Brisbane Comes Alive with Colours and Culture at Basava Jayanthi 2025
Brisbane, Australia – 23 May 2025: The vibrant multicultural city of Brisbane witnessed a heartwarming celebration of Basava Jayanthi 2025, hosted by Basava Samiti of Asia Pacific (BSAPAC). The annual event commemorates the birth anniversary of Guru Basava, the 12th-century social reformer and spiritual visionary who pioneered inclusive social practices and ethical living, centuries ahead of his time.
Held at a packed venue in Coopers Plains, the celebration showcased a spectacular blend of devotion, knowledge, and community spirit. It was a multicultural confluence of the community dressed in traditional attire, children and adults alike participated in a lively procession of Vachana recitations, songs, and interactive discussions—highlighting the adoption of Guru Basava’s values that centre on equality, compassion, and rational thought.
The program opened by lighting the lamp followed by the key note address was delivered by Mrs Karen Lay-Brew, the Board Member of Energy Queensland, Strategic Advisor to Australian Government. Karen migrated with family at the age of 11 from Mynamar provided an inspiring speech of the hardships of migrants and their journey to success, happiness and peace while navigating through the value system of life. Her speech was inspirational and touched the hearts of young and old.
Mrs. Margie Nightingale, Member of Inala, graced the audience and was impressed to see the community unity threaded with the values. Her encouraging best wishes meant to a lot to the growing community and the charity.
The key highlight of the discussion was the interactive introspection from the audience representing different ethnicities in the community namely, Sri Lanka, multi cultural diaspora of India, Pakistan, Iran, Burma, local Australians sharing their journey of life and the adoption of values. The Distinguished speakers, including local leaders and community scholars, praised BSAPAC’s commitment to Engage, Educate, Empower, and Enlighten across the Asia Pacific. / Guru Basava vegetarian, non-alcoholic community meal (Anna Dasoha), symbolising Basava’s vision of social equality through shared values.
The event also honored young children for their beautiful singing from the Sargam Academy of Music. We thank Mr. Mithun Chakraborthy and Mrs. Bonita Chakraborthy for presenting the wonderful music to the audience. Mr. Linden May, Ex-Board Director of the Charity awarded all the children with the medals for their fantastic participation.
Other notable programs included the Australian national anthem via the violin, presentation of the Guru Basava Dashboard Idol – a spiritually uplifting artefact designed for the car, symbolising values of truth, work, and devotion, ideal for daily travel inspiration by the 12 year old Master Hanish Banavar. BSAPAC will promote these dashboard idols that can be used in the cars via their shopping carts.
Mrs. Soniya Sharma, from the ANZ Bank Mt Ommaney also spoke to the team regarding the offering of the Home Loan Introductory Program.
Other notable organisers were Mrs. Girija Karekal, Executive Director; Mr. Stephen Hodgson, CEO, Mrs. Nivedita H E lead coordinator of Brisbane Chapter. BSAPAC offers gratitude for all the volunteers and children who made this an intimate evening and strengthened the values through multicultural confluence. “Guru Basava’s message is more relevant today than ever. His vision of a just society is what drives our charity’s work in over eight locations across Australia and New Zealand.”
Basava Jayanthi 2025 in Brisbane stood not only as a celebration of history but also a call to action for unity, service, and purposeful living in our contemporary world.
Learn more at https://basavasamitiapac.org
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