Devotees thank the former premier for help in getting 500 K grant for Albert Park Temple’s “Kitchen Project”
By Richa Bishnoi
On 5 and 6 September, more than 15,000 people got together to for the annual Janmasthmi festivities at Albert Park Temple –Australia’s oldest temple — to celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna.
Former Victorian Premier Hon. Ted Baillieu, Melbourne Fashion Festival’s Community Ambassador Mrs Robyn Baillieu, and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Margaret Fitzherbert were among those who joined the ISKCON’s 41stJanmasthmi celebrations.
Mr Baillieu was given a traditional welcome of “teeka” and garland welcome by Bhakta Das and Annirudha Das from the ISKCON management.
A quick tour of the temple was followed by a “prasadam”, after which Mr Baillieu was escorted to the auditorium where there was a large gathering assembled. The formal proceedings were beautifully compered by Mrs Roshni Sharma and Rashi Kapoor (Miss Australia National Finalist and AFL Focus Group Member). There were various cultural performances as well to keep the crowd entertained.
On behalf of ISKCON devotees, the MCs thanked Mr Baillieu, Mr Darpan Mittal and Mr Nitin Gupta for their help in getting the 500 K grant sanctioned for the Temple’s upcoming Kitchen project. Mrs Sharma gave a brief overview of the events and milestones that helped in securing the state government grant for the temple.
In his speech, Mr Baillieu thanked the Victorian Indian and Hindu community for their overall contribution to Victoria and Australia, after which – as is almost a tradition now – he was mobbed by the crowd with requests for photographs with them and their family. He did try his best to oblige as many people as was practically possible.
The other special guests for the event included Namrata Kapoor from the Art of Living Foundation, Dr Subash Sharma from Sahitya Sandhya, and Dr Manjula O’Connor from the Australasian Centre for Human Rights and Health.
During the informal chit-chat about the upcoming kitchen project, Mr Baillieu’s cooking skills came under discussion. During a recent visit to Shine Café in Glen Waverley, Mr Baillieu had shown his cooking skills, photographs of which had gone viral on social media.
ISKCON devotes said they would love to see Mr Baillieu’s cooking skills at the upcoming kitchen, and the former premier said he would be more than happy to oblige.
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