Mazarin Aurudu Ulela 2015

Article by Yeheshan De Silva    No Comments

Going back to work after a long Avurudu Holiday is saddening… but there is nothing better to pick yourself up and kick start the new year, than enjoying a lavish spread of sweet meats from the Avurudu Table.

20th April 2015, was the first day of work for the new year for Mazarins. As per tradition, the gentlemen were handsomely dressed in Sarongs and the ladies, draped in Sarees looked exquisite. The Mazarin premises was engulfed in color and abuzz with excitement. The oil lamp was lit by the newest members of the Mazarin family, and it was time to dig into some yummy milk rice accompanied by a variety of scrumptious sweet meats.

The Mazarin Avurudu Ulela 2015, was held a week later on the 27th of April from 3:30 pm onwards. The evening’s proceedings kicked off in style with the first ever marathon run (ගම හරහා දිවීම) in the history of Mazarin. A 1.4km course was plotted around the Mazarin premises in which more than 15 Mazarins took part. After catching their breaths, the three teams, “Cinnamon Goiyo (Cinnamon ගොයියෝ)”, “Cheena Patas (චීන පටස්)” and “Pora Kukulo (පොර කුකුළො)” took turns at “Kana Mutti Bindeema (කණා මුට්ටි බිදීම)”. Unfortunately, none of the contestants were able to smash the pot with the blue colored water, though they managed to smash two decoy pots.

As the sun set, the ember light consumed the car park vacated for the Avurudu Games, the teams reassembled to play “Andhayata Kiri Kaveema (අන්ධයාට කිරි කැවීම)” followed by the “Egg toss (බිත්තර ඇල්ලීම)”, using water balloons.

Next in line was the “Kotta Poraya/Pillow Fight (කොට්ට පොරය)”. Each contestant faced off with an opponent from another team whilst standing on one foot atop a brick and wielding the pillow with their cack-hand. Once the last man standing was named the Champion Pillow Fighter, the Mazarins mellowed down for a quick “Lime and Spoon race”. The teams were given a few minutes to regroup and prepare themselves for the next game in which five members from each team came forward with their best yarn as part of the “Lokuma Boruwa (ලොකුම බොරුව)” competition.

The penultimate competition of the day was the “Folk Songs (ජන ගායනා)” competition. Each team enticed the audience with mind blowing performances of traditional Sri Lankan folk songs. It was a close competition as the creativity and hidden talents of the Mazarins were showcased.

The exhausting yet fun evening was culminated by crowning the “Avurudu Kumara and Avurudu Kumari (අවුරුදු කුමරා සහ අවුරුදු කුමරී) “. The six contestants put on quite a show, as the halls of Mazarin echoed with applause and cheers. Finally the points were tallied, the winners announced, and thus ended another fun filled day at #44 Guildford Crescent.