For Divali 2012, we were inspired by Mother Lakshmi for our celebrations, and as we moved into planning this year’s Divali events, we thought of the Ramayana and decided, for the next four years, to use a different character from the Ramayana on which to base our celebrations.
This year, as you can see, we selected Lord Hanuman, and the theme is: “A symbol of strength and stability.” As you may all be aware, Hanuman is a central figure in the Ramayana, one of the greatest of Hindu epics and a sacred text that has been the source of courage, strength and inspiration for the Hindu community since the earliest days of indentureship in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean.