Tuesday, 30 August 2022

 Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan) (13:18): Recently I had the opportunity to participate in multiple Janmashtami celebrations organised across Melbourne by various spiritual organisations based in my electorate. I was invited by the committee of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON, to join the grand celebration of Janmashtami to mark the birth of Lord Krishna at their Albert Park temple. Victorian Hindus visited the ISKCON temple in their thousands, despite a rainy evening, and participated in the festivities until midnight. The beautifully decorated deities and gods were a sight to behold. The temple ambience was energised by everyone singing and dancing in joy. On another note, I was delighted to attend the fantastic Nand Mahotsav organised by the Vaishnav community from the Krishna Dham in Truganina. It was exciting to participate in their worship ritual and enjoy the cultural performances by the children and women. On a final note, it was exciting to see the enthusiasm of the seniors from the Bhartiya seniors group in Truganina as well as the United Seniors Club in Tarneit, who also celebrated the Janmashtami.

At all four events it was very heartening to see my constituents of all age cohorts celebrating the Janmashtami event successfully and sharing their joy as well as the delicious prasadam with people from other ethnic backgrounds as well. I thank all these organisations for inviting me to their Janmashtami events and congratulate them for their hard work promoting the Hindu culture in Victoria through such celebrations. Jai Shree Krishna. Hare Krishna.