Divali

Divali, the Hindu festival of lights, is the most visually stunning night of the Trinbagonian year. Tens of thousands of clay deyas — small oil lamps — line walls, driveways, bamboo frames and temple steps across the country, and entire villages in central and south Trinidad glow. It has been a public holiday in Trinidad and Tobago since 1966, and like the country's other great religious festivals, everybody celebrates it.

When is Divali?

Divali follows the Hindu lunar calendar, falling on the new-moon night of the month of Kartik — October or November on the Gregorian calendar, a different date each year. The table above lists the confirmed dates for the years we track. (You'll see the spelling "Diwali" elsewhere in the world; "Divali" is the standard in Trinidad and Tobago.)

What the festival celebrates

Divali honours the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile and victory over the demon king Ravana — the story told in the Ramayana — and the worship of Mother Lakshmi, goddess of light, wealth and prosperity, who is welcomed into clean, lamp-lit homes. The deeper theme is the one every faith recognises: light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil. Each deya is a small enactment of that victory.

How Trinidad celebrates

Preparation starts weeks out: homes deep-cleaned and repainted, new clothes bought, sweets — barfi, kurma, ladoo — made in industrial quantities for sharing. In the week before, the National Divali Nagar in Chaguanas draws hundreds of thousands to its mandirs, stage shows, food stalls and fireworks; it has grown into one of the largest Divali festivals outside India. On the night itself, Hindu homes light their deyas at dusk, pundits perform Lakshmi puja, and the sharing begins — parcels of sweets and food crossing every fence, to neighbours of every faith. Streets in Debe, Penal, Couva, Chaguanas and Aranguez become rivers of light, with fireworks overhead.

A holiday the whole country keeps

Roughly one in five Trinbagonians is Hindu, but Divali's reach is national — workplaces hold Divali lunches, schools teach the Ramayana story, politicians of every background attend the Nagar, and non-Hindu households light deyas in solidarity. Along with Eid-ul-Fitr and Christmas, it's part of the annual proof that the country's religious calendar belongs to everyone.

Practical notes

Divali is a statutory public holiday: banks, schools and offices close. The date's movement means it sometimes creates long weekends — check the table above and the year pages. If you're visiting, the Divali Nagar in the preceding week is the easiest way in, and a drive through central Trinidad after dusk on Divali night is one of the great sights the islands offer.