Guthi Australia works towards the preservation of Newar cultural heritage in Australia and Nepal and believes in investing in the youth as they are transmitters of culture to the future generations!

Guthi Australia consists of a unique mix of both the youth and the experienced. The skills and enthusiasm of the youth supplemented by the wisdom of the experienced ensures a positive outcome. We have engineers, architects, IT specialists, beauty consultants, accountants, migration agents, students, managers and more!

Guthi Australia is not a new organisation. In fact it was established in 1995 by Narendra Shrestha and a group of other individuals. The organisation slowly fell apart a few years later after his untimely demise. Guthi Australia has now been revived with the first meeting taking place in September 2009.

This is a common misconception. Guthi Australia is not for Newars only. Although our focus is on conserving Newar cultural heritage, we welcome everyone to learn more about our Newar heritage. We aim to provide an environment where all ethnic groups and non-Nepalese can join us in our quest for preserving Newar heritage. Guthi Australia is not an exclusive organisation and continues to make efforts towards making it all-inclusive.

Guthi Australia understands that we are in an increasingly globalised world that is faced by technological revolutions. Thus Guthi Australia will often be seen doing dance parties, running schools, holding discussion forums, taking part in rallies and so on. All this contributes, however, to Guthi Australia’s overall objective of cultural heritage preservation by bringing in social capital.

Although Guthi Australia does have plans to expand, Guthi Australia has no immediate intention of doing so. The primary focus for Guthi Australia at present is to undertake quality programs in Australia and in Nepal and to build a strong foundation for future initiatives.

The first and foremost would be to become part of a growing organisation that is working towards a great cause – to contribute directly towards heritage conservation in Nepal. There are also other incentives, including reduced entry fees at Guthi Australia events, regular updates on Guthi Australia’s activities, the opportunity to become involved in Guthi Australia in Australia or Nepal, to establish networks and of course direct, tangible benefits in the form of discounts at our local businesses -restaurants, hair dressers and salons. The list of tangible benefits can be viewed through https://guthiaustralia.org/my-account.

Go to https://guthiaustralia.org/my-account, register online and follow the prompts of our online registration system. It’s that easy! Your annual contribution of $10 can make a BIG difference to the work we do.

The $1 a week program has been set up by Guthi Australia to raise funds for its cultural programs in Nepal. Individuals who wish to make a difference contribute $1 a week. Due to the obvious administrative restrictions, our PayPal system automatically collects $26 every 6 months. All funds from this program are earmarked for cultural heritage conservation. In 2011, we are looking at jointly undertaking the restoration of the Imla Ganesh temple in Sankhu with a NGO called Friends of Sankhu. A Dutch organisation in the Netherlands has already committed €5,000 towards this project. Guthi Australia will be rallying to contribute $ AUD 20 000 by 2011 to the total needed amount of $AUD 50 000 for this project. If you would like to make a donation, please get in touch with us.

Doing a dance party is good fun, it brings together the Nepalese young and old and it integrates us into the wider Australian community. Even more importantly, our upcoming dance party ‘Let’s Dance’ will contribute 10% of its profits to the ongoing school program we are managing with Gurkha Nepalese Community called ‘Sabdamala – Nepalese Language School’. 80% of the profits will be earmarked for the Imla Ganesh restoration project and 10% of the profits are expected to be used for administrative costs of the program.

Absolutely. Australia is a basket woven together with different strands representing the cultural diversity of various nationalities and ethnic groups from around the world. It is this diversity that we aim to contribute to. It would only seem fitting for the rich diversity within Nepal to be shared with the wider Australian community. In fact, Guthi Australia and Gurkha Nepalese Community are also looking at possibilities of expanding the current Sabdamala program to include adult Nepali learning classes as well. This will ensure those volunteers and professionals that go to Nepal every year to contribute have access to a Nepali language teaching centre before they reach Kathmandu!

Guthi Australia believes in establishing linkages with organisations that are experienced so that it can grow and benefit from such an alliance. Guthi Australia also believes that it can contribute to programs and projects by providing a unique perspective that is fresh, new and innovative.

Guthi Australia realises that although its focus is on Newar cultural heritage preservation, Nepali unites all Nepalese people and forms an important basis for children to link with their heritage. Having said this, Guthi Australia is looking at establishing adult Newari conversational language classes soon.

Yes, Guthi Australia will undertake projects in Nepal as well. For this, financial sustainability is paramount. Our first project in Nepal will be the restoration of the Imla Ganesh temple. Later down the track, we would like to collaborate with organisations such as UNESCO Kathmandu, the Department of Archaeology, the Centre of Research for Nepal and Asian Studies (Tribhuvan University) to conduct primary research on various aspects of Newar and other culture.

The programs we undertake in Nepal will ensure that we empower the local community and ensure that external dependency does not take place. Our attempts to preserve heritage in Australia are already underway. We look forward to embracing those wanting to contribute to cultural heritage conservation in Nepal.