34 votes

How do I celebrate Sinhala & Tamil New Year (April 13/14) in Kuwait? Any community events?

Culture

This will be my 10th Avurudu in Kuwait! Back home I'd be making kavum, kokis, you name it. Here of course it's different.

Over the years I've attended a few community events in Kuwait — the Sri Lanka embassy usually does something, and I think the SL Buddhist temple in Salmiya also organises activities.

But wanted to ask: has anyone been to any Avurudu events in Kuwait recently? Are there good community gatherings? Also, where do you find rice flour and treacle (peni) for making traditional sweets in Kuwait? Any shops?

Thilak Jayasinghe 13 days ago 571 views 4 answers

4 Answers

Accepted Answer

Happy upcoming Avurudu! 🎊 I've been in Kuwait 8 years now and here's what I know:

**Community Events:**
- Sri Lanka Embassy Kuwait usually organises an official event around April 13 — check their Facebook page (search 'Sri Lanka Embassy Kuwait')
- Hawalli area has the biggest SL community concentration — informal family gatherings get quite big
- The Buddhist temple in Fahaheel does a Vesak event but I'm not 100% sure about Avurudu specifically

**Where to find ingredients:**
- Lulu Hypermarket Fahaheel and Salmiya — they stock rice flour (sometimes imported from SL), jaggery (not exactly peni but close enough)
- Kerala shops in Salmiya sometimes have coconut treacle
- There's a small SL grocery near Hawalli (I can DM you the location) — the guy brings special items around Avurudu time including actual Kandos chocolate and Maliban biscuits for Avurudu hampers!

Savithri Madushanka 12 days ago

Savithri, please DM me the Hawalli grocery location! That sounds exactly what I need. 🙏 I tried making kavum last year with Arabic rice flour and it was a disaster 😂

Thilak Jayasinghe 11 days ago

From Oman — similar situation here but smaller community. We just do a potluck at someone's house — one family makes biryani, another makes kavum, everyone brings something. Honestly more fun than formal events. The joy of eating kiribath at someone's home with 15 SL families is something else! 😊 Highly recommend organising an informal gathering if the Kuwait community event doesn't materialise.

Nuwan Dahanayake 9 days ago

Not in Kuwait but in Dubai we have the same challenge. Found that Sinhala Aluth Avurudu groups on WhatsApp are the best source for community event info — they get announced there first before Facebook. Anyone reading from Kuwait check if there's a WhatsApp community group, usually the Embassy cultural section manages it.

Kamal Perera 10 days ago