නත්තල් උත්සවය
ලෝකවාසී සියලු දෙනා වෙත මානව දයාවෙන් යුතුව සාමයේ පණිවිඩය රැගෙන මරිය තුමියගේ කුසින් මෙලොවට පැමිණි ජේසුස් ක්‍රිස්තුන් වහන්සේගේ උපත සිහිකරනු වස් වෙන්කර ඇති නත්තල් දිනය අදට යෙදී ඇත. මෙය ලොව පුරා සිටින කිතුනු බැතිමතුන් විසින් සෑම වසරකම උත්සවාකාරයෙන් සමරනු ලබන සුවිශේෂී උත්සවයක් ලෙස පෙන්වාදිය හැකිය.
කෙසේ නමුත් ක්‍රිස්තු වර්ෂ තුන්වන සියවස වන තෙක්ම කිතු උපත සැමරීමක් සිදුකර නොමැත. මන්ද එකල රෝම නීතියට අනුව උපත සැමරීම තහනම් කොට තිබූ බැවිනි. නමුත් පසුකාලීනව රෝම අධිරාජයා විසින් කිතු දහම වැළඳගනිමින් දෙසැම්බර් 25 වන දින පැවති රෝමවරුන්ගේ හිරුපිදීමේ උත්සවය වෙනුවට එදින කිතු උපත සැමරුමට යොදා ගැනීමට අණ කිරීමත් සමග මෙම උත්සවය ආරම්භ වී ඇත. එලෙස ආරම්භ වූ නත්තල් දින සැමරුම විවිධාකාර නව අංග සහිතව අද දක්වාම විකාශය වෙමින් කිතුණු බැතිමතුන් පමණක් නොව අන්‍යාගමික ප්‍රජාව විසින්ද සමරනු ලබන විශ්වීය සංස්කෘතික උත්සවයක් බවට පත්ව ඇත.
මෙම කාලය තුළ දැකගත හැකි ඊට ම ආවේණික වූ සුවිශේෂී සැරසිලි වර්ග ගණනාවක්ම හඳුනාගත හැකිය. ඒ අතරින් නත්තල් ගස ප්‍රධාන තැනක් ගන්නා අතර විදුලි බුබුළු සහ විසිතුරු සැරසිලි වලින් එය අලංකාර කරයි. සීත ඍතුවේදී පවා ජීවිත සශ්‍රීකවීම පෙන්වන නිහඬ සංකේතයක් ලෙස නත්තල් ගස ඉතා ජනප්‍රිය අංගයක් බවට පත්ව ඇත. ඊට අමතරව ගවලෙන ද නත්තල් සමයේ දැකගත හැකි තවත් සුවිශේෂී අංගයකි.
තුර්කියේ මයිරා නගරයේ විසූ ශාන්ත නිකුළස්තුමාගේ කරුණාව හා ත්‍යාගශීලී බව නිසා අසරණ දිළිඳු මිනිසුන්ට උපකාර කිරීමේ ගුණය සමග නත්තල් සීයා යන අංගය නත්තල් උත්සවය හා බැඳී ඇත. අද වන විටද තෑගි බෝග සැපයීමෙන් දිළිඳු මිනිසුන් හා කුඩා ළමුන් සතුටු කිරීමේ චරිතයක් ලෙස නත්තල් උත්සව සමයේ නත්තල් සීයා යන චරිතය සංකේතවත් කර ඇත.
ඒ අනුව මෙම නත්තල් කාලය පුරාවට දේවස්ථාන නිවාස ආදිය තුළ ගවලෙන්, නත්තල් ගස් ආදිය ඉදිකර අලංකාර සැරසිලි වලින් සරසමින් අලුත් ඇඳුම් පැළඳුම්, ප්‍රණීත ආහාර පාන ආදිය සූදානම් කර අලුත් ඇඳුම්වලින් සැරසීම ඔවුන්ගේ චාරිත්‍රමය ක්‍රියාකාරකම්ය. ඊට අමතරව දුගී ජනයා වෙත ආහාරපාන ඇඳුම් පැළඳුම් ආදියෙන් සංග්‍රහ කරමින් ලෝකවාසී සියලු දෙනාට මානව දයාවෙන් යුතුව ජේසු සමිඳුන් විසින් ලොවට ගෙන ආ සාමයේ පණිවිඩය සියලු දෙනා අතර පතුරවනු ලබයි.
මෙම ප්‍රධාන නත්තල් දේව මෙහෙය ශුද්ධෝත්තම පාප් වහන්සේගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් වතිකානුවේ ශාන්ත පීතර බැසිලිකාවේ දී පවත්වන අතර ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නත්තල් දින දේව මෙහෙය අති උතුම් මැල්කම් කාදිනල් රංජිත් හිමිපාණන්ගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් පවත්වනු ලබයි.
ලෝකවාසී සියලු දෙනාට සාමය සතුට පිරි සුභ නත්තලක් වේවා !
Leo Nisansala pathirana
Second year
Faculty of Arts
Christmas Festival
Christmas
is a festive season that brings happiness to everyone around the world. This
festive season is a reminder of compassion and empathy which creates lasting
memories. Christmas is celebrated to mark the birthdate of Jesus Christ, an
iconic figure in Christianity. Over time, this celebration has turned into a
universal feast that transcends beliefs and borders. Christmas is a time period
which strengthens the unity and bond between each other irrespective of their
various faiths and cultures. Christmas also acts as a harbinger that invites us
to enjoy the simple joys of life, share memories, and embrace the spirit of
kindness and humanity. During this season, Santa Claus, Christmas trees,
decorations, carols, and gifts enhance the festive atmosphere and foster
cooperation and unity.
Santa
Claus is a significant figure in Christmas, who spreads joy and generosity
during the season. The legend of Santa Claus is revolved around a bishop who
lived in the fourth century and who was famous for kindliness. The image of
Santa Claus as a stout man with a red suit, white beard, and black boots is
popular around the world. The enduring presence of Santa Claus is a cherished
part of Christmas which captivates the interest of both young and old.
The
Christmas tree is also a remarkable symbol of this joyous season. The act of
decorating the Christmas tree has turned into an event in which families enjoy
togetherness and share lovable experiences. The evergreen Christmas tree is a
symbol that denotes hope even amid winter and ornaments such as bells, stars,
and angels which are hung on the tree add beauty and vibration to it. Families often tend to gather around the
Christmas tree, enjoy its beauty, and exchange gifts as a tradition.
Christmas
decorations also gain special significance during this time as they transform
homes, offices, and public places into adoring and wonderful places.
Decorations are essential to build a festive atmosphere and also act as a
demonstration of the merriment of the season. Decorations such as lights, trinkets, tinsel,
and baubles hold special value during Christmas and people even make handmade
ornaments that depict their creativity and unique personalities. As well as the
Christmas tree, the decorating process of the houses and workplaces creates
lasting memories and shared experiences.
Christmas
carols manifest the festive cheer and benevolence of the season while the roots
of these melodious songs date back to medieval Europe. The lyrics of the carols
bring forth biblical stories as well as specific aspects of Christmas. Carols
are sung in many different languages and musical styles which depicts its
universality. Caroling also acts as a communal expression of ecstasy and
invokes a sense of unity. Due to modern technology, Christmas carols are even
presented as online performances which creates wider audiences.
Exchanging
gifts has also become a key element of Christmas. Presenting gifts creates a
sense of gratitude and highlights the importance of sharing and caring. This
process consumes lots of time as choosing gifts involves thoughtful
consideration of the interests and needs of the recipients. Wrapping and
unveiling presents also become exciting moments for children as well as for
adults.
In
essence, Christmas is a celebration of love, gratitude, joy, and togetherness.
In a world filled with hustle and bustle, Christmas gives us time to exchange
warmth and happiness, cherish moments, and foster connections. It gives us time
to pay gratitude for what we have and offer a helping hand to less fortunate
individuals. Christmas also gives us hope, even amid the darkest days of winter,
and rekindles our hopes through shared values, collectivity, and beautiful
memories.
Leo Noyali Yalindi
First
Year
Faculty of Arts
நத்தார் தின விழா
நத்தார், கிறிஸ்துப் பிறப்புப் பெருவிழா, அல்லது கிறிஸ்துமஸ் என்பது ஆண்டு தோறும் இயேசு கிறிஸ்துவின் பிறப்பைக் குறிக்கக் கொண்டாடப்படும் விழாவாகும். கிறிஸ்துமஸ் என்பதன் பொருள் "கடவுள் விடுவிக்கிறார்" என்பதாகும். தற்காலத்தில் டிசம்பர் 25ஆம் திகதி கிறிஸ்துமஸ் பண்டிகையானது கொண்டாடப்படுகிறது. மனித நேயத்தின் மாண்பையும் மரபையும் பறைசாற்றக் கூடிய நாள் தான் நத்தார் ஆகும். கிறிஸ்தவர்கள் அனைவரும் இத்தினத்தில் தேவாலயம் சென்று இயேசு கிறிஸ்துவை வழிபாடு செய்து ஒருவருக்கொருவர் வாழ்த்தினைக் கூறி மகிழ்வர்.
கிறிஸ்துமஸ் விழாவைக் கொண்டாடத் துவங்கியது ரோமாபுரி நாட்டில் கி.பி. 336 ஆம் ஆண்டில் என்பதுவே பெரும்பாலான வரலாற்றாய்வாளர்களின் முடிவாக உள்ளது. இவ்விழாவின் கொண்டாட்டங்களில் திருப்பலி, குடில்கள், கிறிஸ்துமஸ் தாத்தா, வாழ்த்து அட்டைகளையும் பரிசுகளையும் பரிமாறல், கிறிஸ்துமஸ் மரத்தை அழகூட்டல், கிறிஸ்துமஸ் மகிழ்ச்சிப் பாடல், சிறப்பு விருந்து என்பன பொதுவாக அடங்கும். கிறிஸ்துமஸ் கொண்டாடப்படும் நாளானது மரபு வழியாக வருவதேயன்றி இது இயேசு பிறந்த நாளன்று. கிறிஸ்தவர்களைப் பொறுத்தவரையில் இயேசுவின் சரியான பிறந்த திகதியை அறிந்து கொள்வதை விட, "மனித குலத்தின் பாவங்களுக்குக் கழுவாயாகக் கடவுள் மனித வடிவில் உலகில் வந்தார்" என்று நம்புவதே கிறிஸ்துமஸ் கொண்டாடுவதன் முதன்மை நோக்கமாகக் கருதப்படுகின்றது.
அந்த வகையில், இன்று நத்தார் பண்டிகையைக் கொண்டாடும் அனைத்து மக்களுக்கும் எமது Leo Club சார்பாக இனிய கிறிஸ்துமஸ் தின நல்வாழ்த்துக்களைத் தெரிவித்துக் கொள்கிறோம்.
Leo Rusdha Nisthar
Second Year
Faculty of Arts
