Kannadigas congregate at annual event

Sydney’s Kannadigas celebrated the 52nd Kannada Rajyotsava and Children’s Day early this month at the Parramatta Town Hall.

This is an annual event celebrated by the Sydney Kannada Sangha which gives local Kannada kids, youth and adults an opportunity to showcase their talents and also an opportunity to meet other Kannada speaking families living here.

The program started with Sydney Kannada Sangha Secretary Vinayaka Kallappa welcoming one and all. The Master of Ceremonies for the night was Smitha Karki (Hegde), an executive committee member.

The main attraction of the program was a puppet show which the kids enjoyed thoroughly. In addition to this, the crowds were entertained with cultural items like karaoke, performances of Yakshagana (Karnataka’s famed folk dance), Bharathanatyam, and dances to the tunes of patriotic and Kannada movie songs.

Sydney Kannada Sangha President Geetha Gopinath addressed the gathering. The chief guest Julie Owens (Member of Parliament for Parramatta) mingled with other special guests Raj Natarajan and Srinivas Karkenahalli.

Ms Julie Owens honoured Dr Siddalingeshwara Orekondy for his outstanding contribution to the community in Sydney and overseas. A video presentation by Chandana TV gave the audience a glimpse of Dr Orekondy’s charity work.

Mahabaleshwar (Giri) Bhat, Vice President of Sydney Kannada Sangha delivered the vote of thanks and the celebration came to a conclusion with dinner being served – mouth watering food of Karnataka!

It was a great event with a good mix of entertainment, socialising and food.

Kannada Rajyotsava is celebrated on 1 November in Karnataka, India. It was on this day in 1956 when all the Kannada speaking regions of southern India were merged to form the state of Karnataka.

The Kannada language was given the status of a “classical language” by Union Minister for Tourism & Culture, Ambika Soni last year. Telugu was the other language which was given this honour, bringing both into a league presently occupied by only Sanskrit and Tamil. This is a great honour for Kannada language and Kannadigas, as only languages which have a proven antiquity of over 1,500 years can qualify for this status.

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