Category Diaspora

Australia in Diwali mood with lights, Bollywood and Indian food

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 20.10.2008 (IANS): Thousands of people, including many members of the Indian diaspora, gathered in Sydney and Melbourne over the weekend to usher in Diwali festivities that coincide with the flowering of jacarandas and ripening of mangoes in Australia.

While over 20,000 people celebrated Diwali at Olympic Park in Sydney’s Homebush suburb, festivities at Federation Square in the heart of Melbourne’s Central Business District drew a staggering 50,000.

Diwali has perhaps become the biggest festival in the Australian cultural calendar as people of Indian origin cross the 200,000 mark and Hinduism becomes one of the fastest growing religions in this multicultural country.

Organised by the Hindu Council of Australia in Sydney and Celebrate India Inc. in Melbourne, the festival in recent years has been attracting almost 50 percent mainstream Australians.

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Indian immigrants celebrate Durga Puja with gusto

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Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 07.10.2008 (IANS) Thousands of Bengali immigrants and other members of the Indian diaspora ushered in the Durga Puja celebrations over the weekend with much fanfare and gusto here. Colourful pandals (marquees) adorned with spring flowers and intricately carved deities, women draped in dazzling Baluchari, Dhakai, Tangail and Kantha saris and men in traditional kurta and dhoti created an aura of Durga Puja back home.

Partho and Shampa Das recall their first puja here in 1978 when they had just migrated to Sydney from Mumbai. “At that time there were about 200 Bengali families,” says Das, a mechanical engineer, who moved the puja venue from his home to a school hall as the numbers swelled.

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Gandhi remembered on birth anniversary in Australia

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 03.10.2008 (IANS): A melodious rendition of ‘Raghupati Raghav Rajaram’ set the mood for the International Day of non-violence celebrations in Canberra’s Glebe Park, where Mahatma Gandhi’s statue stands tall.

The 1.68 metre high bronze statue of the Father of the Nation, made by renowned Delhi-based sculptor Ram Sutar, in the heart of Canberra is symbolic of the many core values of tolerance and respect for diversity that the two nations share.

Rich floral tributes were paid Thursday to the Mahatma by over a hundred Australians and members of the Indian community gathered at the Park, where workers come to eat their lunches during the week and families gather at weekends for picnics and play. Curious onlookers stopped to hear messages of peace and non-violence.

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