Tadjah night hunting in St. James

 1 - All Trinidad Posts, 2 - All Tobago Posts, 2010, Trinidad  3 Responses »
Dec 182010
 

This is the reaction I got tonight from the folks at home (note Trini English)…

  • <Dad> Where are you out to tonight?
  • <Me> Hosay
  • <Dad> Huh? Yuh mean in St. James? But it not safe down there … it have so much crime there
  • <Me> I’ll be fine …
  • <Dad> Who yuh meeting?
  • <Me> People ….

Anyway for years I’ve heard about Hosay in St. James, but it was one of those things you learnt about in your Social Studies class, but no one I knew ever went to Hosay, especially as it was in “North”.

In a nutshell, Hosay is observed with a parade full of colorful tadjahs in commemoration of the martyrdom of Hussain (Hussein), the grandson of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in the year 680 AD. There are 5 families in St. James that each make their own tadjah in their own idiosyncratic style.

Hosay parades take place in two Shiite communities in Trinidad: St. James, in the western section of Port-of-Spain, and Cedros, in the South. The colorful procession in St. James is the largest (five tadjahs) and draws thousands of spectators of all religions every year. The Shiites of St. James spend a considerable amount of time and money in the building of miniature temples (tadjahs, taziyas, hosays, mausoleums) with bamboo, wood, paper, and tinsel to depict the tomb of Hussain.

These tadjahs range in height from 10 to 30 feet and are hauled through the streets on parade days accompanied by the beating of drums (tassas) and two standards in the shape of half-moons, each carried separately on the shoulder of one man at a time. The half-moons (one red and one green) symbolize the deaths of both Hussain and his brother Hassan; red for the blood of Hussain that was shed at Karbala and green for the poisoning of Hassan, 11 years earlier. The drums and flags are symbolic of those used in wars in the 7th century. (I’ve lifted the history and account can read from Best of Trinidad)

So back to the hunt, so armed with knowledge for our local expert Anisa, we went walking through St. James for all the other Tadjahs. Some tadjahs were already locked up behind bars, but with Anisa’s help, we were able to stroll around and walk into people’s yards to take pictures.

Anisa also explained the family history and the order of the tadjahs in the parades. It’s based on longevity as follows:

  1. Panchayatee (Bay Road) Hosay – belonging to the entire Shiite community and located on Mathura Street (previously on Bay Road)
  2. Ghulam Hussein Hosay – named after one of the local icons of Hosay and located on Western Main Road
  3. Cocorite Hosay – belonging to the community of Cocorite at the western end of St. James
  4. Balma Hosay – belonging to the Emamali family and located on Clarence Street;
  5. Bisnath Hosay – belonging to the Bisnath family and located on Bournes Road.

Definitely enlightening to find out the process, the number of volunteers and the overall cost to upkeep this tradition. Each family raises money to build their particular Hosay – which is no mean feat in itself.

Tadjah hunting in St. James

  • rishiray's photo
  • rishiray's photo
  • rishiray's photo
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 Posted by rishiray at 11:05 am  Tagged with: , , , ,

100 things to do in Trinidad & Tobago

 1 - All Trinidad Posts, 2 - All Tobago Posts, 2010, Trinidad  4 Responses »
Dec 172010
 

What do I do in Trinidad? Every post on Lonely Planet, Couchsurfing seems to ask this, when it comes to Trinidad. Aside from the ridiculously obvious ones … there is actually tons of things to do in Trinidad … but it would take the full year to do this list in Trinidad, since many festivals coincide with religious holidays.

This is my personal list of 100 things to do in Trinidad … building over time.

  1. Have a piece of Trini KFC at the world’s busiest KFC restaurant in Independence Square, Port of Spain. (Beijing doesn’t compare …)
  2. Go to South Trinidad to a little town called Debe (pronounced Day-bay) … and have one each of the following - ”doubles”, “aloo pie”, “saheena”, “baiganie”, all with slight pepper and wash it down with a freshly cut cold coconut.
  3. Get video at night from Lady Young Lookout
  4. Tour the Carib Brewery in Champ Fleurs
  5. Go drinking in a traditional Trinidadian rumshop …
  6. Have a cold coconut outside the Queens Park Savannah at 1am
  7. Order Char Sue Kai Fan in a Chinese restaurant with tons of pepper.
  8. Go to a traditional Parang Lime
  9. ………………………………………….in Paramin
  10. Attend a traditional Hindu wedding and eat your food off a washed Banana leaf
  11. Driving through the Coconut trees on the Mayaro – Manzanilla stretch
  12. Go see the view from Fort George
  13. Then drive and see the view from Mount St. Benedict
  14. Go birdwatching at the Wild Fowl Trust in Point-a-Pierre 
  15. Then do some birdwatching at the Caroni Swamp & Bird Sanctuary
  16. Turtle Watching in Grande Rivière (Mar-Aug)
  17. More birdwatching at the Asa Wright Nature Centre
  18. Take a trip “Down the islands”
  19. Go bat watching at the Gasparee Caves
  20. Have a “Bake and Shark” at Maracas Beach 
  21. Play All Fours in a rumshop lime – note… Trinis do not play Dominoes
  22. Go surfing at Toco
  23. Make a footprint in the Pitch Lake
  24. See the Sunset from the Temple in the Sea 
  25. Hike to the two highest points in Trinidad : El Tuchuche and El Cerro del Aripo
  26. Have a lunch picnic in Galera Point, Toco
  27. Attend the Panorama Steel Pan finals (Carnival Season only)
  28. Play Mud Mas
  29. Tour the Angostura Distillery and learn about Angostura Bitters
  30. Watch the West Indies cricket team play at the Queens Park Oval 
  31. Have dinner with the Yachties
  32. See the sunset from Naparima College 
  33. Have a Christmas dinner with Ponche a Crème, Pastelles, Black Cake and Sorrel
  34. Walk the entire length of the Brian Lara Promenade
  35. Have breakfast at the Breakfast Shed
  36. Take a picture at the Maracas Lookout and have some preserved Mango.
  37. Cross the stage for Carnival
  38. Play mas in Carnival Band
  39. Go to a cooler fete
  40. Go to an all inclusive fete , then another, and another
  41. See Machel Montano perform
  42. See David Rudder perform at the Normandie Hotel
  43. Learn to wine!
  44. Go see the Nylon Pool
  45. Hike to the Paria Waterfalls
  46. See the mud volcanoes in the Devil’s Woodyard in Hindustan
  47. Learn to make deyas in Edinburgh Village, Chaguanas.
  48. Go to a Chutney fete in Rienzi Complex, Couva
  49. Attend a political rally – PNM, UNC, NAR,COP – doesn’t matter – same bullshit anyway – but entertaining nonsense.
  50. Go to a Calypso tent.
  51. Have drinks at Smokeys & Buntys
  52. Go to Argyle Falls in Tobago 
  53. Hosay in St James. There are 5 Hosay yards connected to the St. James observance, the Cocorite Hosay Yard, Bis (Bisnath) Yard, Balma Yard, Panchaiti Yard and the Ghulam Hussein-Ali Hosay Yard.
  54. Phagwa in Saith Park, Chaguanas or Felicity.
  55. Divali Nagar (City of Lights)
  56. Midnight Doubles at the Doubles Factory in Aranguez
  57. Visit the Dattatreya Mandir in Carapichaima.
  58. Visit the Treveni Mandir in Hardbargain
  59. Take picture in front Hardbargain village sign
  60. Touch all four corners of Trinidad
    1. Toco (North East)
    2. Icacos Village (South West)
    3. Amoco Jetty – Guayaguayare (South-East)
    4. Tetron Base – Chaguaramas (North West)
  61. Visit all the islands, “Down de Islands”
  62. Go reef swimming off Little Tobago
  63. Go “shopping” in the malls : Gulf City, West Mall, Valpark, Long Circular – note not made for North American, European or Arabic standards.
  64. Go see the view at day and night from San Fernando Hill
  65. Go to a Curry Duck lime and play some Windball Cricket
  66. Head down to Manzanilla Bay for Ash Wednesday
  67. Have dasheen parata roti at the Tobago Blue Food festival in Bloody Bay
Discover Trinidad & Tobago Guide 2011

 

 

 Posted by rishiray at 1:43 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nightshooting in Buenos Aires

 2009, Argentina, Buenos Aires  No Responses »
Nov 132009
 

Floralis Generica is a beautiful sculpture located in United Nations Park in Buenos Aires.  This Park is right next to the Recoleta district (actually across the street from the Recoleta flea market on weekends) and is next to the Law School.

Floralis Generic is a giant, 23 meter sculpture made of steel and aluminum (its weight is 18 tons). The structure of the flower is made of steel and the shiny panels in the petals are made of aluminum.  The sculpture moves, closing its petals at night and opening them during the day.  It has some lighting for special ocassions too

The law school at night is quite a stunning building

Walking around Recoleta park and walkways around, there are many graffiti style piece of public art all around.

Randomly seeing the nocturnal activity

More memorials….

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 Posted by rishiray at 9:58 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , ,
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