As central Victoria diversifies, more people are preparing for holiday celebrations that place religions other than Christianity squarely at their centre.

Equally, as personal belief systems evolve, many are rejecting religion altogether and planning secular gatherings with family and friends these holidays.

Bendigo’s Sikh community will hold their own religious festival in the New Year. 

For more than 48 hours, members will hold a continuous reading of their Holy Book, the Guru Granth Sahib.

“The whole community will be involved,” said Harkirat Singh, from the Singh Sarba community group.

Mr Singh said a team of dedicated community members would take turns at reading the text from start to finish. That’s a whole 1430 pages to get through – so it’s just as well some people have time off work.

“The ritual is considered very holy and is said to bring peace and solace to the participants and the passive listeners,” Mr Singh said. 

“During the reading it is tradition for langar – or communal food – to be available at all times.”

The reading will finish with a Sikh prayer for global harmony and fraternity, Mr Singh said.

On December 20, Indians in Bendigo held a multicultural event as a way of welcoming the new year. The event – which showcased dancing, music and food from across India – was not just for the city’s fast-growing population of Sikhs and Hindus but for the whole community.

“We are hopeful that this event will be successful in giving a message of oneness and harmony,” the organisers said.

Many of the Sikh community’s events are held in a church hall.

“We hire the facility – we believe God is one and that all humans are equal,” Mr Singh said.

Mr Singh is one Indian in Bendigo whose experience with Christmas, and indeed Christianity, stretches far beyond hiring a hall. Even as a Sikh, he went to a Catholic school in India and was immersed in a pocket of culture where festive season traditions were strong.

“Christmas was pretty popular – a big event – and Easter too,” he said. 

Many Sikh children in Bendigo – simply by being children – were swept up in what Christmas, with all its tinsel and decorations, had become, Mr Singh said.

Despite Christmas not having any particular significance to Bendigo’s Muslims, some in the Islamic community gave cards and presents to their friends at this time of year, said Bendigo resident Heri Febriyanto.

“Giving presents to others is a sign of respect,” he said, adding it was a human gesture rather than a religious one. “We should be showing our appreciation. There’s no restrictions.”

Mr Febriyanto, originally from Indonesia, said members of his community were often invited to attend Christmas events. Many were more than happy to accept the invitations.

“As Muslims, we don’t celebrate Christmas but we respect other religions,” he said. “Every religion has its holidays and special days.”

In Long Gully, Karen monk Ashin Moonieinda is the leader of a community of Theravada Buddhists from Burma, also known as Myanmar. 

The Karen refugees are divided into two groups – one that identifies as Christian and the other as Theravada Buddhist.

At the community’s festivals in Bendigo, the groups have often celebrated as one, encouraging anyone and everyone they know to join them. This sense of community sometimes extends into the Christmas period, though Venerable Moonieinda is expecting a quiet festive season this year for Karen Buddhists.

“In the past we have gone to Christmas events with Karen Christians,” he said.

Mia Mia resident Howard Nathan, who is Jewish, is expecting his fair share of festivities this holiday period.

Because Jews don’t believe the Messiah has arrived, they don’t celebrate Christmas. But this time of year is still very much a festive season for them, he said.

Mr Nathan is a member of Kehillah S'dot Zahav – or Community of the Goldfields.

“There are about 400 to 500 Jews in the Bendigo area,” he said. “About 100 are members of Kehillah S'dot Zahav.

“We certainly celebrate the festive season because most people are filled with goodwill towards each other and this alone is cause for much joy. It is a time of good work, giving and caring, so we love to join in that community spirit.”

Part of the generosity, Mr Nathan said, was a religious obligation to give away 10 per cent of net income to the less fortunate.

“Secondly, Christmas often coincides with the Festival of Lights known as Chanukah (Hannukah).”

The festive season, in general, Mr Nathan said, was a “bonzer time”.

“Everybody’s happy … it’s wonderful to be able to add to it and enjoy it. We don’t have any religious connection to it (Christmas), but I guess most people don’t.”

That’s certainly the case for Ian Robinson, convener of the Central Victorian Atheists and Freethinkers Gathering, a monthly meeting. Because Mr Robinson is an atheist, Christmas as a religious festival is irrelevant.

At the last census – way back in 2011 – some 26 per cent of people in Bendigo identified as having no religion, though not all identified as atheists.

Mr Robinson sees the atheist community expanding as more people shake off the stigma that has been associated with such beliefs – or lack thereof – in the past.

“I think Christmas in Australia is pretty much secular,” he said, adding that commercialism had become as big a force as any at this time of year.

But Mr Robinson’s atheism and rationalism don’t exclude him from appreciating the importance of catching up with the special people in his life. And Christmas remains an ideal time to do that.

“It’s important to have rituals and celebrations.”

- SHANE WORRELL