Phagwa at Williamsville

The Williamsville Historical Days and Festivals Committee will be celebrating its 23rd annual Phagwa festival on Easter Sunday, March 31 at the Brothers’ Recreation Ground, Garth Road, Williamsville from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Phagwa, brought by our indentured ancestors from India, was first celebrated in the barracks in the many estates where they were housed. In the early years they did not have access to gulal and abir and resorted to using mud and the soot from the fire side to smear each other in fun. Later, they extracted the red juice from the oku and used it as a substitute for abir.

Today with the strong access to trade with India all the paraphernalia associated with the celebration of Phagwa including gulal and abir are now available in the many pooja stores scattered across the country.

The Williamsville Historical Days and Festivals Committee has been celebrating Phagwa since 2000 at the Brothers’ Grounds. There has not been any hiccups except 2021 and 2022 due to the ban on public gathering by the government because of the scare of Covid 19.
Over the years several officials have graced our programs including Dr. Glenn Ramadharsingh, Kevin Ramnarine and Subhash Panday. This year our Committee is opened to welcoming and hosting Barry Padarath, the MP for Princess Town.

Our Committee has coopted the support of many to bring this celebration to fruition. In addition to the DJ we shall have Jairaj Singh, a well known vocalists and emcee to entertain the audience along with the young and talented Nichlas Dindial and other young entertainers of Williamsville. Vassan Ramracha, a resident of Florida and the sponsor of gulal for all the kids under 12, will also be with us.

The newest member of our Committee is Councilor Vincent Raghoo of the Princes Town Regional Corporation. A resident of Garth Road and the elected representative of the area where the festival is being held, Councilor Raghoo has shown a rare commitment and dedication toward this program. Eager to ensure that the program is a success, Councilor Raghoo has arranged to have the tents, the stage and all advertisement of the program executed. For this our Committee thank him most sincerely. Councilor Raghoo is truly a breath of fresh air and his youth assures us of many years of celebrations ahead.

While the celebration of Phagwa remains marginal in Trinidad, in neighboring Guyana it is a public holiday. Social media highlight the celebration of Phagwa not only in India and Guyana but throughout the diaspora including New York in the USA.

Phagwa is truly the festival of colors given the myriads of colors on display at Phagwa Festivals. More unique is the conscious effort to keep the fun in Phagwa at a moral high and not allow it to descend into a vulgarity and drunkenness than have come to be integral to other cultures.

Central to Phagwa is the theme -Truth shall defeat Untruth. The slaying of the demonic king to save his devotee Prahalad is an assurance that Bhagavan will always be available to protect his devotees in times of need. Just as young Prahalad’s faith in Bhagavan was not shaken when he was challenged by the wicked king, so we must muster the courage to stand up against wrong does and criminals.
Prahalad, a lad of seven has shown us the way. He was prepared to stand up for his Dharma, that is, the right to serve his Bhagavan and not be swayed by the dictatorial rage of a few leaders. Prahalad is the hero of Phagwa. He demonstrated that he would confront wrong, even if it comes form a King and that King was his father.

Holi.