Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 7

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

Page 130

Hinduism in Trinidad
119
The sample of all the food prepared along with the betel leaf, betelnut, ghee (clarified butter), incense and Sindur (vermilion) are offered to Dihamai (mother earth), Kali mai, Durga mai and all the Bhiaravis for the protection of the newly born baby. Alcohol is offered to Dharati mai; vermilion is smeared on the betel leaf and a cutlass is there to ward off the evils. The women sing the sohar, a song with various ideas relating to the child birth,27 nachari (in the praise of Shiva) and other sacred songs. The drum, dand-tal (dandal), a forty inches long bronze stick held in one hand and beaten with another small curved stick, and other musical instruments are used.
Twelve days after the childbirth the barahi is celebrated. The mother gets a thorough bath and once again delicious Indian dishes are prepared. One of the barahi songs is connected with the birth of Lord Krishna in a jail, describing how he was saved.28
The father of the baby consults a pandit who casts the baby's horoscope and suggests the possible initial letter of the child's name. The name given by the pandit (planetary name) is kept secret by the family and another name is given for normal use.
Among the Madrasi Hipdus however, when a baby is born there is sorrow other than joy for the sufferings he wiil undergo in later life. There is no singing or feasting.
However, at present the rituals connected with the birth can be seen mainly in the rural areas. Even now the old custom of having the first baby at the girl's parents' place is retained in some Hindu homes in the rural areas of Trinidad and Guyana. Hospitalisation is preferred in complicated cases. The midwife (chamain), the family barber and the priest are given gifts-seedha (provisions), gamchha (towel), dhoti (loin cloth), etc. Thus the traditional yajmani (jajmani) system is retained.
The concept of exogamous marriage was almost forgotten before the Indian settlements appeared in Trinidad. But new ideas of brotherhood appeared and matrimonials between jahaji bhais (brothers) or bahins (sisters) or between the co-villagers was prohibited, child marriage and the dowry system existed among the Hindus of Trinidad.29 Every facet
27.
U. Arya, Ritual Songs and Folksongs of the Hindus of Surinam, Leiden, 1968, p. 16. A Sohar cannot be sung at a wedding. Based on an interview with Mrs G. Goberdhan of Pasea village near Tunapuna, Trinidad, 1973. San Fernando and Trinidad News, 22 April, 1986.
29.