HPI
TRINIDAD/TOBAGO, September 6, 2016 (by Paras Ramoutar): Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago are well-poised to celebrate the annual festival of Lord Ganesh Ustav from Sunday September 4 to 15 following weeks of abstinence, meditation and rituals. Hindus will flock to 300-plus temples, along with private and other public places, to seek Lord Ganesh’s blessings and guidance in all their spiritual and material undertakings. This Lord Ganesh Ustav has taken a new initiative and it is only second to Divali, Hindu’s flagship observance. For the past weeks, there have been literally hundreds of Lord Ganesh Yagnas spread across the nation. Several East Indian television and radio frequencies have been airing special programs to mark the occasion, and this is duplicated in the print media.
Devotees chant and sing while parading Lord Ganesha Murtis, constructed from clay or mud, which are worshipped and submerged in the ocean at the end of the celebrations. This is accompanied by music trucks and microphones belting out exclusive Lord Ganesh bhajans and kirtans, and rituals and holy prayers. The East Indian puja stores have reported brisk sales to mark the occasion, and scores of life-sized murtis have been specially-imported from India. Additionally, these murtis are environment friendly.
There has been upsurge of young people participating in the observance which, Pundit Seereeram Maharaj of the Shiv Kailash Temple, Santa Phillipa Road, Caparo, said, “augurs well for the future of Hinduism in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean.” Trinidad and Tobago is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society with 44 per cent of the 1.3 million population are of East Indian extraction.