A Buddhist temple in Brisbane appreciates Hindu Council of Australia (HCA)’s presence at their annual Multi-Faith prayer for peace and harmony. Mr Surendra Prasad has been attending this event every year for the last 6 years on behalf of HCA.
Hindu Council organised a multi-faith Eco-Forum in 2011
Hindu Council organised a multi-faith Eco-Forum in 2011
Hindu Council helped prepare and launch the Hindu Climate Action Kit
Hindu Council has also been involved in ARRCC’s Advocacy work with the federal politicians in Canberra
Association with Faith Ecology Network (FEN) – FEN is an interfaith network of people connecting faith with ecological awareness and care. HCA has participated with FEN since 2008 as an active member of its Working Group, participating in its annual seminars, prayer vigils and other promotional activities.
Association with FoodFaith – FoodFaith aims to build bridges across different faith, cultural and community groups through our shared learnings and practices of food and sustainability. Hindu 
Council has been associated right from the launch of the FoodFaith initiative in March, 2015.
HCA’s Shri Sai Paravastu and family has been involved in setting up the Community Garden in Lane Cove.
Hindu Council releases a Multi-faith Music CD
Hindu Council of Australia – Release of Multi-faith Music CD
The Hindu Council of Australia organised a Multi-faith Music CD Release function from 4pm till 6.00pm on Saturday 1 July 2017 at Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre in Canberra. The theme of the program was “Theology and Music”.
The music CD was produced by Mr Divyanshu Pota who recorded music from five separate traditions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Hindu.
Master of Ceremonies Mr Thamo Sri Tharan introduced the program and asked Mr Prakash Mehta to welcome all guests on behalf of the Hindu Council of Australia ACT Branch and Dr Himanshu Pota to speak on the theme.
The program commenced with a prayer by Mr Lakshman Prasad and the lighting of lamp by the leaders of the various faiths present:The Most Rev Christopher Prowse Archbishop of Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn; Mr Hasib Khan of Canberra Islamic Centre; Mr Greg O’Rourke of Tibetan Buddhist Centre;and Sri Prachar of Sri Chinmoy Centre. Leaders of other faith leaders present were: Mr Bill Arnold of the Jewis
h Community (being Sabbath he remained silent); Ms Shahnaz Kouhbor (Baha’i); Mr Amardeep Singh (Sikh); Ashok Jain (Jain); Dr Pal Dhall (Satya Sai); and Mr Lhakpa Tshoko (representative of His Holiness the Delai Lama for Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia).
Speakers amplified the role of music and presented music from their faiths providing further evidence of commonality and its transcendent nature.
Canberra Hindi School children Setu, Sanjana, Holi-jai, Isha, Priyanshi and Shivam sang a song in Hindi and Mr Yash Agasti played a favourite hymn of Mahatma Gandhi “Vaishnava Jan To Tene Kahiye” on key board.
Mrs Ira Patkar of the Mudrakar Kathak Dance School presented a classical Kathak Dance.
After Mr Santosh Gupta presented the vote of thanks the program concluded with a universal prayer sung by Mr Manish Chopra and his daughter Gauriof the Divine Life Society.
Attendees applauded the initiative by the Hindu Council on selecting a topic that provided a fresh insight on Religion and Faith. The gathering ended notingthat music can and does create good bonding and togetherness among the faiths of the world.
The meeting concluded with vegetarian refreshments and a meet and greet session.
Karma Kitchen gets invited to Food Faith Harmony Day
In recognition of Karma Kitchen project of Hindu Council, FoodFaith has invited Karma Kitchen to join Blacktown Harmony Day celebration on Wednesday, March 21st, at Bowman Hall. The event will be from 11am to 1pm (possibly starting earlier.)
The event is being organized by a number of organisations including Blacktown Council, SydWest, FoodFaith, FEN, TAFE, Relationships Australia and Settlement Services.
The ‘Breaking Bread’ initiative that FoodFaith is co-ordinating as part of Harmony Day involves different cultures and faiths presenting samples of their breads with accompanying information on its history, uses, customs, associated festivals, sustainability elements and recipes. Hindu Council Karma Kitchen would bring along enough ‘pieces’ to feed a few hundred people. Karma Kitchen may also provide herbs or spices for a communal dip or spice for a collaborative symbol.
Hindu Council has been involved right from the launch of the FoodFaith initiative in March, 2015 by Judith Friedlander, Senior Researcher at the UTS Institute for Sustainable Future. I have been in contact with her for many years in connection with our campaign to reduce meat consumption. I was one of the Faith Leaders who spoke at the launch ceremony.
Mr Sai Paravastu of Karma Kitchen has been involved in setting up the Community Garden in Lane Cove, setup and being run by the FoodFaith group.
Mr Sai Parvastu and Vijai Singhal, Director Hindu Council would be representing Hindu Council in this event.
Gargi Woman Award Press Release
Hindu Council of Australia institutes award for recognizing Australian women
Sydney : 12 February 2018
Hindu Council of Australia has instituted annual awards to recognise outstanding contribution by Australian women in the society. The awards would be across multiple categories and will be announced on the occasion of International Woman’s day 2018.
Speaking about the awards, the President of Hindu Council of Australia, Mr. Prakash Mehta said, “We want to recognise women who have been tirelessly contributing to the Australian society for a number of years. Some of them are well known in their field of work and some less known yet their contribution has been immense. With these awards we aim to recognise their hard work and create role models for younger generation of Hindu girls and women growing up in Australia.”
Further adding Mr. Mehta said, “These awards have been named after the great Hindu Rishika (female sage philosopher) Gargi Vachaknavi. Born around 700 BC, Gargi’s philosophy addresses metaphysical questions about the construction and origin of the universe and is considered to be the first, among many, in the long history of women’s intellectual contributions to human society. So, it’s only fitting that we named the awards her”.
The awards will be presented to the recipients during the Parramasala Festival in Parramatta on 11th March 2018.
For further details please contact us.
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