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27 FEBRUARY, 2024
Take me to Fungi Town As the Blackwood Woodchop and Easter Carnival looms closer, one local artist is making sure the forest-town’s fabulous fungi are celebrated. Kathy Holowko is an artist and Blackwood and Barry’s Reef Landcare Group member, who became “obsessed” with fungi during her COVID-walks around Blackwood during lockdown. Her obsession led to the creation of the Fungi Town Caravan - an eye-catching artwork that also uses science-diorama elements to inspire and educate. Over the last couple of years Fungi Town has been touring the region, popping into schools, festivals and markets to spread the fungi love as far and wide as Yarra, Knox and Moonee Ponds. Ms Holowko said at the Blackwood Woodchop and Easter Carnival on March 30, Fungi Town will finally get to make its home-town debut in the annual Easter parade. “Blackwood is a fungi town, it has a thriving array of fungi and I really wanted to celebrate this very special occurrence in our town and perhaps help people understand a little more about them through the fun of art and art making,” she said. Details: https://www.facebook.com/ BlackwoodLandcare
Kathy Holowko with her Fungi Town Caravan. (Damjan Janevski) 390493_01
Fight to say goodbye By Liam McNally Losing a loved one is one of the most difficult times of life, and for many a funeral is the last chance to express that love publicly. Not being able to perform this ceremony in a way that is appropriate to the individual’s wishes can be heartbreaking, but for Australia’s Hindu community of more than 641,000, that’s happening everyday. The community around Rockbank’s Sri Durga Temple is at the forefront of addressing this issue. Amit Sharma’s mother was a devout Hindu, when she passed away suddenly in 2019. It was his responsibility to organise how
to say farewell. The primary funeral ritual in Hinduism is known as Antyesti, which translates to ’last sacrifice’ or ’last rite’. The Antyesti ceremony typically involves several stages that include preparation of the body, procession to the cremation ground, cremation, a mourning period and immersing the deceased’s ashes in water. Each stage has specific rituals to accompany it, with cremation being a central element. Within a day of passing the body is placed on a funeral pyre which is then lit by the eldest son. It symbolises the final act of detachment from the physical body. The fire is believed to purify the soul and facilitate its journey to the afterlife. Antyesti typically takes place over the 15
days after passing. When Amit was organising his mother’s Antyesti he was shocked to find almost every stage either couldn’t be provided in Australia or had to be heavily compromised. This included waiting a week for cremation, and days again to be provided with the ashes. One compromise was that although Amit couldn’t cremate his mother on an open pyre, he was provided with a tv screen to watch it on, but even the camera stopped working. The rituals are so typical in India that Amit equates it to an Australian of Christian background being told there’s no land to bury a body. “We couldn’t do anything she wanted, not even one per cent,” he said.
“It’s very heartbreaking for us.” Durba Dhiman, from Taylors Hill, has heard of many similar experiences. She said when her friend passed away from cancer the body being held in a morgue for two weeks was traumatising for her friend’s two children. She said people have to weigh up sending deceased loved ones back to India, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars, to ensure their send off done in a way that is appropriate for Hindu people. Currently, Melbourne’s largest new cemetery in 100 years is being designed for Harkness. The 128 hectare site is billed as a “reimagined public cemetery”. ■ Continued: Page 5
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