Divali Nagar continues without Gov’t funding

File photo: Rohini Mangru of St Johns Trace, Siparia lights deyas during Divali celebrations at the Botanical Gardens, Port of Spain last year.  Divali will be celebrated on November 6. FILE PHOTO/SUREASH CHOLAI
File photo: Rohini Mangru of St Johns Trace, Siparia lights deyas during Divali celebrations at the Botanical Gardens, Port of Spain last year. Divali will be celebrated on November 6. FILE PHOTO/SUREASH CHOLAI

CHAIRMAN of Divali Nagar and vice-president of the National Council of Indian Culture (NCIC), Deoroop Teemal, said the annual event will go on whether funding from Government has been approved or not.

“The council requested $1 million from the Culture Ministry for the running of nine days of Divali Nagar,” Teemal said.

Hours before the formal opening of the Nagar and the symbolic lighting of the first deya yesterday, the council received nothing from the ministry.

“I understand government has approved an undisclosed amount but we are still to receive any word on the amount,” Teemal said.

He said last year the NCIC got $500,000 for the Nagar.

Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly could not be reached for comment.

This year’s Divali Nagar will explore the life and times of Hindu reformers of the past and present.

It ends on November 5.

According to Surujdeo Mangaroo, public relations officer of the NCIC, President Paula-Mae Weekes, Gadsby-Dolly and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad- Bissessar are all special guests for the event.

“This year’s Divali Nagar will feature the best entertainers in devotional and folk songs as well as musical items and dances,” Mangaroo said.

President of the NCIC, Dr Deokinanan Sharma said, “Despite the heavy flooding that took place in October, in central and eastern districts, the Nagar will continue with the same kind of enthusiasm as the previous years.”

The event is expected to attract more than 100,000 people over the nine-day period, Sharma said.

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