Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday I had the honour of attending the Mawson Hindu temple. It was a first for me in terms of going into the temple. I have been to events there, but it was my first experience of the temple. It will not be the last. The temple was holding a very beautiful service—a Ganesha Visarjan Puja and Homan. More than 200 community members attended that function—babies, children, right through to elderly Indian Canberrans. It was a wonderful and deeply spiritual event. The Puja was honouring the god who is the god of benevolence and new beginnings, the obstacle remover, the great lord Ganesha. I am a huge fan of lord Ganesha. I have an image of him in my parliament house office and I have little statues of him in my home and electorate office. He is the obstacle remover. I want to thank the community for inviting me and making me feel so incredibly welcome. It was a deeply spiritual event, and I felt very welcome and at home there.

In closing I want to thank Krishan Aggarwal. The temple is his brain child. I send my condolences to him, as he recently lost his wife after 52 years.

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