Traditions of Divali in Trinidad & Tobago: Where Faith Meets Art

Every October or November, as dusk settles and the air fills with the scent of incense and coconut oil, Trinidad and Tobago transforms. Across villages and cities, the darkness softens under the glow of thousands of flickering deyas, each flame carrying a story older than the land itself yet reshaped by the Caribbean hands that keep it alive.

Divali here is not simply a reflection of India’s festival of lights; it is its own creation - a Caribbean retelling of devotion, memory and community.

The Bamboo Bends: Lighting Faith Across the Streets

Perhaps the most breathtaking sight during Divali in Trinidad and Tobago is the bamboo bend, those towering arches and elaborate designs made from split bamboo, bent and bound by hand.

Unique to the Indo-Caribbean diaspora, this tradition is pure innovation born of necessity. Early indentured labourers had little access to ornate temple structures, so they used what was around them - bamboo, oil and imagination.

Over generations, the bamboo bend became an art form: hearts, stars, peacocks, temples and whole gateways rising from the ground. When lit, they transform streets into pathways of gold, each flame whispering stories of faith, resilience and belonging.

In places like Felicity and Debe, families and neighbours spend days preparing their designs, creating a living gallery that celebrates not just Divali, but the Indo-Caribbean genius for turning survival into beauty.

The Deya: Flame of Memory and Renewal

The humble clay deya - simple, handmade, filled with coconut oil or ghee, is at the heart of every Divali celebration.

Its flame represents the light of knowledge, purity and truth, burning away ignorance and fear. But in the Caribbean, the deya has taken on an even deeper resonance. For descendants of indentured labourers, it is a link to ancestry, a light that crossed the kala pani (black waters) and refused to go out.

Lighting deyas across steps, fences and yards has become both a ritual of faith and a national symbol of unity. In every community, from temples to homes to government offices, the act reminds us that light, when shared, multiplies.

Colours of Devotion

If light is the soul of Divali, colour is its voice.

Homes and temples come alive with bright hues - yellow for purity, red for energy, green for new beginnings, gold for prosperity. Women wear shimmering saris and men don crisp kurtas, the fabrics catching the light of the flames.

In Trinidad and Tobago, you’ll often find these traditional colours intertwined with our own Caribbean palette: bold blues, tropical oranges and vibrant floral prints, a reflection of how our islands absorb and reinterpret beauty.

The result is a festival where tradition and creativity walk hand in hand, faith expressed through fashion and joy painted in every shade of belonging.

The Sound of the Festival

Before the first deya is lit, the sound of Divali fills the air - rhythmic, melodic, alive.

The bhajans (devotional songs) echo from temples and homes, blending with the beating of tassa drums that pulse through villages. The music carries both reverence and revelry, a reminder that worship and celebration can coexist.

In the Caribbean, the tassa drum became an instrument of identity. It evolved from ancient Indian rhythms into something uniquely ours, faster, more percussive, infused with the energy of carnival and the heartbeat of the islands.

When tassa meets the stillness of a prayer or bhajans mingle with laughter, Divali becomes more than a religious observance, it becomes a living soundscape of cultural fusion.

Fasting, Prayer and Puja: Preparing the Spirit

Long before the lights are lit, Divali begins with purification, of body, home and spirit.

Many Hindus observe a period of fasting and abstinence, avoiding meat, alcohol and indulgence to clear the mind and body. Homes are scrubbed, decorated, and blessed.

On Divali day, pujas (ritual prayers) are performed at dawn or dusk. Offerings of flowers, sweets, rice and light are made to Goddess Lakshmi, invoking prosperity and peace for the household.

But even beyond religious observance, this period of mindfulness has become a quiet cultural rhythm across the islands, a collective reset before the season of light.

The Feast and the Sharing

No Caribbean celebration is complete without food and Divali is no exception.

After prayers, families and friends gather to share vegetarian feasts rich in flavour and tradition: dhal, rice, pumpkin, channa, aloo, roti, pholourie, kurma, barfi and gulab jamun.

Neighbours exchange plates across fences, colleagues bring parcels to work, and whole communities sit together to eat. The act of sharing becomes the true expression of the festival, generosity as worship, kindness as light.

In Trinidad and Tobago, Divali teaches us that abundance isn’t about what you have; it’s about what you give.

Light, Faith and the Caribbean Imagination

From the artistry of the bamboo bends to the scent of coconut oil in a deya, every tradition of Divali in Trinidad and Tobago tells the same story: that faith, when met with creativity, can bloom anywhere.

Our ancestors may have carried the customs here, but it is the Caribbean that gave them new life, infusing each ritual with rhythm, colour and soul.

Divali endures not just because of what we inherited, but because of how we keep re-imagining it. Every year, we light our lamps not only to remember but to reinvent. And in that act, we affirm what the Caribbean has always known: that light, once shared, never fades.

Shubh Divali!

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