Khajuraho's Kamasutra Connection - Video Report

Trinidad and Tobago: Diwali celebration and other facts

Photo: The Hindu Temple complex and the 26-meter-tall (85 ft) Hanuman Statue, the tallest Hanuman Murti outside India, in Central Trinidad

Photo: Divali Nagar (City of Lights), located in the town of Chaguanas, where the annual exposition of Hindu and Indo-Trinidadian culture, associated with the celebration of Diwali in Trinidad and Tobago, takes place

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the birthplace of Steelpans (steel drums or pans), Calypso (Afro-Caribbean music), Soca (soul calypso) limbo (a popular form of contra dancing), and well-known for its Carnival, is also one of the countries outside India that celebrate Diwali in a significant manner.

Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic country situated in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the South American country of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles.

The country consists of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous smaller islands covering an area of 5,128 square kilometers (1,980 squire miles). Most of the country's population (96% of 1,229,953 people as of July 2010 est.) lives in Trinidad and 4% of the population reside in Tobago.

Two major ethnic groups in the country are the Indo-Trinidadians and the Afro-Trinidadians in Trinidad, and Indo-Tobagonians and Afro-Tobagonians in Tobago, accounting for about 80% of the population. According to the 2000 census, people of Indian origin (South Asians) make up 40% of the population, the rest of the population being African 37.5%, mixed 20.5%, others 1.2%, and unspecified 0.8%.

Indo-Trinidadians (about 40%) constitute the country's largest ethnic group. They are primarily the descendants of indentured workers from India, brought here by the colonial rulers to work mainly in sugar plantations.

About half of the people of the Indian community follow their original native religions, and the rest have converted to Christianity, or have no religious affiliations (including atheists and agnostics). Through many cultural and religious groups, Trinidadians of Indian descent maintain many of their customs, traditions and rituals.

A major festival of Trinidad and Tobago that stands out is the Diwali Nagar exposition (also spelled Divali Nagar, meaning City of Lights), an annual exposition of Hindu culture broadly, and Indo-Trinidadian culture specifically, staged at the Divali Nagar Site, located in the town of Chaguanas.

Diwali Nagar exposition mainly features stage performances by east Indian cultural practitioners, a folk theatre featuring skits and plays, an exhibition on aspects of Hinduism, displays by various Hindu religious sects and social organizations, nightly worship of Goddess Lakshmi, lighting of Diwali diyas (lamps), performances by various schools related to Indian culture, and a food court serving Indian and non-Indian vegetarian delicacies.

The Diwali festival culminates with magnificent fireworks displays ushering in Diwali. Thousands of people participate in the celebrations in an atmosphere devoid of alcohol and in a true family environment.

The influence of Hinduism can be seen in the Hanuman Murti statue and Hindu Temple complex in Central Trinidad, which is famous for the tallest Hanuman Murti (26 meter/ 85 feet) outside India.

Followers of Hinduism constitute only 22.5% of the population, while the rest of the people are Roman Catholic (26%), Anglican (7.8%), Baptist (7.2%), Pentecostal (6.8%), Muslim (5.8%), Seventh Day Adventist (4%), other Christians (5.8%), others 10.8%, unspecified (1.4%), and people following no religions (1.9%) as per the 2000 census.

The main languages of Trinidad and Tobago are English (official), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), French, Spanish and Chinese.

Elephanta Caves, Mumbai

Elephanta Caves, originally uploaded by Himanshu Sarpotdar.

The Elephanta Caves are located on Elephanta Island in Mumbai Harbour, about 10 kilometres to the east of Mumbai, India. The island, on an inlet of the Arabian Sea, has a large group of five Hindu caves and a smaller group of two Buddhist caves. The caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, and maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Ajanta Caves, World Heritage Site

Photo published under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.

Ajanta Caves, in Maharashtra, India, contain ancient paintings and sculptures of both Buddhist religious art and sculpture.

Cave No. 1 is the first cave, with one of the most elaborate sculptures showing scenes from the life of the Buddha. The cave has a front-court with cells, and a porch, once covered with murals of which many fragments remain now. Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 40 feet (12 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) high. There is a shrine on the rear wall to house a seated image of the Buddha. There are four cells on each of the left, rear and the right walls. The walls are covered with paintings, fairly well preserved.

The nearby Cave No. 2 is famous for paintings on its walls, ceilings, and pillars. It has a porch quite different from Cave one. The cave is supported by pillars. The size and ground plan have many things in common with the first cave. The front porch consists of cells.

The caves at Ajanta were abandoned by AD 480 and for the next 1300 years the jungle grew back and the caves were hidden, and unvisited until the spring of 1819 when a British officer in the Madras army entered the steep gorge on the trail of a tiger. Within the tangled undergrowth, he came across the almost hidden entrance to one of the caves. Exploring that first cave, long since inhabited by birds, bats and larger animals, Captain Smith wrote his name in pencil on one of the walls, still faintly visible, it records his name and the date, April 1819.

A view of the Thousand Pillar Hall

The Thousand Pillar Hall (Aayiram Kaal Mandapam) of Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple actually has 985 carved pillars, not exactly 1000 pillars as the name suggests. Each pillar is carved out of stone in the style of Dravidian sculpture. This hall was built modeled on the 1000 pillared hall of Nellaiappar Temple at Tirunleveli, the first largest Shiva Temple in Tamil Nadu.
The Thousand Pillared Hall was built by Ariyanatha Mudaliar (in 1569), the Prime Minister and General of Viswanatha Nayak of the first Nayaka of Madurai (1559-1600). At the entrance of the hall (Mandapam) there is a statue of Ariyanatha Mudaliar seated on horse-back.
The hall is famous for its Temple Art Museum where exhibits of as old as 1200 years are displayed. Just outside this hall there are the Musical Pillars, each of which producing different musical notes when struck.
Meenakshi Amman Temple is a historic Hindu temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati (in the form of Meenakshi), in the holy city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

Sculpture at the Lakshman Temple, Khajuraho

Lakhmana Temple is the oldest and the finest of the Western Group of Temples in Khajuraho. This beautiful Vaishnavite Hindu temple is named after the ruler who built it. There is a horizontal beam over the entrance of the temple showing the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva with Lakshmi, Vishnu’s consort.

There is a nominal entry fee for all visitors to enter the Western Group of temples. All the temples are open from sunrise to sunset. These are the most spectacular and largest of all temple groups.

The other important temples in the Western Group of Temples are:

Kandariya Mahadeo Temple is decorated with a profusion of sculptures that are among the greatest masterpieces of Indian art during the reign of Chandela Dynasty of Central India, built between 950 and 1050 A.D.

Devi Jagdamba Temple is dedicated to Goddess of the Universe (Jagdamba), a smaller and much more delicately proportioned temple. It is home to some of the finest sculptures of Khajuraho. The garbha griha has a huge image of Goddess Jagdamba. It has the usual three bands of sculptures, but the third and most uppermost of these houses some of the most sensual sculptures.

Matanageswara Temple is a temple dedicated to Shiva and a huge 8ft Lingam adorns the temple.

Chitragupta Temple is dedicated to the Sun God (Surya) and as such it faces eastward to the rising sun.

Chaunsat Yogini Temple is the only granite temple in the Khajuraho group.

Sculpture, Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple

Stone carving at the entrance of Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple., originally uploaded by Arpana.

Stone carving at the entrance of Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple - the temple is a blend of the Kerala and Dravidian styles of architecture. It is known for its mural paintings and stone carvings.