Hindu Youth New Zealand is proud to announce New Zealand’s first ever DharmaFest! An event that brings various Dharma based groups and spiritual organisations together to showcase the beautiful dimensions of Hindu/Dharmic culture, through food, clothing, art, crafts, knowledge systems like Yoga, Ayurveda, Meditation / Mindfulness, and the contribution of this diverse community to the wider New Zealand society.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!To make DharmaFest a grand event, the organisers (youth teams from various organizations) have decided to collaborate with the well recognised Raksha Bandhan Festival – Universal Fellowship & Veneration of Womanhood. Both these events will be held at the Mahatma Gandhi Centre, Eden Terrace, Auckland, on Sunday, 22 August 2021.
DharmaFest will be held from 10.00 am to 2.00 pm and the Raksha Bandhan (organised by Hindu Organizations, Temples & Associations – HOTA Forum) will be held from 3.00 pm – 6.30 pm.
DharmaFest will have an official inauguration where leaders of various Dharma based organizations will do their respective prayers to mark the launch of this event.
“It will be a real significant moment for New Zealand to witness such a gathering of leaders of Dharma based organizations working together for the betterment of New Zealand society,” said Murali Krishna Magesan, Coordinator of DharmaFest.
“It is completely a youth driven event and many young volunteers from many organizations have come together to bring DharmaFest to New Zealand,” he added.
The DharmaFest will focus on exhibition stalls (e.g., book stalls, ethnic clothing, jewellery, arts/crafts, vegetarian food stalls, etc), and interactive sessions (yoga, Ayurveda, meditation, mehndi, rangoli, sari and turban tying, etc) to encourage more people to participate, see and experience the beautiful diversity, vibrance, colour, festivity, joy and celebration of life. There will also be demonstrations and some selected cultural programs during the day to entertain the crowd. At DharmaFest, you will witness the celebration of ‘Vibhinnatāyām Ekatvam’ – Unity in Diversity.
Wanted to learn how to tie a sari, turban or get mehndi done? Want to learn about yoga, ayurveda, meditation? Want to try unique foods and flavours? Want to purchase unique clothing, arts, crafts and offerings from stallholders? Want to watch unique cultural demonstrations? Well, you can at DharmaFest! For more information, please contact hinduyouth.newzealand@gmail.com. If you are interested in volunteering for DharmaFest, please sign up on the link below: https://tinyurl.com/DharmaFestVolunteer
The Raksha Bandhan Festival will focus on cultural performances from various Dharma based groups and dance schools promoting traditional folk and classical dances. There is a limited number of seats to accommodate for cultural evening and please reserve your seats by signing up on this link https://tinyurl.com/RakshaBandhan2021 or emailing hindu.nz@gmail.com for Raksha Bandhan festival.
Both DharmaFest and Raksha Bandhan festival are family-friendly events, open to all, and they aim to bring community leaders/volunteers and dance groups from several Hindu/Dharma based communities together to celebrate this unique festival and promote Dharma based traditions, cultures, knowledge systems, understandings and lifestyles to the wider New Zealand community.
On behalf of DharmaFest and Raksha Bandhan Festival organisers, invitations have been sent to high profile dignitaries, Maori and Elders from Dharma based groups, and executive committee members, community volunteers and their families from all Dharma/Hindu organisations to actively participate in this grand event.
Many organizations have been sharing beautiful aspects of Hindu/Dharmic culture with New Zealand, be it through the performing arts, crafts, science, food, clothing, indigenous knowledge systems and so have requested them to provide one page write up about each of their organizations describing how they are contributing to New Zealand society and this will be published as a festival souvenir.
Both events are smoke-free, alcohol-free and meat-free with the intent to celebrate the diverse culture while looking after the well-being of the community as well focusing on sustainability by reducing the impacts of green-house emission attributed to meat. Moreover, both events are held indoors, so come along and enjoy, rain or shine!
For more information, contact: Murali Krishna Magesan, 0210 820 5130 , hinduyouth.newzealand@gmail.com
