Hosay

 

Karrindy Seepersad

 

Being a multi-cultured society, Trinidad and Tobago has a unified outlook on many aspects of life. Local traditions are mixed with various religions, beliefs, and cultures of the world. A mentionable festival is Hosay which is a Shia Muslim's traditional way for remembering Muharram.

Floats or “tadjahs” are made to look like a Mosque and decorated with vibrant paint, detailed Islamic hand crafted designs are carved in and highlighted with glitter. It takes months for floats to be built and fully completed before it is showcased in a street parade. It is important to mention that those who are building the floats must also fast and pray until preparation has been concluded.

 

Celebrations of Hosay lasts an entire weekend with the last day, or Ashura, being the most interesting. However, in Trinidad, festivities start from Friday night until Sunday evening, with Sunday as the most populous. On Sunday, there will be various floats, years ago there were more compared to now. Here are pictures of the two that were present on that day. Closed streets enabled people to dance through the roads behind each float. A tassa drum band plays with each float. This type of drum requires quick hand movement as it produces very fast paced, festive, and energetic sounds with Persian influence. Locals consider this music as Indian and Muslim style and it is played at weddings, parties, and festivals

 

Once the floats have arrived to the ocean, everything stops.

 

Usually, an Imam blesses the floats before they are sent into the ocean however; this is not always the case. Dressed in a white lace headscarf, an elderly, Hindu woman blessed the floats at a Muslim ceremony with a Hindu prayer; another beauty of West Indian culture. After, the floats were lifted from its bamboo carriage and taken to the ocean. Each float was pushed into the ocean in the dimming, setting Caribbean sky with people praying on shore. What is the significance of throwing the floats into the ocean? I don't know nor have I gotten an appropriate answer. The next morning, the bits and pieces of the floats will be cleared from the ocean.

 

While around for many years, Hosay continues to marry religions, neighbourhoods, and visitors to serve a purpose of culture and God.