2nd NZ Hindu Conference

2nd NZ Hindu Conference

The second NZ Hindu Conference took place last weekend on May 16 - 18. The three days were filled with educational work shops, cultural performances and insightful discussions.

Below is the press release from the Hindu Council of New Zealand.

His Highness Te Arikinui King Tuheitia, the Maori King, inaugurated the 2nd New Zealand Hindu Conference
on 16 May 2008 at the Hindu Heritage Centre, Auckland by lighting the lamp in the traditional Hindu way
for the auspicious beginning of the conference.

This is an important event for the Hindu community in New Zealand, and also for race relations. King
Tuheitia received a traditional Hindu welcome when a young girl, Deepika Magesan, garlanded the
distinguished dignitaries. Mr. Haare Williams, the Kaumatua (Maori elder), blessed the occasion with a
Maori traditional prayer. This was followed by a Hindu prayer from Swami Vigyananand.

The theme of the Conference was “Sustaining New Zealand communities through health benefits of Yoga,
Meditation and Ayurveda”. Mr. Vinod Kumar, the President of the Hindu Council of New Zealand,
welcomed all the delegates and enlightened the audience on the work carried out by the organization –
strengthening the bond between New Zealand communities; developing the creativity of the youth; and
understanding and experiencing the Maori culture. He also briefed delegates about the Hindu Heritage
Centre and the future plans of the organization. Mr Vinod Kumar also announced HEART – A humanitarian
emergency aid & relief team, an initiative of the Hindu Council of New Zealand. This is in response to help
needed with natural disasters happening around the world, for example, Myanmar. Shri Nandan Modak
was the master of ceremonies.

Mr Rahui Papa, who spoke on behalf of King Tuheitia and his entourage, mentioned the similarities
between Maori and Hindu communities. He said, “We are the same family but speak two different
languages”. He also spoke about common words such as ‘Mana’ which have the same meaning in Maori
and Sanskrit. He said this is a good beginning and we need to take it forward, and assured the delegates
that all cooperation will be extended to foster inter-community cultural relations. He appreciated the
work of the Hindu Council of New Zealand and also congratulated the organization for celebrating
Matariki (Maori New Year). He was impressed by the welcome by the Hindu community and told the
audience that he felt at home.

This conference provided a platform for all organizations dealing with yoga, meditation and ayurveda to
showcase the health benefits to the New Zealand society. Dr Guna Magesan, a senior scientist and the
conference coordinator, chaired a plenary session where the overseas keynote speakers made
presentations on Yoga and Meditation. The keynote speaker for Yoga was Dr H.R. Nagendra, the vice chancellor of SVYASA Yoga University, Bangalore, India. He spoke on the “Integrated approach of yoga
therapy – a glimpse of 30 years research”. He spoke on his research on the therapeutic effects of yoga in
curing and controlling asthma and bronchitis, obesity and diabetes, hypertension, etc. Since obesity and
diabetes are major issues in New Zealand communities, his University is willing to cooperate and
collaborate with the New Zealand Government and health agencies.

The keynote speaker for Meditation was Swami Sridharanand, President of Vedanta centres of Australia
and New Zealand. Dr Shirish Karnik, an Ayurvedic practitioner, was the keynote speaker for Ayurveda. He
gave an overview of Ayurveda, and how Ayurveda integrates with modern medicine. The session was
chaired by Dr Ram Prakash Agarwal of Miami University, USA.

The session on ‘Working with Government Agencies’ was well received by the delegates. This session was
chaired by Ms Farida Sultana, Founder of Shakti. Representatives from the Auckland District Health Board,
Accident Compensation Corporation, and NZ Police made presentations. The three concurrent workshops
were coordinated by Paul Barton, Rotorua; Ananya Chaitanya of Foundation of Self Knowledge New
Zealand; and Dr Amritha Sobrun-Maharaj of Auckland University.

The conference papers were presented by highly qualified research scholars, university lecturers of both
Hindu and non-Hindu origin. Discussions following the presentations and during the workshops were
highly appreciated by the delegates. Although this conference was mainly for the New Zealand
community, there were a number of delegates from India, USA, Fiji and Australia.

The second day of the conference had three plenary sessions on Yoga, Ayurveda and Meditation. All the
sessions were well attended and the delegates actively participated in the interactive sessions. The
afternoon sessions had three concurrent workshops. The conference sessions were chaired by well
qualified professionals: Dr Nikhil Zaveri of East Tamaki Health Care, Auckland; Dr Yogini Ratnasabapathy of
Waitamata District Health Board; and Rakesh Naidoo of the NZ Police. Similarly, the workshops were run
by Sneh Prasad of Auckland District Health Board, Dr Vijay Srinivasa Murthy, and Mr Venkatesan and Mr
Velayudan from India.

The third day of the conference started with a session on establishing a researh institute for yoga and
ayurveda (AROGYA). The session was chaired by Dr H.R. Nagendra, Vice-Chancellor of Yoga University
from India. Delegates discussed and deliberated extensively on the prospect of the research institute and
the response was very positive.

Ms Sonali Hegde and Ms Pritika Sharma, joint-coordinators of the conference, proposed a vote of thanks
to all the members of the organizing committee for their hard work, delegates from New Zealand and
overseas for their participation in the conference, sponsors for their financial and in-kind support, media
and internet sites for wide publicity, and volunteers for their selfless service for the success of the
conference.

Delegates expressed their appreciation at the way the conference was organized with a human and
personal touch for looking after the needs of the delegates.
Outcome of the conference:

In response to the discussion an ad hoc committee was formed to take further the concept of AROGYA –
Aotearoa Research Organization for Generic Yoga and Ayurveda.

The Conference organizers were overwhelmed by the response they received, and it appeared that the
conference had caught the imagination of the people, like the first New Zealand Hindu Conference. There
was active participation from various government agencies, professionals, university staff, business
leaders, Maori elders, and community and youth leaders.

Many youth, especially women, have volunteered to actively participate and coordinate the future
programmes being organised by the Hindu Council of New Zealand. This is indeed a good outcome and the
conference has given enough confidence to the Hindu community in general, and youth and women in
particular.

The 3rd New Zealand Hindu conference with the theme “Sustaining New Zealand through strengthening
relations amongst communities” was announced to be held on 1-2 May 2010.

Click here to view photos from the event.

Please note: views expressed in this media release are not reflective of those held by IndianEvents.