Hindu Fuldol Festival

Mr FULBROOK (Playford) (15:31): I know words will not do justice to the uplifting experience that was Pushpadolotsav 2025 but, in consideration of the significance of the event, and on behalf of the hundreds of local BAPS members who joined me, I feel it is important that I cement this special memory firmly into the South Australian Hansard. Also known as Fuldol, this famed Hindu festival of colour is known for the throwing of vibrant-coloured powders and its deep spiritual significance.

I have spoken to the chamber before about how privileged I am to have the BAPS Mandir within my electorate, one of over 1,300 around the world. If ever you want to see a beautiful building, unofficially labelled as one of the Seven Wonders of Adelaide, please take a visit to Greenfields to feast your eyes on something that is truly magnificent. However, while bricks and mortar matter, the people inside eclipse the incredible architecture with their selfless acts of kindness that are seen across the community I am privileged to represent.

Just before I elaborate on the weekend, to add further context BAPS is a Hindu denomination overseen by 92-year-old Mahant Swami Maharaj, the sixth guru, which has over one million devotees worldwide. According to the last census back in 2021, 7,412 South Australians reported speaking Gujarati at home, with many living within the Playford electorate and drawn to their spiritual home of the local mandir.

While I am usually hesitant to leave the electorate, I was delighted to accept the invitation to join 18,000 visitors from across the world for 15 and 16 March. Watched by an over-49 foot metal statue of Tapo murti Neelkanth Varni, and joining us at the newly inaugurated BAPS Mandir and Cultural Precinct in Kemps Creek, Sydney, the Prime minister welcomed His Holiness. I think his words summed up the significance of the occasion perfectly:

His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj comes to us with a message that is for all Australians: 'In the joy of others lies our own.' It is an honour for all of us that you have chosen Sydney to celebrate this occasion for only the second time in 115 years.

While I am strictly biased towards Adelaide, I give credit to Sydney and the event organisers for their incredible work. Catering to thousands of visitors in a semirural setting, staying on top of crowd control and logistics and ensuring the place looked and stayed immaculate was no easy accomplishment but was pulled off without issue.

I might have been the only interstate MP present, but it was an honour for my son and I to share the occasion with local state MPs, Warren Kirby, Nathan Hagarty and Charishma Kaliyanda, and federal counterparts, Chris Bowen and Anne Stanley. Thank you for making us feel very welcome. In expressing appreciation, I thank Deepak Patel from my community for being an incredible host.

After dinner, I accepted the offer of doing Darshan of Swamishri—I apologise if I did not sound right. My understanding was that I would be sprayed with a few drops of coloured water, only to soon realise that, as I passed a parked water truck, it would be anything but a light sprinkling. For the record, this was an absolute joy and, to quote a constituent, Karen Smith, 'It was the best waste of a suit ever.' The photos of my white shirt looking rather yellow from the sanctified saffron-scented water suggested this was the case, but in an endorsement to Sard I am wearing the same shirt right now. The suit may be a different story, but I have every faith that our friends at the newly renovated Hollywood Dry Cleaning & Alterations can pull off a miracle.

The following day I was back at Kemps Creek to receive the honour of a personal blessing from His Holiness. I felt a bit odd being lined up with the immaculately dressed Andrew Charlton MP while I was in very casual clothes, but in my defence I found out that it was actually His Holiness who operated the hoses by remote control the previous evening that ensured my clothing supplies were heavily depleted.

While this is lighthearted, I am beyond words to describe how special and deeply meaningful it was to receive the blessing. To then be presented with a floral garland after His Holiness addressed the further gathering of 5,000 reinforced this as a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life. I want to pass on my deepest thankyou to BAPS for sharing with me what they cherish. With an underlying message of peace and joy through kindness to others, their thread in the tapestry that we call Australia is one that I deeply appreciate.