The Auckland Malayali Samajam, which has never failed in wowing its community members, has transcended cultural barriers and spread the celebrations across different communities.
The Auckland Malayali Samajam was the first is the world to celebrate Onam in a parliament outside India. The parliament in Wellington on Thursday, August 3 hosted Onam with the Malayali community members across the country and also released a commemorative stamp to mark the historic event.
On Saturday, September 2, the Samajam hosted a massive Onam event at Mahatma Gandhi Centre that exhibited colours, dances and music of ‘God’s Own Country’.
The event witnessed the presence of Mayor of Auckland Phil Goff, Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett, Leader of the Labour Party Jacinda Ardern, multiple award winning Indian composer and musician Jerry Amaldev who came as a special guest from India for the event, National List MPs Kanwalijit Bakshi, Dr Parmjeet Parmar, Labour Party MP Michael Wood and Labour Party candidate for Maungakiekie Priyanca Radhakrishnan.
The event commenced with the popular traditional Tiger Dance (Pulikali) where dancers and drummers marched from the end of the hall towards the stage that was hailed with cheering and applause.
Mayor Phil Goff felicitated Mr Amaldev, who is a three-time Kerala State Film Awards winning composer of film scores and has given music to some of the most important Malayalam films.
Darpanam 2017, a magazine about the Malayali community in New Zealand was also released on this occasion by MP Kanwaljit Bakshi at the event.
The event continued with an award ceremony and cultural dance and musical performances by the young community members.