From Kala Pani to Gangadhaara: sacred space and the trauma of indentureship in Trinidad
The Gangadhaara Festival, the brainchild of Ravindranath Maharaj (Raviji), a Hindu activist in Trinidad, is the yearly celebration of Ganga Ma, the goddess associated with the Ganges River. Although Raviji’s temple, the Hindu Prachar Kendra (Kendra), organizes the event, their name is absent from si...
| Published in: | Nidān |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Univ.
2018
|
| In: |
Nidān
|
| Further subjects: | B
Indentureship
B Indo-Caribbean B Trinidad B Pilgrimage B Diaspora B Hinduism B Caribbean |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The Gangadhaara Festival, the brainchild of Ravindranath Maharaj (Raviji), a Hindu activist in Trinidad, is the yearly celebration of Ganga Ma, the goddess associated with the Ganges River. Although Raviji’s temple, the Hindu Prachar Kendra (Kendra), organizes the event, their name is absent from signage, emphasizing the collaborative aspect of the festival. This celebration is the joint effort of many local temples and is for the entire Indo-Trinidadian community, not just the Kendra’s members. As such the festival works to unite the Hindu community and introduce a pilgrimage aspect to their established religious practices. Envisioned as a pilgrimage through the waters of the Marianne River, the Gangadhaara festival both sacralizes the landscape of Trinidad and connects participants to their ancestors who were indentured laborers. In the retelling of their own history, Indo-Trinidadians describe the journey to the island as one sanctioned by the gods. The resilience of the laborers and their ability to conquer the land further indicates the specialness of Trinidad. In this article, I argue that although the Gangadhaara festival outwardly focuses on environmental issues, it serves an additional purpose by embodying the journey of the indentured laborers. By enacting their ancestors’ journey across the Kala Pani, or black waters, the offerings at Gangadhaara become an act of remembrance and a way for Indo-Trinidadian Hindus to cope with the transgenerational trauma of indentureship. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2414-8636 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Nidān
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.58125/nidan.2018.1 |