Harayanvis in Sydney celebrate National Haryana Day

The 2nd National Haryana Day Celebration in Australia was organised by the Association of Haryanvis in Australia in Rosehill Racecourse in Western Sydney with full fervour and zest on November 10, 2019.

Haryana Day marks the occasion of the formation of the Indian State of Haryana through a trifurcation of the India State of Punjab on 1st November 1966. The year 2019 was commemorated as the 53rd birth anniversary of the state of Haryana.

The event hosted over a thousand people from all over Australia including two buses that travelled from Melbourne with the guests. Some of the prominent names including Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills Geoff Lee, The Opposition Leader of NSW Jodie Mackay, MP for Granville Julia Finn, Parramatta Councillor Sameer Pandey, and Dr. Nihal Singh Agar from HCA graced the occasion.

Displaying the diverse colours of India, the event witnessed the representation from other Indian states including the United Gujarat Association, Himachal Association, Rajasthan Association and Telangana Association. Keeping with the age old tradition, the guests who travelled to Sydney from Melbourne for the event were accommodated with the Haryanvi families based out of Sydney rather than in hotels. The four-hour program kept the audience spell bound ”“ starting with Ganesh Vandana and Diya Ceremony to invoke our rich cultural traditions to songs and poem recitals, Haryanvi folk dance, dance on Bollywood numbers, awards conferred on prominent Haryanvis and speeches from some of the dignitaries.

The Association was formed in 2018 with a vision to not only preserve and promote the rich Haryanvi culture of brotherhood & industriousness amongst Haryanvis and their future generations but also to enable them to integrate better with Australian values & Culture.

Over the last one year, the association has worked tirelessly to bring the Haryanvi community in Australia together and has been able to strengthen its bonds through monthly social gatherings, launched the Victoria Chapter, celebrated key festivals together, organized sports tournaments in addition to celebrating Haryana Day each year.

The AHA moment for the Association would be with the launch of the Senior’s Recreation Center in Western Sydney later this year. From a social and cultural perspective, associations like AHA play a critical role in our society today that promote the multicultural DNA of Australia whilst nurturing the rich traditions, heritage and passing the baton on to the future generations.

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