They Call it "Kiri Poya"

Currently, I am living in a different village from the one I was born in. Some traditions in this area are quite different compared to ours. Today, I am going to share one such experience I had yesterday.

It was Esala Full Moon day, and the people of this area celebrate this Poya day as 'Kiri Poya' day. It was a completely new experience for me, as I had never heard about this celebration before I met Harith. Once I moved to this area, I realized it is a very significant celebration here, although I still don't know what the celebration is about.

People prepare for the day by cleaning houses, buying new clay pots for cooking, and also preparing ingredients to make "Kiriya." We joined Harith's parents for this ceremony.

On the Poya day, we scraped a lot of coconuts to extract milk, mixed it with rice flour, treacle, and salt, and put it on the cooker. The main challenge was to keep mixing the mixture without burning it. Actually, the success of the 'Kiriya' completely depends on the mixing and cooking time. I think they cooked it for about three hours to achieve the perfect color and texture.

The second most important item of the event is Milk Rice. Milk Rice is also cooked in a large pot.

Around 7 pm, we placed a small portion of the prepared food on a cresset for the gods and lit an oil lamp.

Then, we all sat on the floor and had Milk Rice, Sambol, and Kiriya as the meal. The meal was served on a banana leaf. It was a great family time, and everyone came together to enjoy this moment.