto we can break through barriers of old pride and prejudice. Though heavily overlaid by legend, myth and shrouded with superstition, astrological belief has given the Sun and the Moon a divinely regulated existence.

The Sun is called Soorya Divyaraja and the Moon - Chandra - Divyaraja. This fixation on cosmic forces makes a sound interpretation of life on earth. We cannot live without the Sun nor the Moon. The archaic values of the New Year festivities lies in tradition, making the event a long drawn out one. But it is important to know what has been discarded and what is still observed.

The religious observances still hold, as do the making of special sweetmeats and milk rice and lighting of the hearth at the auspicious time. The wearing of an astrologically approved lucky colour, new clothes, exchanging of gifts, offering of betel, crackers and play. Finally, the anointing of the head at the auspicious time before we return to work.

No doubt this is a time for family get-together and the visiting of friends and relatives. But how much of the joy of this festival would be reduced this year because of the upheaval in the land?

Indradeva

The mythological conception of a `Aluth Avuruddha' is that the Prince of Peace called Indradeva descends upon the earth to ensure peace and happiness. He comes in a white carriage wearing on his head a white floral crown seven cubits high. He first dips, like a returning space capsule plunges, breaking earth's gravity, into a `kiri' or sea of milk.

Man has advanced beyond his imagination. But what about the narrowness within him? All over the world people are fighting and killing and burning. Is it of no purpose then that we actually touched down on the moon?

Let us, as mankind, take another step, however small, in the direction of love, peace and universal harmony. Let us drop or breakdown racial, religious and political barriers. If you go into the moon and look down, you will see that all barriers are man made or man created. And if we blow up this earth we have no place to go for the moon is barren and cold. Lets hope that this New Year we will lay the foundation to become `one' nation - Sri Lankans - marching together towards the year 2000. Let us go forward, not backward into cocoons and barricades of our own making...