Rain's Pongal Celebration

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-111377

Hansard session: Fifty-Seventh Parliament, First Session (57-1)

Rain's Pongal Celebration

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley)

—I inform the House of the success of the Resourceful Australian Indian Network's annual Pongal Celebration, held on 25 January 2020. The Pongal festival is one of the biggest festivals celebrated in South India and is a thanksgiving for the plentiful harvest received. This is when farmers bring newly harvested rice home and feed their cattle a rice dish called Pongal- from where the festival got its name, and is dedicated to Lord Surya the Sun God. Pongal festival is also celebrated as Tamil Nadu's New Year Day. The festival is not only an opportunity to celebrate Indian culture, but also to celebrate the ever-growing Australian‑Indian relationship. Australia and India share sport, cuisine, tourism and trade. The Indian community in New South Wales are making an immense contribution to our State. I would like to thank Dr Sudha Natarajan and the whole team at the Resourceful Australian Indian Network for a fantastic celebration. I look forward to continuing my strong relationship with RAIN into the future.