Indian community in Sydney celebrates Makar Sankranti

Special pujas were organized at temples in Sydney

The grand monument of Sri Venkateswara Temple in Helensburgh, Sydney / Photo by Kanags

The festival of Makar Sankranti, dedicated to Lord Sun, is one of the most celebrated Hindu festivals. It is marked a day after the Punjabi folk festival of Lohri. This year, the Indian community in Sydney celebrated Makar Sankranti on January 15.

Special puja of Makar Sankranti and Pongal at Murugan Temple located at Mace Hill Sydney /

Makar Sankranti marks the entry of the Sun into the Makara (Capricorn) zodiac sign. While North India celebrates the festival as Makar Sankranti, in South India, it is known as the traditional harvest festival of Pongal, which honors Lord Surya Narayana, the ruler of the planets. In some parts of India, it is also known as Uttarayan.

Considering donations hold great significance on Makar Sankranti, devotees in Sydney donated sesame, jaggery and rice to nearby temples to mark the festival. Special pujas were organized at Sri Venkateswara Temple in Helensburgh and Murugan Temple in Mace Hill, Sydney.

From past seven years, people have been enjoying kite flying like India /

Celebrating the festivals in temples is particularly crucial for the Indian community in Sydney as it helps them stay connected to their culture and traditions despite being away from the land.

Colorful kite /

Every year, the Kite Flying Festival is organized at Castle Hill Showground in Sydney. Started in 2016, the event has continued to excite people across the Australian city for the last seven years.

Kite Flying Festival is organized at Castle Hill Showground in Sydney /

“We started in 2016, and since then we've been doing it. This is the 7th year. I'm from India. It has been a childhood memory to celebrate the kite festival with my family members on Sankranti. When I was a child, my grandfather used to make a kite for me. They took us to the stores to buy kites along with sweets. I just wanted to recreate something when moved to Sydney in 2005," Jay Trivedi, organizer of the Kite Flying Festival, told New India Abroad.

"We started with a small Facebook event where we invited the community to come and join us. Right now, we see an average of 5,000 people attend the event every year. Last year, across the multicultural community of western Sydney, we ended up with 17,000 people celebrating the kite flying festival," Trivedi added.

Indian festivals are a symbol of cultural harmony /

This year, the Kite Flying Festival will be celebrated in Sydney on January 28 due to heavy rain and bad weather. Considering the enthusiasm of the people towards the festival, the event has not been canceled but only postponed.

A special thing about the event is that it is not limited to the Indian community in Sydney, but people from all corners of the world participate in kite flying. It certainly shows the unity in diversity in Australia.