st. francis xavier built the temple in the sea in trinidad.
st. francis xavier built the temple in the sea in trinidad.
who built the temple in the sea in trinidad?
st. francis xavier
the first hindus arrived in british-ruled trinidad and tobago in the caribbean aboard the fatel razack on may 31, 1845 as indentured laborers who were brought by the british after the abolition of slavery; they were followed by thousands more who came between 1845 to 1917. they worked on the sugarcane, rice, cocoa, and coffee estates. the indentured laborers primarily came from the bhojpuri region and the awadhi region of the hindi belt in north india. a significant minority also came from south india and very few came from the punjab, maharashtra, kumaon, garhwal, jammu, kashmir, gujarat, kutch, odisha, and bengal regions. a majority of the laborers were hindu. unlike the african slaves who they succeeded, the indians were able to keep their culture and traditions. this led to many hindu immigrants passing on the faith and despite efforts by christian missionaries to convert them many continued to practice hinduism. today, hinduism is the second largest religion in trinidad and tobago and the largest religion of the indian population in trinidad and tobago. although they were allowed to continue their religion they were met with contempt or indifference by the non-hindu residents of the country. the hindu and muslim clashes that occurred in south asia continued to occur in trinidad and tobago during the days of indentureship and especially while in the partition of india was going on back in south asia. during indentureship and even in the beginning after independence from the british, hindus were treated as second class citizens. the hindus in trinidad and tobago struggled during the early days after independence and even before during british colonial times over the granting of adult franchise, a hindu marriage act, hindu schools, cremation ordinance, the right to diwali as a public holiday, and others. many of these rights were later granted, due to the efforts of adrian cola rienzi (krishna deonarine tiwari) and the sanatan dharma maha sabha, the major hindu organization in trinidad and tobago led by bhadase sagan maraj. the temple in the sea, an iconic hindu temple in trinidad and tobago has its history rooted in the prejudices of hinduism. it was originally built by an indentured laborer from british india named sewdass sadhu, who actually had built the first temple on property belonging to the estate owners and the temple had to be torn down and he was jailed. after that, he built a second temple out into the sea which became known as the temple in the sea. during the black power movement after independence in the 1960s-1970s many hindu were targeted and attack and riots had broken out. these attacks, the poverty that affected many hindus, and the status of being treated as second-class citizens led to many hindu trinidadians to migrate to the united kingdom, united states, and canada. after independence the hindus were marginalized by the african-based people's national movement (pnm) and the opposing party, the people's democratic party (pdp) led by bhadase sagan maraj, later turning into the democratic labour party (dlp) led by rudranath capildeo, then finally turning into the present-day united national congress (unc) party led by basdeo panday and kamla persad-bissessar, was portrayed as a "hindu party" and an "indian party" and tactics were used against them. hindus were described as a ""recalcitrant and hostile minority"", by prime minister eric williams. hindus were alienated by such communal groups. the support of the pnm government to christian afro-trinidadian and tobagonian and creole art forms such as carnival and christmas, while their public rejection and ridicule of hindu art forms, was a particular source of contention for the hindus. the displacement of pnm from power in 1985 would improve the circumstances. there has been persistent discontent among the hindus with their marginalization. many groups portray hindus as "clannish, backward and miserly". during the general elections of 1986, the absence of the bhagavad gita and the quran at polling stations for required oath-taking was interpreted as a gross insult to hindus and muslims. the absence of any hindu religious texts at the official residence of the president of trinidad and tobago during the swearing in of the new government in 1986 was perceived as another insult to the minority communities since they were represented in the government. the national education system and curriculum have been repeatedly accused of such majority-oriented symbolism. the use of discernibly oriented prayers at government schools, the non-representation of hinduism in approved school textbooks, and the lack of emphasis on hindu religious observance evoked deep resentment from the hindu community. intensified protests over the course of the 1980s led to an improvement in the state's attitudes towards hindus.
anti-hindu sentiment
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