Indo-Guyanese

Indian vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat visits the Whitby monument

On 5 May 1988, a bronze sculpture of the Whitby, the ship which carried the first labourers to British Guiana, was presented to the people of Guyana by the Indian government. It is located in the Guyana National Park in Georgetown.[10]

On 5 May 2019, the Indian Immigration Monument was unveiled by president David A. Granger. It is located in Palmyra near the Berbice Bridge. The compound near the monument has a visitor's gallery, several fountains and a playground.[11]

Between 1838 and 1917 over 500 ship voyages, with 238,909 indentured Indian immigrants, came to Guyana. Some 75,898 of them or their children were recorded as returning to the subcontinent.

The most popular dialect of Hindi spoken was Bhojpuri (spoken in east Uttar Pradesh and west Bihar), followed by Awadhi (spoken in central Uttar Pradesh). 62% of the immigrants came from districts that are now part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh; 20% from Bihar; 6% were from pre-partitioned Bengal; 1% from Haryana and Punjab; 2% from Chota Nagpur and surrounding areas (primarily Jharkhand and Odisha); 1% from Central India (primarily Madhya Pradesh); 1% from Native states (primarily Rajasthan); 2% from other parts of India; 5% from the Madras Presidency (Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh).

95% of all the Immigrants left from the port of Calcutta (Kolkata), and 5% from the port of Madras (Chennai). Note, no Immigrants left from the port of Bombay (Mumbai) to Guyana during the period of 1838 to 1917.

Very representative of the population in their regions of origin in India, of the Indian immigrants, 85% were Hindus and 15% were Muslims.[12]

The majority of immigrants came from lower agricultural castes, artisan castes, cultivator castes (kurmi), grazier castes (ahir), landholding castes (thakur), and priestly castes (brahmin). There were also significant numbers of Muslims and outcasts.[13]

The Indian immigrants made an enduring cultural imprint on Guyana. Once their labor contracts expired, they resumed their original occupations and recreated near-typical traditional Indian village life in their adopted homeland.

Indo-Guyanese Hindus continue to observe holidays such as Diwali, Phagwah, Maha Shivratri, Hanuman Jayanti, Ram Navami, Navratri, Vijayadashami, Krishna Janmashtami, Radhastami, Saraswati Jayanti, Raksha Bandhan, Guru Purnima, Ganesh Chaturthi, Kalbhairo Jayanti, Kartik Snan, Vivaha Panchami, Mesha Sankranti, Makar Sankranti, Tulsi Vivah, Gita Jayanti, Datta Jayanti and Ratha Yatra, among others, while Indo-Guyanese Muslims observe the fast in the month of Ramadan as well as observing Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Hosay (Ashura), Shab-e-barat, Mawlid, Chaand Raat and the Islamic New Year.[14] Indo-Guyanese Christians celebrate holidays such as New Year's, Christmas, Easter, All Saints' Day and the Feast of Corpus Christi, among others and depending on their denomination. Through colonial influence, celebrating holidays such as Diwali, Phagwah, Eid ul-Fitr, Hosay, New Year's, Christmas, and Easter, is common regardless of religious beliefs. In Guyana, Indian Arrival Day is celebrated on May 5 commemorating the first arrival of indentured servants from India to the country, on 5 May 1838. On this day, the workers arrived to work in sugar plantations.[15] Indo-Guyanese also celebrate Guyanese national holidays such as Independence Day and Republic Day.

There is no "preferential marriages between kin" among Indo-Guyanese, nor much significance tied to marriage outside of ones religion or caste compared to other Indian diasporic groups.[16] The duty of parents to provide the wedding for their children demonstrated "respectability and prestige" and while children generally had some say in who they married, they looked to their parents to "arrange for the rituals and meet the necessary expenses." The wedding of the first child is generally the largest and most opulent, becoming reduced and more economized for subsequent children. Parents may exaggerate the expenses put into these weddings, which are mainly on "clothes, food and drink", and dowry depending on the family and era. Weddings are qualified by the number of people fed, and a basic meal of roti, rice and a vegetable curry is considered the bare minimum.[17]

Among Hindus and Muslims, arranged, comparatively early marriages were common in rural areas until the modern period (early 1960s) but are rare now. Middle-class Indians had greater freedom in choosing a spouse, especially if the woman was a professional. As in most parts of the western world marriage now occurs later, and the family unit is smaller than in the past. Indo Guyanese families are patriarchal with an extended system, where family members assist each other, like many other groups in Guyana.[18]

With the blending of cultures in the Caribbean, Indo-Caribbean dishes became one of the dominant notes throughout most of the English Caribbean, with dishes such as curry, roti and dhal bhat (dhal and rice). Indo-Guyanese snacks include sal sev (also called chicken foot due to appearance, although there is no actual meat in it),[19] gantia,[20] plantain chips,[21] roasted nuts, and fried channa.[22] Appetizers and street foods include boil and fried or curried channa as well as bara, wrap roti, pholourie, and aloo (potato) or cassava/egg ball which are served with a chutney or sour. The rotis that Indo-Guyanese typically eat are paratha, dhalpuri, sada roti, dosti roti, aloo roti, and puri. Murgatani (multani) and rasam are popular soups in Guyana of South Indian origin. Dosa (dosay or chota) is a filled crepe that is eaten by Indo-Guyanese and is of South Indian origin as well.[23]

The main dishes at Hindu wedding, festivals, and prayer services are known as seven curry and consist of seven vegetarian curries: aloo and channa curry, eddoes (aruwi) curry, mango curry, baigan/balanjay curry, katahar curry, pumpkin or kohra (fried or curried), and bhaji (made with young malabar spinach, moringa, spinach or spiny amaranth leaves) served with dhal bhat (dhal and rice) or karhi and rice.[24] Seven curry is also served with paratha or dhalpuri roti. Individual curries of seven curry are also consumed on a daily basis by Indo-Guyanese as a main dish. Meat and seafood based main dishes include chicken, duck, goat, lamb, fish (especially hassa, gilbaka, banga mary, butterfish, houri, haimara, cuffum, cuirass, lukanani, patwa, pakoo, red snapper, as well as tinned salmon, tuna, and sardine), shrimp, crab, lobster, pork (except Muslims and some Hindus) and beef (except Hindus) curry or bunjal (a type of dried curry).[25][26] Fried chicken, fish, and shrimp are also eaten as a main dish along with dhal and rice. Khichri is also a popular quick dish that was seen as a staple in the days of indentureship. In Guyana, among the Indo-Guyanese people, it is popular to eat curried or fried vegetables such as okra, eddoe, breadnut, lablab beans, pumpkin, bitter melon, drumstick, long beans, calabash, potato, ridged gourd, sponged gourd, cassava, cabbage, cauliflower, green banana, green papaya, chickpeas, and eggplant. Roti or dhal bhat (dhal and rice) is always served along with any curry or fried dish.

Chokhas are also a popular breakfast and lunch dish among the Indo-Guyanese and prepared by roasting vegetables that are skinned after roasting, and then garlic, onions, and peppers are chaunkay-ed or tempered in oil and added to the mashed roasted vegetable and salt is added after. Popular chokhas include baigan/balanjay (eggplant), tomatoes, and coconut. Chokhas are usually served with sada roti. Fish and shrimp are also used to make chokha.

Desserts include gulab jamun,[27] mohanbhog (parsad), gurma (gurumba),[28] ladoo,[29] mithai, jalebi, gulgula, doodhpitty,[30] barfi,[31] pera, halwa, gujiya (goja), roat, sirnie, lapsi, vermicelli (sawine),[32] and kheer (sweet rice).[25]

Indo-Guyanese have also adopted other dishes from other cultural groups such as stews, pepperpot, ground provisions, bake and saltfish, sardines and bread, fried chicken, metemgee, chicken soup, cook-up rice, chow mein, lo mein, fried rice, pepper shrimp, and chicken in de' ruff. Guyanese breads, pastries, cakes, and frozen treats are also popular among Indo-Guyanese, such as patties, pine tart, butterflap, tennis roll, fried bake, cassava bread, plait bread, cheese roll, black bean (chiney) cake, cassava or pumpkin pone, salara, coconut buns, black cake (rum cake), lime cookies, custard, fudge, snow cone, ice cream, and custard block (ice block).[33]

Bollywood movies and songs have had an impact upon the Guyanese pop culture since the early 1950s. Many Bollywood stars have visited and performed in Guyana like megastars Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, and Preity Zinta, also very popular singers such as Sonu Nigam, Asha Bhosle, Alka Yagnik, Shreya Ghoshal, Udit Narayan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kumar Sanu, Hari Om Sharan, and Anup Jalota have had very successful shows in Guyana. In 1980, Lata Mangeshkar was greeted with crowds of fans and was presented with the key of the city of Georgetown, Guyana on her visit. Indian soap operas and dance and music shows have recently grown in popularity in Guyana due to channels such as Zee TV, StarPlus, Sony Entertainment Television, and Colors TV. The most popular genres of music among Indo-Guyanese people include chutney, chutney soca, baithak gana, bhajan, Bollywood, Indian classical music, Indian folk music, and soca. Popular local Indo-Caribbean singers include Sundar Popo, Terry Gajraj, Ramdew Chaitoe, Dropati, Ravi Bissambhar, Rakesh Yankaran, Rikki Jai, Drupatee Ramgoonai, and Babla & Kanchan. Indian instrumental influence can be seen in Guyana through the use of the tabla, harmonium, dholak, dhantal, manjira, khartal, and tassa drums.[34]

Indo-Guyanese literature includes novels, poetry, plays and other forms written by people born or strongly affiliated with Guyana, who are descendants of indentured Indian servants.[35] As a former British colony, English language and style had an enduring impact on the writings from Guyana, which are done in English language and utilizing Guyanese Creole.[36] Notable writers include Joseph Ruhomon and Shana Yardan.[35]