Location: Narsaloo Ramaya Marg Road, Chaguanas

The Divali Nagar first began in 1986 at the Mid Centre Mall’s car park. It is organized and run by the National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC). The idea was to have a place where the national community could participate in Divali. Prior to the establishment of the Nagar, Divali was celebrated mainly at private homes and in villages with a strong Hindu presence. It was held for the first time at its current location, at Narsaloo Ramaya Marg Road, Chaguanas in 1991. This site is visible from the Uriah Butler Highway.

The land for the Divali Nagar was granted by the Government. The NCIC was granted fifteen acres of land by the NAR Government in 1989. The land was previously owned by Caroni 1975 Ltd. The Divali Nagar site is currently 27 acres.

The facilities on the site include the Bisram Gopie Sangeet Bhavan Auditorium which is the main building on the Divali Nagar site. It is used for weddings, NCIC functions, lectures and exhibitions. There is also an administrative office where the Heritage Collection is housed and a Main Stage.

The Divali Nagar is the flagship project of the NCIC and has an annual theme which is taken from different aspects of Hinduism. There are educational activities and cultural performances by Trinidadians, from the wider Indian Diaspora and from India. A range of items are sold at the Divali Nagar including Indian clothing, Divali supplies and Indian and Indo-Trinidadian foods. It is a very popular food spot for Trinidadians.  It is a local tourism event which attracted approximately 150,000 people over the nine-night period in 2019 (NCIC TT, Facebook, 2020).

Sources:

Bhimull, Visham. (2014). History of the Divali Nagar. https://ncictt.com/2019/10/history-of-divali-nagar/

Gooptar, Primnath. (2015). Cultural Persistence: 50 Years of the National Council of Indian Culture, 1964-2014. Chaguanas: NCIC Heritage Publications.

National Council of Indian Culture. History. https://ncictt.com/history/

NCIC TT Facebook, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/NCICTT/

Address: Narsaloo Ramaya Road

Town/City: Chaguanas

Region: Chaguanas

Site Type: Cultural Heritage

Ownership: Private

Public Accessibility: Limited Access

Cultural Community: East Indian

Site Features: Places of Worship