BUDDHA JAYANTI 2017 CELEBRATED IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Date : May 20, 2017
Posted By : Admin
Event Description :
Buddha Jayanti 2017 AD (2561th Gautam Buddha’s Birthday) was observed with a reflection on Buddha’s life and teachings among 100+ strong crowd assembled from right across Melbourne and some visiting parents from Nepal. The official Buddha’s birthday was on 10th May, but Tamu Samaj Victoria held the event to mark this auspicious day on the weekend 13th May (Saturday) to cater most of the people (families, kids, young and old). The venue was as usual the favourite place Harold Stevens Athletics Facilities, 20 Outlook Road, North coburg, VIC 3058. The Buddha Jayanti is one of the flagship annual programs organized by Tamu Samaj Victoria, the others being the Lhho-Chhar and the Gurung Culture Day.
The official program was intended to start at sharp 10am in the morning, but due to delay with the venue setup and preparation the first part of the program started only at 11:30am. As per schedule, Sange lama Indra Bahadur Gurung initiated the Puja ceremony. It included Lama’s chanting in Tibetan language (and its translation), prayer (‘Bandana’) by volunteers, offering of incense/food/fruits/flowers, lighting the 108 ‘Diyo/Batti’, regular special ‘Dhog’ three times to Buddha, ‘Tiyu Kyu’ (special water) to finish up the ceremony. There was a ‘Dhamma’ discourse (‘Prabachan’) by Lama Guru, which touched about life of Buddha, story of Guru Rimpoche, and how to live a good life in general. This was followed by Group meditation training given by Lama to all the interested people. The meditation training was something new this year and intended to make people be aware of and practice it on their daily lives. A light vegetarian ‘Prasad’ was served afterwards.
Second part of the program was about understanding of essence of Buddha Jayanti by ordinary people. First up, former secretary of Tamu Samaj Victoria Mr Kiran Gurung presented a projector slide-show focusing on Gautam Buddha’s life and main teachings. It was well received and appreciated by the audience. Next there was a kids’ essay competition, kids were encouraged to write up essays on Buddha Jayanti theme and present them on stage. There were five girls who came up to present their wonderful essays on Buddha Jayanti theme. Everyone appreciated their effort and hard work with a very well deserved applauses. Thereafter President of Tamu Samaj Victoria Mr Pahalman Gurung was on stage to give a brief overview of Tamu Samaj Victoria, its major activities and programs throughout the year, and his own reflection on Buddha and his teachings. He lauded the volunteers to make the program better and better every year, and encouraged others to lend their hands to make the community stronger and move forward. The Cultural Centre project is on full swing and he called on for more contribution from the general community. Final activity was a kids’ drawing competition which was well received by all the kids and their parents enthusiastically, maybe the standout highlight of the day. About 30+ kids some as young as 4 years’ old gave their best shot to draw a picture of Buddha sitting under a ‘Pipal’ tree. Well done everyone! The kids’ essays and drawing competitions were organized to get children on board to this type of event, and seemed to be very successful and effective activities. The delicious lunch, even though a bit late, was served around 3pm.
The final part of the program was more about fun activities for everyone – kids, ladies and gents. ‘Thelo Falne’, a traditional Gurung/Nepal sports especially on the mountain areas was organized for young strong males. ‘Gaito Futaune’, a popular light fun activity, was participated by far more ladies than expected. The kids had a big busy afternoon, played sack race, marshmallow spoon race and finally musical chair which was the most entertaining activity to perfectly close the program. Kids also got face painting throughout the day.
Prize distribution ceremony started shortly, presided by the President Mr Pahalman Gurung and the Vice-President Mr Tej Gurung, who were ably assisted by the Secretary Mrs Amrita Gurung, Treasurer Mr Dipu Gurung and young volunteers Ms Pooja Gurung and Ms Iesha Gurung. Mr Pahalman Gurung remarked few closing notes to officially end the program at 5:30pm.
The program coordinator was Mr Arun Gurung. He was well supported by the executive committee and board members of Tamu Samaj Victoria, as well as many general community members. The free food offered on the day was in fact prepared by our community members voluntarily, and it was coordinated by the secretary Mrs Amrita Gurung, excellent on this type of role. Also thank you to Aama Group led by Mrs Maya Gurung for food handling and distribution in the kitchen. Purchase of accessories and prizes was handled by the Treasurer Mr Dipu Gurung. The Vice-treasurer Mr Milan Gurung along with Mr Sagar Gurung looked after social media facebook/website campaign and photography. The IT Admin Mr Ashok Gurung with assistance of Mr Prashant Gurung looked after the setup and operation of laptop, projector and sound system. Our board member Mr Rajan Gurung took the responsibility of Lama and Puja related tasks. The fun/sport activities had a number of willing volunteers to assist – Board member Mr Jum Gurung for ‘Thelo Falne’, past Vice-president Mr Mabi Gurung and Mr Kusum Gurung for ‘Gaito Futaune’, Ms Iesha Gurung and Ms Pooja Gurung for the kids activities, Mr Inder Gurung for kids’ musical chair. Tamu Samaj Victoria would like to thank these as well as all the other volunteers who helped to make the event successful.
As always, there are some aspects which we could improve further. Tamu Samaj Victoria will take them into account to plan and organize its future programs. Once again, the event coordinator and the executive committee would like to thank all the people who came to attend and contributed to the event success. We wish a happy Buddha Jayanti and a peaceful mind to everyone. Look forward to see you all in our next event.
Arun Gurung
Event Coordinator
Tamu Samaj Victoria