Rotorua Deepawali Festival 2010

Deepawali (Festival of Lights) is a well known Hindu festival celebrated all over the world. Last year, more than 3000 people from both Rotorua and out of town came to participate, celebrate, and enjoy this unique smoke-free, alcohol-free and meat-free family event.

Transformation from Hindu festival to Rotorua community festival is already happening, as majority of available tickets have been reserved by Rotorua public from non-Indian communities.

Rotorua Deepawali Festival 2010 is proudly sponsored by a number of charitable organisations, and supported by a number of government agencies, businesses and community organisations, and promoted by print and electronic media.

A number of Maori cultural traditions such as karakia, powhiri, kapa haka will be performed during the festival. Last year festival initiated an important milestone for Hindu-Maori relations (whakawhanaungatanga). The respect and relations that the Hindu Council of New Zealand had built over the years have brought Hindu community closer to the Maori community.

“This year’s festival will be bigger, better and brighter” said Dr Guna Magesan, Festival Coordinator of the Rotorua Deepawali Festival 2010.

It is really heart-warming to see people from various cultures, nationalities, ethnic groups, faiths, and belonging to various organisations already booking tickets for the festival.

Our vision is to transform this Hindu festival of lights into a Rotorua community festival by organising this event annually. It is our endeavour to share our cultural tradition, to bring up youth leadership in our community, to help boost the local economy by inviting out-of-town visitors, and to unite various groups to work together to enhance our shared cultural heritage.

“The focus of this year will be Youth participation and leadership. We invite youth from both Hindu and non-Hindu communities to take part and promote this festival” Dr. Magesan added. Along with youth, we will also have members of Maori community in the Deepawali organising committee.

The event will start around 10.00am with an inauguration ceremony, followed by Indian art exhibitions and workshops on rangoli (ancient indian art), mehndi decorating (temporary tattoo), Indian cooking demonstration, saree tying, and food-stalls. A spectacular Indian cultural show with various classical and folk dances of India will be performed by artists in the evening. This will be followed by fireworks for the public.

Some key festival organisers of other cities have shown interest in participating and observing the uniqueness of this festival and see how this could be implemented in their respective cities.

As part of our regular learning and understanding of Maori culture, there will be a special powhiri at Apumoana Marae for out of town visitors on the same festival day.

Hindu Council of New Zealand has been promoting inter-cultural exchanges in arts, culture and heritage. Celebrating Hindu festivals such as Deepawali, Holi, Raksha Bandhan on a wider community scale is part of promoting and sharing culture.

Also, as part of the Festival, “Mehndi Moko” and “Rangoli Art for Kids” workshops will be held at the Rotorua Arts Village on 1st October 2010 for Rotorua children and aimed at building whakawhanaungatanga (Hindu-Maori relations). The art workshops will be organised by Ms. Gina Wright, a Maori artist.

Rangoli is an art form which uses mediums such as coloured rice, sand and flowers to create colourful designs. This workshop is aimed at children aged 5-11 years. Mehndi is a temporary form of skin art typically applied during special occasions such as weddings and festivals. This workshop is aimed 12-18 age group.

We look forward to seeing your family and friends at the Rotorua Deepawali Festival 2010.

Entry to the festival is free

Event listed by HinduCouncil

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