Celebrations: Chch's Nepalese and Bhutanese community festivities
(caption for the picture above: The Canterbury Nepalese Society (CNS) organised it's annual Hindu festival of Teej Sanjha 2073 on September 2, which was attended by over 200 Nepalese families living in Christchurch. Picture courtesy: CNS)
The Nepalese and the Bhutanese community of Christchurch got together last weekend (September 2-3) to celebrate the Hindu festival of Teej. Bishnu Pokhrel, President of Canterbury Nepalese society informed, “Teej is the most awaited festival for our ladies during which we dance all night long on typical Teej songs and have delicious daar - a Nepalese delicacy. It signifies the advent of monsoon, when ladies pray to Goddess Parvati for the long-life of their husbands. Almost 200 people attended the Hartalika Teej celebrations 2073 this year.”
Akash Drupka, President of Bhutanese society of Chch, added, “Teej is also very big in Bhutan and around 150 people from our community were present during the weekend event. Apart from married women, it is also a festival for unmarried ones where they pray to get nice and supportive husbands.”
Moreover, adding another example of how ethnic communities are preserving their heritage in New Zealand, is the initiation of free Nepalese language classes in Christchurch very soon. “Committed to the preservation of Nepalese culture and language, the CNS has decided to provide Nepalese language classes to our children from September 4,” informed Pokhrel.
The Bhutanese Society of Christchurch (BSC), which organised its own Teej festival on September 3, had also organised the first-ever Bhutanese Nite [Bhutani Sanjh] in Christchurch recently. Held at Elmwood School Auditorium, the Nite was attended by over 300 Bhutanese living in the Garden City. (picture courtesy: BSC)
