PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD, February 20, 2015 (By Paras Ramoutar for HPI): Away from fetes, dancing and merrymaking as Trinidad and Tobago, the oil-rich Caribbean republic observes its annual carnival, devout Hindus visited temples and other public places to observe the annual Shivratri on Carnival Tuesday, February 17.
Thousands of Hindu women dressed in saris and men in kurtas spent the night in over 400 temples across the land. For the past three weeks, Hindus maintained strict adherence and did not eat meat or indulged in alcoholic drinks in preparation for Shivratri. Scores of temples hosted special Lord Shiva Yagnas, all of which were carried live on several radio stations. Ramesh Tiwari, spiritual leader of the Edinburgh Hindu temple in Chaguanas town said, “The observance of Shivratri gives mankind another chance to reconnect with Lord Shiva. The world continues to travel down the pathway of spiritual, oral and ethical decline.”
The observance of Shivratri was brought by the indentured Indian laborers who came from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar between 1845 and 1917. Shivratri is one of several sacred Hindu observances which were brought here by their forefathers. Out of a population of 1.3 million people, some 25 percent people are devout Hindus.