Indian businesses and services in Adelaide, Australia

Adelaide's South Asian community is smaller than those of the eastern capitals and has grown mostly through students and skilled migrants in recent decades. The universities in and around the city centre attract students from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and many stay on to work. The city has also resettled Bhutanese families of Nepali heritage, who keep up their own associations and festivals.

There is no single Little India. Indian grocery stores, restaurants and sweet shops are spread through the suburbs, with a handful in and near the city centre, and you will usually find them in local shopping strips rather than in a dedicated precinct. Hindu temples, gurdwaras and mosques with South Asian congregations are found in several suburbs, and they are often the most reliable source of information about what is on, from language classes to cricket clubs and festival programmes. Community associations organised by language and region, from Punjabi and Malayali to Tamil and Nepali, are active and generally welcoming to newcomers.

Diwali, Holi, Vaisakhi and Onam are all celebrated, usually in temple halls, community centres and council venues. Adelaide is compact by Australian standards and the CBD is easy to reach by tram, train and bus, but many temples and suburban grocery stores are easier to get to by car. South Australia runs half an hour behind Sydney and Melbourne, which slightly narrows the time difference to India.