Puberty Ceremony in Sri Lanka.

Puberty is one of the major milestones a girl passes in her lifetime. It is celebrated in the Sri Lankan society performing customs and rituals by the elders of the family. 

It is a common custom of a Sri Lankan mother to meet the family astrologer as soon as possible when she received the good news of the commencement of her daughter's first period. When the mother provides the necessary information such as the time and place of the event, as well as the colour of her daughter's dress at the time of the event, the astrologer in return provides her with the forecast of her daughter's future. Not only that, the astrologer makes aware of the auspicious time for performing the pubertal bathing ritual and what colour she should wear immediately after this ritual.

At puberty, the girl is asked to stay in a separate room where only the ladies are permitted to enter. The girl is not kept inside the room isolated but the interaction with boys or men will be prohibited. It is believed that the reason for seclusion is to protect the girl against evil spirits. In some cases, the girl is given a metal object to place under the bed to keep evil spirits away from her. 

Dietary plan at puberty is also a significant feature. The girl is not allowed to eat fish/meat or fried/oily food at puberty. The general custom was to give her rice and rasam in the past but now this has changed. The girl is provided with rice and vegetables rich in protein and vitamins as it is biologically essential. Most of these dietary restrictions based on mythology were followed during the past. 

The pubertal bathing ritual is normally done at the auspicious time by either washerwoman/ redi nenda or mother. The girl will be bathed with a herbal pot of water and it will be dashed into pieces at the conclusion of the ritual. She will be asked to tap the milk tree (jak) and let her look at the flowing milk of its trunk. At puberty, she is not allowed to look at her face from a mirror. Elderly women arrange a basin of water with small white flowers and let her look at her face after the first bath of the puberty. At the same time, when she enters the house an older male relative will hold an unhusked coconut in front of her and bash it open with the blunt edge of a knife. The manner in which the coconut splits also indicate good and bad omens regarding the girl's future. 

Arranging plates of sweetmeats in a decorative way on a mat is an essential part of this ceremony. The lamp also will be lit by the girl after walking seven rounds around the mat. Then she will be dressed in new clothes and worn ancestral gold jewellery.  She will be blessed by all the relatives with good thoughts and gifts. 

These customs can be varied from region to region and country to country. However, people find it difficult in performing these rituals nowadays due to the less awareness of the correct ritual patterns. 

📷 courtesy dailynews