Canterbury Nepalese Society celebrates the arrival of Hindu New Year 2075

The 300-member Canterbury Nepalese Society (CNS), which was established in 2015, celebrated the Hindu New Year 2075 at the Shirley Intermediate School in Christchurch on April 14.

Notably, in Nepal, much like in North India, the traditional lunar Hindu calendar is followed, with this year being the Hindu New Year 2075 or Vikram Nav Varsh Samvat 2075. This so because it is believed that Vikram Era was started by King Vikramaditya in 57 BCE as a commemoration of his victory over the Shaks. That's how the Hindu calendar came to be known as Vikram Samvant after Vikramaditya. According to the Hindu calendar, the New Year is the first day after no moon in the month of Chaitra, which this year began on March 18.

Deepak Pandey, a member of CNS who also emceed the event informed, “We had an attendance of over 300 people – from among the Nepalese and Bhutanese community of Christchurch - with several cultural programmes spread over three hours. The highlight among these was the dohori [traditional Nepalese song]. Christchurch City Councillor Jimmy Chen was the chief guest, and Dr Surinder Tandon, President of Christchurch Multicultural Council, was also among the guests.”

“One special guest of the evening was Kali Prasad Bhandari who is on a world tour promoting peace, with New Zealand being the 55^th country he has visited. His aim is to hoist the Nepalese flag in Antartica. We had put a donation box at the venue to raise funds for his noble cause. The event ended with a spread of mouth-watering Nepalese cuisine.”

Sri Ganesha Temple Christchurch also welcomes the New Year

The organising committee of the Sri Ganesha Temple Christchurch (SGTC), which held its inaugural pooja in February this year, also celebrated the Hindu New Year on April 14, at the Fendalton Community Centre. The ceremony had traditional New Year rituals, followed by a vegetarian lunch. The SGTC, which meets every second Saturday of the month, for pooja and social, aims to establish a Ganesh temple in the Garden City in the near future.