For many Guyanese Americans, Diwali is much more than an annual religious celebration, festival of lights during the darkest moon of the year, falling in late October or early November. Diwali isa also a cherished connection to childhood, family, village life, worshipping by Hindus, and a homeland that remains close to their hearts, even after decades (from 1960s) of living abroad.
As Diwali approaches each year, Guyanese immigrants in USA, particularly those who grew up in Guyana during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, find themselves reminiscing about the extraordinary atmosphere surrounding the Festival of Lights in their homeland. Their memories are filled with glowing clay deyas, simple but beautifully decorated homes without all the fancy lights and glossy trimmings and fireworks, the aroma of traditional Indian delicacies, temple prayers, cultural concerts, and the excitement of the season of travelling from village to village to admire the illuminated deyas around the yard and on the steps, windows, in front of doors, etc.
For many, those were unforgettable years when Diwali was not simply a Hindu religious observance but a national cultural celebration that brought together people of different ethnicities and religious backgrounds. Non-Hindus also partook in the celebration as guests at homes of Hindus for feats.
Preparing for the Festival
The excitement of Diwali began weeks before the actual festival. Hindu families embarked on extensive preparations to welcome Mother Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, prosperity and good fortune.
Homes were thoroughly cleaned, painted and decorated. Lawns were trimmed, gardens beautified, and new curtains, bed sheets, furniture coverings and household decorations were purchased. Families shopped for new clothes, groceries, coconut oil, ghee, wicks and clay deyas.
The preparations were undertaken with great care because Diwali was regarded as an occasion for welcoming prosperity and beginning anew.
In villages such as Port Mourant, Rose Hall, Albion, Skeldon, Whim, Fyrish, Enmore, Annandale, Enterprise Anna Regina, and other communities along the Coast throughout the country, the anticipation was unmistakable. Children were particularly excited. They knew that Diwali meant a school holiday, delicious sweets, family gatherings, visits to relatives and, above all, the spectacular lighting of deyas.
For many families, preparations also involved fasting, prayer and abstaining from certain foods and activities before the festival.
The Magic of the Deyas
Perhaps the most enduring memory of Diwali in those decades was the lighting of clay deyas. On Diwali night, families placed rows of illuminated lamps along windowsills, doorways, staircases, verandas, rooftops and garden pathways. Coconut oil or ghee was poured into the little earthen containers, cotton wicks were carefully positioned, and the lamps were lit as darkness descended. The sight was breathtaking.
Entire neighbourhoods appeared transformed into oceans of flickering lights. Some families created elaborate arrangements and geometric patterns with their deyas, while others decorated their front yards with colourful designs and religious symbols.
There was an informal competition among households to see who could produce the most attractive display. Children and adults alike would drive or walk through neighbouring villages to admire the decorations. Only a few families could afford the electronic lights and they came late 1970s when the country was swept with blackouts for weeks at a time.
Unlike today’s elaborate electronic lighting systems, the beauty of those earlier celebrations came largely from simple earthen lamps, handmade decorations and the enthusiasm of families working together.
For many Guyanese Americans, the memory of a grandmother or mother carefully lighting the first diya remains one of the most emotional recollections of their childhood.
Food, Sweets and Sharing
Diwali was also a feast for the senses. The preparation of traditional Indian delicacies was an important family activity. Kitchens became busy places as mothers, grandmothers and other relatives prepared mithai, parsad, mohanbhoog, pera, gulab jamoon, ladoo and other sweets.
Savoury dishes included bara, phulourie, bhaiganee, aloo, channa, black eye, dhal puri, rice, curry and a variety of vegetarian preparations. Channa, flour, dhall, potatoes, onions, garlic, canned milk, raisins, currants, cherries, and other imported fruits, several spices, were banned or prohibited from importation and consumption, carrying heavy fines if found by the food police. Ghee was also very scarce as Government didn’t import it. Thus, many food items were not available during the late 1970s and 1980s. Agarbatie, samaghri, camphor, etc., were not imported, making it difficult to conduct puja. The ban ended around 1988.
During the Burnham era (1965–1985), Guyana imposed extensive restrictions on imported goods. These affected the availability of ingredients used in traditional Hindu cooking and religious offerings. Flour, dhal, channa, potatoes, onions, garlic, spices, ghee and other imported products were difficult to obtain legally at various times.
How this affected Diwali celebrations? For Hindu families, these restrictions created considerable difficulties in preparing traditional foods such as: – Bara and phulourie, Dhal puri and roti, Channa and aloo, Mohanbhog and parsad, Pandri, sirni and other traditional sweets, as well as various curries and vegetarian dishes. Some ingredients were smuggled from neighbouring Suriname, while others were purchased at very high prices through informal markets. Families with limited financial resources often had to manage with locally available substitutes. The restrictions were particularly difficult because food was not merely a matter of personal preference. Certain ingredients were necessary for religious offerings, pujas and the preparation of traditional meals. The government restrictions were not specifically a ban on Diwali or Holi or Hindu or Muslim foods or a prohibition on Hindu and Muslim religious observances. But it amounted to that. They were broader import and trade controls that had serious consequences for Hindu and Muslim cultural and religious practices.
The import restrictions were subsequently relaxed under President Desmond Hoyte in the late 1980s. Many older Guyanese Americans remember those years not only for the beautiful deyas, family gatherings and religious celebrations, but also for the hardships of obtaining flour, dhal, channa, ghee and other ingredients. For some families, celebrating Diwali meant overcoming economic and food shortages simply to preserve their ancestral traditions.
Before and during the food restrictions, neighbours exchanged food, relatives visited one another, and sweets were distributed to friends regardless of their religious or ethnic backgrounds.
For many children, the highlight was receiving little packages of mithai and other goodies from neighbours and relatives. These simple acts of generosity reinforced the spirit of friendship and goodwill associated with Diwali. Hindus also visited mandirs for special prayers, havan, bhajans and religious discourses. Families offered prayers to Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi, seeking blessings for prosperity, health and happiness.
A National Celebration Beyond Religious Boundaries
One remarkable feature of Diwali in Guyana during the 1960s through the 1980s was the participation of people from different ethnic and religious communities.
Afro-Guyanese, Indo-Guyanese, Amerindians and people of mixed ancestry joined in the festivities. Non-Hindu neighbours eagerly anticipated invitations to Diwali dinners and the distribution of traditional sweets. Children from all backgrounds enjoyed the holiday, visited decorated homes and admired the displays of deyas.
The Diwali motorcade became another major attraction. Introduced in 1974 by the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, it has developed into a spectacular annual procession featuring elaborately decorated and illuminated floats depicting Hindu religious themes, accompanied by music, dance and cultural performances.
Tens of thousands of spectators lined the streets to witness the procession, demonstrating how a religious festival had become a major national cultural attraction. The motorcade also helped introduce Hindu traditions to people who might otherwise have had limited exposure to them. New York also has a motorcade that started some two decades ago in Little Guyana, Richlond Hill, Queens.
School Concerts and Cultural Performances
For the younger generation, Diwali celebrations in schools were particularly memorable. This writer organized the first Diwali celebrations at Corentyne High School in 1976.
Hindu students’ societies and cultural organisations organised concerts featuring Indian classical and folk dances, songs, devotional music, skits and dramatic presentations based on episodes from the Ramayana.
Students rehearsed often performing in colourful traditional Indian attire. Teachers, parents and community leaders supported these programmes, which provided opportunities for young people to develop confidence and appreciate their ancestral heritage.
The establishment of Hindu youth organisations in schools during the late 1960s and subsequent decades helped strengthen cultural education and participation. These concerts were especially important in an era when access to Indian cultural programming was more limited than it is today.
Memories That Travelled to America
When Guyanese began migrating in substantial numbers to the United States during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, they carried these traditions and memories with them.
However, celebrating Diwali in America was initially very different.
Many early immigrants lived in rented rooms, small apartments or inexpensive hotels. There were few Hindu temples, limited availability of Indian groceries and relatively little public understanding of Indian religious festivals.
Consequently, Diwali celebrations were often confined to apartments and private gatherings. Families prepared whatever traditional foods they could obtain, offered prayers and shared meals with friends and neighbours.
As Guyanese immigrants established themselves, acquired homes and created community organisations, celebrations gradually expanded. By the 1980s, more public cultural programmes and temple observances were emerging in New York and other American cities.
The growth of Little Guyana in Richmond Hill, Queens, during the late 1980s and subsequent years made it increasingly possible to obtain traditional foods, religious supplies, clothing and other cultural necessities.
Today, Guyanese Americans celebrate Diwali with public programmes, temple services, cultural concerts, family gatherings and elaborate decorations. Politicians also host Diwali celebrations – White House, Governor House, Mahor House, Legislatures, etc. Yet many continue to believe that the atmosphere of Diwali in Guyana during their childhood was unique.
A Heritage Worth Preserving
For the older generation of Guyanese Americans, reminiscing about Diwali in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s is an opportunity to reconnect with their roots and share their experiences with children and grandchildren born in North America.
They remember a time when neighbours knew one another, doors were open, food was freely shared and religious differences rarely prevented people from participating in each other’s celebrations.
Those memories are an important part of Guyana’s cultural history and the Indo-Guyanese immigrant experience.
As Guyanese Americans continue to celebrate Diwali in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Boston, Georgia, Minneapolis, Schenectady, Toronto and elsewhere, they are doing more than observing a religious festival. They are preserving a heritage, transmitting traditions and maintaining an emotional connection with the country of their birth.
The deyas may now be replaced in some homes by modern electronic lights, and celebrations may take place thousands of miles from the villages where many grew up. But the essential message remains unchanged.
Diwali is about light, hope, family, generosity, faith and togetherness. For those who experienced the magic of Diwali in Guyana during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, those memories will continue to shine as brightly as the little clay lamps that once illuminated their childhood homes.
Shubh Diwali to all Guyanese, at home and the diaspora!
Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram