Vehaara Arts, a dance group from Malaysia, gave a number of stunning performances at the Tamil New Year celebrations by Auckland Tamil Association on Saturday, May 7 at Freemans Bay Community Centre.
Over 300 members of the community attended the ‘Tamil Puthandu’ event- one of the most important festivals of the Tamilians celebrated by the Tamil diaspora across the globe with pomp and show.
The event was attended by Consul of India Bhav Dhillon, Labour MP for Mt Roskill Michael Wood, List MP for Maungakiekie Priyanca Radhakrishnan, National List MPs Kanwaljit Bakshi, Dr Parmjeet Parmar, Inspector Rakesh Naidoo, and representatives of different community organisations.
The event commenced with a beautiful rendition of a Tamil anthem followed by the NZ and Indian national anthems. A group of small children stood on the stage welcoming the guests and the visitors to the Tamil New Year celebrations.
The Vehaara group known for their spectacular dance performances which are a fusion of both classical Indian and modern dances amazed the audience. Its high-octane music combined with the fusion power-packed dance wowed the audience wanting for more.
The Kaula Lumpur based group are also performing at the Chithirai Vizha 2019 on Saturday, May 11 in Wellington organised by Wellington Muthtamil Sangam.
“The Vehaara Arts group did different dance performances in the event and certainly added a lot of glitz and glamour to our celebrations,” president of Auckland Tamil Association, Vai Ravindran said.
The organisers also felicitated the guests at the event presenting them with the traditional shawls, which was followed by brief speeches by dignitaries who generously acknowledged the contribution of Tamil community in New Zealand.
Auckland Tamil Association also felicitated four women who immensely contributed towards the growth of the Tamil communityin New Zealand.
“The four women, Mrs Usha Raman, Nithya Suresh, Chandra Sankaran and Sasi Indran are an integral part of the Tamil community in New Zealand and have led the way making their contributions towards the growth and development of the Tamilians in this country,” Mr Ravindran told The Indian Weekender.
Tamil New Year usually falls in the second week of April and coincides with the Baisakhi celebrations of different states such as Punjab, West Bengal, Kerala, etc. The day is auspicious for the Tamilians present in India and all around the world and is observed by visiting temples, wearing new and bright clothes, making festive food, and followed by puja and cultural events.