April 16-30, 2021 - Vol 1, Issue 20
INDIA NEWS
NEWS FROM VICTORIA
Victoria gets its first Indian Community Centre
Government and I am so pleased to see it up and running,” Mr Tudge said. “There are now over 200,000 people of Indian heritage in Victoria who call Australia home.” “The Indian community is the fastest-growing diaspora in Australia and their values of aspiration and hard work have helped to shape modern Australia.” “This centre will be a meeting place, a place for learning, for charitable activity and for sharing the rich Indian culture.” “I hope everyone in the community will access it and be enriched by it.”
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ndian communities across Victoria are set to benefit from a new Indian Community Centre opened by the Hon Alan Tudge MP in Rowville today. The centre was partially funded by the Australian Government with $2.5 million in funding. Federal Member for Aston Alan Tudge said that once final council approval is complete the two-storey building will be
used as Victoria’s first Indian Community Centre, and include multiple assembly halls, a commercial kitchen, meeting and storage rooms, a carpark, an administration and reception area, offices for three Indian community peak bodies as well as a secure area for Museum India which showcases India’s rich history and heritage. “This was an election commitment of the Morrison
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the Australian Government’s $2.5 million investment in the Indian Community Centre would provide long term benefits to Victoria’s Indian communities and the local economy. “In addition to Indian communities, this investment will produce long-term economic
benefits to the region through generating increased foot traffic to local businesses,” the Deputy Prime Minister said. “By supporting 2 jobs in construction and creating an expected 15 ongoing jobs after completion, in addition to using local businesses and supplies, this project will bring economic benefits to Knox for many years to come.” Chair of the Australia India Community Charitable Trust Vasan Srinivasan said that he was truly excited for the community centre to officially opened. “I wish to thank the Morrison Government and our Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Michael McCormack for the funding and approval of this project, along with Hon. Alan Tudge and Hon. Michael Sukkar for their support
to see this project formalised and delivered,” Mr Srinivasan said. “I am also excited to see the Community Centre become the new home of the Museum India, which will be named in memory of Dr Dinesh Parekh – the collector and curator or the museum’s collection.” This Indian Community Centre is funded by Australian Government under the Community Development Grants Programme. The Programme delivers projects identified by the Australian Government to support needed infrastructure that promotes stable, secure and viable local and regional economies. Projects range from new sporting facilities, to upgrading community centres and smallscale infrastructure projects. Source URL: https:// indiandownunder.com. au/?p=16233
Historical moment of spiritual integration of two ancient Nations Australia and India
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t is an utmost pride and a remarkable moment of connecting and integrating two ancient Nations Australia and India at a spiritual level that holds lots of similarities in their culture and traditions. It was a historical moment when Prakruthi Mysore Gururaj the first Indian to be welcomed and accepted into Gunggari Nation by one of the keepers of Indigenous Australian tradition and culture Aunty Peggy and Aunty Cathy whose traditional totem is the Emu (Nurinj). The ceremony was witnessed by many multicultural groups present at the Harmony Day event organised by Fiji Senior Citizens Association Of Queensland. Before this, Djandi Lee Merenda Granddaughter of Aunty Peggy Tidyman was welcomed and accepted into Women’s Ceremonial Circle in 2015 which was the first Gunggari women's ceremony held on country in over 70+years giving a young woman a traditional naming (Mirilani -thili) Shining Star. Djandi means Pretty flower. Only Traditional Elders can give a person a traditional name as they observe the young girl growing into womanhood and only Women Elders can invite other women into the Women’s Ceremonial Circle. Now after 6 years since Djandi Lee Merenda, Granddaughter of Aunty Peggy Tidyman was
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welcomed by descent, Prakruthi Mysore Gururaj was welcomed based on spiritual connection. This is a very rare aspect that has happened in the history of Emu (Nurinj) traditional elders.
unexplainable and has thoroughly enjoyed every moment as they got to explore many more commonalities between Indian and Indigenous Australian culture and traditions.
This sacred ceremony conducted by the Aboriginal elders Aunty Peggy and Aunty Cathy whose traditional totem is the Emu (Nurinj), welcomed Prakruthi as their traditional family member that marked as an acceptance of Prakruthi into Gunggari women's circle. Prakruthi was given a traditional name 'Bua Bua' which means butterfly and hence will be called the 'Butterfly lady' in the Gunggari culture. Aunty Cathy's granddaughter Shontara Rainbow was also present in the ceremony who performed the traditional dance with Aunty Peggy, Aunty Cathy and Prakruthi and assisted Aunty Peggy by bringing the 'ochre' to perform the ceremony.
On the day of the ceremony Prakruthi read an excerpt from an article 'Aboriginal Spirituality and Hindu Faith' written by Mr Surendra Prasad 's friend Mr Vijay Singhal as follows:
This amazing spiritual journey started almost a year back when the Gunggari elders felt the spiritual connection with Prakruthi who resembled one of their family members. Once this was expressed in Dec 2020 and the ceremony day was decided to be on 20th March 2021 during Harmony Day celebration, it took Prakruthi weeks to prepare from familiarising the Gunggari values, hand painting the ceremony clothes and to learn the traditional dance. Prakruthi shares her experience being
"Australian aborigines claim to have lived here for over 50,000 years and as per a study in 2013 at the Max Planck Institute by researchers, led by Irina Pugach suggested that Aboriginal genomes consist of up to 11% Indian DNA which is uniformly spread through Northern Australia indicating a substantial gene flow between Indian population and Northern Australians occurring around 4,230 years ago. Some changes in tool technology and food processing also appear in archaeological records around this time, suggesting some migration from India.
1. Smoking ceremony similar to Indian Havan/Yagna 2. Worshipping Mother Nature 3. Spirituality is cosmogony" Prakruthi feels blessed to get an opportunity to extend the spiritual connection between 2 nations along with Aunty Peggy, Aunty Cathy and all the people from various Multicultural background on this special occasion of harmony day
Hindu faith is also one of the oldest living religions in the world. Hindus call it Sanatana Dharma – the Eternal Religion, ever existing. It predates recorded history. Both these cultures are very ancient and there are some basic similarities in their spiritual thinking. Some of the below similarities were explained on day
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