Community celebrates Navarathri Oriyas celebrate Ganesha Vandana

Navarathri is a huge festival in India and likewise, it is also celebrated on a grand scale in Melbourne each year, since the past several years. During the days of the festival, a group of ladies recite the Lalitha Namavali followed by Lalitha Sahasranamam in various homes from 7:30 to 8:30 pm, followed by prasadam. It is also celebrated with great fervour at the local Siva Vishnu Temple with an abhishekam for Lord Siva and Goddess Visalakshi. Each year sarees and ornaments are flown in from India, especially for this event. This is a sponsored pooja by all the families who attend on that day and another example of our community’s efforts in retaining, respecting and maintaining our tradition and culture

Bala Balachandran

The Oriya Association of Melbourne recently celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi with a day-long evert, in which members of the Oriya community got together to conduct the puja. It was followed by a Ganesh Vandana performed by four young girls from the local Oriya community. The dance was choregraphed by Nilakshi Barah. The grand finale was a feast for all who attended the auspicious occasion.