Diwali (Deepvali) in Guyana

Jean-Claude is travelling to Surinam and French Guiana while I am at Lake Mainstay (an isolated resort on a beautiful lake a 3-hour drive/boat ride from Georgetown) participating in the course "Volunteer Programme Development & Management".  We will meet up again in Georgetown on November 25!  So, my French readers, there will be no French this time.

Guyana is made up of 3 major ethnic groups:  i) Afro-Guyanese, descended from the slaves; ii) Indo-Guyanese, descended from the indentured workers brought from India to replace the slaves after emancipation, and iii) the original Guyanese:  the Amerindians who live mainly inland.  Guyana celebrates the major events of each national group.  We wrote earlier of the African national holiday in August.  This time it is the Indo-Guyanese event of Diwali, a national holiday on November 13, 2012.

Diwali means "festival of lights" and it celebrates the worship of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity & embodiment of beauty.  The night before there is a long parade of floats, all alit with lights.  The actual day (November 13), in the evening, Hindus light small clay lamps and put them around their house in the hopes that Lakshmi will visit them and bring them good fortune.

In the photos below you will see Lakshmi on every float.  She is sitting or standing in a lotus flower (symbol of the fertile growth of life) and her hands form two mudras.  The right hand is raised to the shoulder, palm facing outward, fingers upright & together.  This "abhaya mudra" represents protection, peace, benevolence and dispelling fear.  The left hand is in the "gyan mudra" which represents knowledge.  Anyone practising yoga will be familiar with this mudra in which the thumb and index finger touch to form a circle.

These photos are for Brandon, a Cuso volunteer on a short-term assignment who left November 15.  We enjoyed his company a great deal and appreciated his willingness to explore with us.  Happy return to Canada, Brandon!!

Jean-Claude & Brandon waiting for the parade 

crowd waiting on the seawall

large crowds both Afro- and Indo-Guyanese

Can you spot Jean-Claude & Brandon among the crowd?

Lakshmi sitting in a lotus flower

cars strung with lights

note the elaborate lotus flower in which she sits

each Indo-Guyanese company or neighborhood had a float

Notice her mudra 

oops, spectators in the way!

All these representations of Lakshmi are real people - they needed to stay absolutely still! 

Big trucks strung with lights pulling a float.

Can you spot Patricia?

the parade lasted a good 20 minutes, then fireworks!