Exiled Bhutanese celebrate Dashain in Australia

Adelaide, October 09: Bhutanese resettled in Australia recently have celebrated the Dashain, the greatest festival of Hindus, with merry making Thursday.

A total of 55 Bhutanese in Adelaide, Australia gathered at the residence of Bhanu Adhikari for the celebrations.

They received tika and blessings from the elder. This is the first big festival Bhutanese celebrated after being resettled to third country.

Lunch and dances followed. While of the dancing floor, one put it, “People used to tell us that it is not possible to celebrate our festivals in third country, but it was wrong. We are celebrating like we celebrated in Bhutan and later in camps. It is in fact better than festivities in camps, we have a house to be in but what we miss is only our relatives."

They jointly said, "We were celebrating yesterday, we are celebrating today and we will be celebrating in future too."

They also paid a visit to nearby Hindu temple on October 5 on occasion of Durga Puja to offer prayer and sing hymns.

Similar celebrations were performed in Tasmania, Melbourne, Albury and Sydney.

People gathered to one of the elders in the city to receive tika and blessings. Bhutan News Service/Vikram AC