What sets Indian festivals apart is that they give a strong sense of cultural continuum, said Mr. Pat Dial at the second GOPIO (Guyana Chapter of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin) lecture presented last Thursday at the National Library in the city.
Speaking under the topic “Traditional Indian Festivals of Guyana” Dial said that in the old days, “holiday” and “holy day” were used synonymously. In the West, holidays had a tendency to be political and secular. Indian festivals have a religious, celebratory and a recreational background. These festivals have something unique in the milieu of society.
He cited Phagwah and Eid-Ul-Fitr as two of the festivals that give a strong sense of cultural continuum.
The celebration of these festivals over the years meant that Guyana was beginning to have a plural society. In the 19th century, in Guyana and the rest of the West, uniformity was seen as a preserving power. Indian people lived in a cultural milieu, where their festivals were considered inferior to Western ones. Despite the fact that the country was multicultural, they were expected to conform to the model, he said.
He said that Indian culture was considered out of bounds; one rarely heard Indian music on the radio, Indian dress was considered barbarous, and if anyone not Indian was fond of Indian food, he was ridiculed.
“Many an Indian boy was called ‘dhal’ at school,” he said with a chuckle. Christian prayers were used in school and oaths taken in court were taken on the Bible. Forms stipulated that you put down your Christian name.
In 1962, as Guyana was approaching independence, the concept of having local holidays including Hindu and Muslim holidays, was a welcome one. Leila Dalton of the History and Arts Council, a precursor to the Ministry of Culture, issued a memorandum of National Holidays and recommended the following as National holidays ; Phagwah, Diwali,Youman-Nabi, Eid-ul-Azha and Eid-ul-Fitr. These holidays were recognized after 1967 in the holiday structure.
Mr. Dial said that Guyana has added a distinct stamp on the celebration and marking of these festivals.
Swami Aksharananda will deliver the next lecture,“The Christian Missionary Enterprise During the Indentureship Period” on May 21st at the Hotel Tower.
GOPIO collaborated with the Indian Commemoration Trust to mark the 171st Anniversary of the arrival of East Indians to Guyana. (Michelle Gonsalves)
(Could you use a file photo of a phagwah celebration
