Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 7

Author(s): Nand Kishor Prasad
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 128

Hinduism in Trinidad
117
Secretary of England remarked in early 1903 that the British West Indies happened to be "the paradise of tbe Hindoo Coolie."20
Meanwhile Hindu temples (mandir in general or Shivala) were coming up in the various Indian settlements of Trinidad. For the less developed minds the images of the deities and congregations (satsangs) in temples became necessary. Only a few pandits could understand the vedas, the upanishads and the Geeta. For others the outer manifestation of their religion in the form of temples and congregations was more important than meditation for the salvation (mukti or moksha) of the individual soul.
The first temple was built around 1860.21 Architecturally the Shivala of Tunapuna was the best at the turn of the last century. The emblem of Shiva imported from India was of white marble, about 18 inches tall and 36 inches in girth. The images of Shiva's consort Parvati and his son, the elephant faced god Ganesh and the masonry impages of Vishnu and his avataras (incarnations)- Rama, Krishna and Narsinghwere also installed.22 The smaller temples built mostly by the Brahman priests in the country of Caroni and in South Trinidad had ordinary decorations because, as S. Naipaul, an Indian journalist of Trinidad noted, the priests were more interested in giving expression to their religion than to art and architecture.28 At present St. James Krishna temple, the Shivalas of Tunapuna (noted above), the Penal temple and the one on the Green Street are wellknown. There are a few Hanuman temples also.
The tradition of Sadhu (ascetic) and sadhuayin (women sadhus) has been retained. In 1930 Dr. Vincent Tothill met a 'magnificent Hindu' Yogi who surprised him by his physical feats and miracles. One Kolahal Das (formerly Dayaram, born in India around 1900 A. D.), a mystic saint in Caroni, was famous for his sadhana (meditation) and Siddhi (spiritual achievement).24
The Hindu view of life has been essentially sacramental. Since the man is believed to be born with a purpose his life from the birth to the
20. POS Gazette, 26 May 1903. One Ram Sal who had initially been
a pauper left an estate worth a million dollars on his death. 1. D. Wood, op. cit. p. 150.
S. Naipaul in the Sunday Guardian Pictorial Christmas Supplement,
9 Dec. 1934. 23. Ibid. 24. J. C. Jha, op. cit., p. 17,
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