“We celebrate the dawn of this Sinhala and Tamil Aluth Avurudda with pride in our efforts towards building a nation self-sufficient in an abundant harvest of nature’s blessings, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in his Sinhala-Hindu New Year message.

The full text of the message: “Only a great cultural heritage and righteous values could provide the world with people who are rich in humane values. The foundation for this is provided to us by great celebrations of national culture such as this festival. The continued sustenance of rich cultural traditions is symbolic of a nation progressing rapidly towards prosperity.

“We welcomie this Aluth Avurudda at a time when production and development in agriculture and other spheres are making immense progress. It is essential to build national unity to usher in rapid development in the country.

“What is outstanding in the traditions of these festivities are coexistence and reconciliation.

"The most valued quality of this Avurudu festival is taking the ideal of understanding and cohesion beyond the family, to the village, the city and the entire country. Taking this spirit of reconciliation towards Sri Lanka being crowned the Wonder of Asia should be a firm commitment of us all at this Aluth Avurudu festival”.