Trishna and Krishna loving life together

Trishna enjoys a cuddle from volunteer Maria Mardi at the Royal Children's Hospital yesterday. Photo / Getty Images

New pictures of conjoined twin sisters Trishna and Krishna show two bright and happy little girls - days after they were separated by surgeons after spending their young lives connected at the skull.

Photos released by the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne show the 3-year-olds from Bangladesh watching a Wiggles DVD and laughing - the bandages wrapped around their tiny heads the only sign of difference from any other tot. The Herald-Sun in Melbourne reported that their guardian, Moira Kelly, spent yesterday with the twins as a civic reception was held at Government House in Australia to honour those who saved their lives.

New Zealand plastic surgeon Andrew Greensmith, who was one of the many who took part in the 30-hour operation, was among those honoured yesterday. Speaking after the surgery last week, he said he had to hold the girls' heads right at the final moment of separation, when the beds were pushed apart millimetre by millimetre.

Dr Greensmith said the operation was painstaking and remarkable. "It was quite bizarre to see them apart for a change - quite surreal," he told NewstalkZB. "We were prepared for potentially catastrophic things happening at some point - major bleeding which we may have trouble stopping - all sorts of possibilities. But we had none of that at all."