Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 7

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

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Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin No. 7
In recent years the celebrations are more lavish. It is now a national holiday and a grand occasion for the exchange of Indian sweets and visits.
Lakshmi Puja is the main item on the occasion of Divali. The image of the godess is washed in milk or water, prasad (offering) is distributed and bhajans (devotional songs) are sung in her honour. The lighting of a yam-diya (big clay wick in honour of Yama, the god of death) at the entrance of the house to ward off the evil spirits can be seen in some rural areas.
In the nineteenth century the Tamil (Madrasi) Hindu fire-pass festival was so popular that in the early 1880s the government of Trinidad tried to curb it. Even so, it remained a popular festival. At the Boissiere village near Maraval this festival started in early July 1921 with the hoisting of a sacred flag.49 There were south Indian dances and music for the whole night. A Madrasi climbed a pole and offered coconut and limes to the gods and then walked on fire.50
The Madrasis also celebrated the Munsah festival in the late nineteenth century. Five idols of baked clay, about 3 feet high (3 gods and 2 goddesses) were placed in a group on a cleared patch of ground in the Indian settlement at Tacarigua. Three goats were sacrificed by the Madrasi priest and hibiscus and other flowers were offered by welldressed girls. Drumming went on and later the clay figures were broken and buried.51
In recent years these Madrasi festivals have almost disappeared. In fact, the Madrasis (Mandrajis) participate in the North Indian festivals in greater number. The North Indian festival holi (phagwa or hori) was brought to Trinidad by the early immigrants who used to play with dirt and water on the first day and on the final day (on the fullmoon day of the month of Phagun around FebruaryMarch of the Hindu calendar) with dry abir and coloured water. They used to visit the Indians in various plantations and later in Indian settlements. In recent years it has become a national holiday. The Hori or Kabira songs are sung to the accompaniment of dholak (small drum), jhal or majira and harmonium. The chowtal singing conpetitions are held in Aranguez and other open places and dry coloured powder or even talcum powder is thrown at one another. The ceremonial burning of the demoness Holika who tried to kill Lord Krishna, is repeated every
49. Trinidad Guardian, 6 July 1921, p. 6 and 26 July, 1921 p. 7). 50. Trinidad Guardian, 10 Sept 1921, p. 6. 51. POS Gazette, 6 Aug. 1897.