Aluth Aurudu is an important national holiday for both the cultures of the Sinhalese people and the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. The celebrations are given wide coverage and patronage from state owned media as well as private media. Although it is being promoted as a national or cultural event, due to the fact that it is based on astrology, the Christians & Muslims that do not follow astrology tend to either totally refrain from celebrations, or do the minimum required to maintain the social connections with Sinhalese people and Tamil people.

The date upon which the Sinhala new year occurred, while determined by astrological calculations, also tends to coincide with one of the paddy harvest seasons. For farming communities, the traditional new year is a festival of harvest as well.

A type of cuckoo bird, the Asian Koel, has a strong association with the new year celebrations in traditional literature around the festival. The mating season of the bird roughly coincides with the festival season. The mating call of the male is regarded as a heralding sign of the traditional new year. This bird is known as the Koha in Sri Lanka by the Sinhala language. The melodious call Koo-ooo of the male bird is heard through out Sri Lanka during the breeding season of the bird that roughly spans from March to August.