Diwali & Annakut celebration at South Australian Parliament, Adelaide

In a gesture signifying the evolving multicultural nature of South Australia, the South Australian Parliament for the first-time ever hosted a – Diwali & Annakut and Hindu festivals exhibition, on October 18.

The event was hosted by Hon Zoe Bettison, Minister for Tourism and Multicultural Affairs. BAPS Hindu Mandir in Green Fields, South Australia supported the Hindu Organisations, Temples and Associations Forum (HOTA Forum) in organising this.

The spectacular Diwali display and celebrations represented genuine bipartisanship in a multicultural space.

The parliament hall saw a change of ambience as the festive annakut (mountain of food) took pride of place.

Tiers of vegetarian food were arranged in a traditional preparation in from of an altar.
BAPS Volunteers interacted with Members of Parliament, Senators, and employees of the State parliament to talk about the major Hindu festivals, harmony, diversity, and peace.

Over 45 distinguished Members of Parliament, Honorary Consul’s, respected leaders of various Indian and
Hindu communities and BAPS guests attended this vibrant event. The event was extremely well received by all attendees and served as a valuable opportunity to strengthen inter- community relationships as well as relationships with Members of South Australian Parliament.

Established in 1907, the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha is a global non-governmental Hindu socio-spiritual
organization in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. BAPS
Swaminarayan Sanstha reaches out to everyone through its mandirs and centers.

These are places of worship and permanent centers of peace and reformation for people of all ages, backgrounds, and beliefs. Spread across the world, the BAPS Global Network is composed of more than 1100 mandirs and 3,850 centers.

In Australia, BAPS has representative centers (temples) in some of the major cities, including Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane.

Under the leadership and guidance of the current president of BAPS, His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, BAPS is dedicated to the collective spiritual and social progress of society by promoting harmony between individuals, within families and amongst diverse communities.

Visit our global website at https://www.baps.org/adelaide for further information on BAPS Australia in Adelaide.

You may also visit our global websites for additional information about BAPS and its activities: https://www.baps.org,
https://research.baps.org/; https://www.bapscharities.org/australia/; https://pramukhswami.org