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Siparia | |
---|---|
Town | |
Coordinates: 10°08′N61°30′W / 10.133°N 61.500°W | |
Country | Trinidad and Tobago |
Borough | Siparia |
Settled | 1758 |
Government | |
• Type | Borough Corporation |
• Mayor | Doodnath Mayrhoo |
Area | |
• Total | 47.8 km2 (18.5 sq mi) |
Elevation | 39 m (128 ft) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 14,535 |
• Density | 300/km2 (790/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC−4 (AST) |
Postal Code(s) | 72xxxx |
Area code | +1 (868)-649 |
Siparia is a town in southern Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago, south of San Fernando, southwest of Penal and Debe and southeast of Fyzabad.
Also called "The Sand City", Siparia was originally a non-Mission Amerindian settlement. Siparia grew to be the administrative centre for Saint Patrick County, and went on to become the capital of the eponymous region that in 2023 was appointed a borough.
Siparia is the site of the annual festival of La Divina Pastora (Mary, as the mother of the Good Shepherd), named for the church's patron saint. The festival occurs each year on the saint's day of La Divina Pastora, a few weeks after Easter. The same statue, a Black Virgin, is venerated by Hindus during a separate festival, held on Good Friday and Maundy Thursday. The Hindu celebration is often referred to the "Siparia Fete". She is La Divina Pastora, the Divine Shepherdess, a manifestation of the Virgin Mary, to Catholics, and Siparia Mai (Mother of Siparia) to Hindus. Sometimes Sipari Mai is associated with a particular Hindu goddess, such as Kali, Durga or Lakshmi, and sometimes she is a goddess in her own right. These two religious groups are most commonly associated with her, but persons of many other religions, including Jehovah's Witnesses, Anglians, other Christian denominations, Spiritual Baptist, Rastafarians, Orishas, Buddhist, Baháʼís, Muslims, and the indigenous Warao people have been known to worship the popular saint. The early Chinese settlers who were Buddhist and of the Chinese folk religion saw her as their goddess Guanyin. [2] There has even been some Muslims who regard the site as holy and offer prayers towards Mecca, but they do not worship the statue as it is against the teachings of Islam. [3]
The origin of the statue is unknown, but seems to have been in the Siparia area since the 18th century.
A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of spinning, weaving, beauty, love, sexuality, motherhood, domesticity, creativity, and fertility. Many major goddesses are also associated with magic, war, strategy, hunting, farming, wisdom, fate, earth, sky, power, laws, justice, and more. Some themes, such as discord or disease, which are considered negative within their cultural contexts also are found associated with some goddesses. There are as many differently described and understood goddesses as there are male, shapeshifting, or neuter gods.
Durga is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars.
The term Black Madonna or Black Virgin tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin. Examples of the Black Madonna can be found both in Catholic and Orthodox countries.
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Saint Sarah, also known as Sara-la-Kâli, is the patron saint of the Romani people. The center of her veneration is Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a place of pilgrimage for Roma in the Camargue, in Southern France. Legend identifies her as the servant of one of the Three Marys, with whom she is supposed to have arrived in the Camargue. Saint Sarah also shares her name with the Hindu goddess Kali who is a popular goddess in northern India from where the Romani people originate. The name "Sara" itself is seen in the appellation of Durga as Kali in the famed text Durgasaptashati.
Hinduism in Trinidad and Tobago is the second largest religion. Hindu culture arrived to Trinidad and Tobago in 1845, with the arrival of the first Indian indentured laborers, the overwhelming majority of which were Hindu. According to the 2011 census there were 240,100 declared Hindus in Trinidad and Tobago.
A gramadevata is the tutelary deity of a given locality in Hinduism, primarily worshipped in the villages of India.
Daisy Voisin was a Parang singer and composer.
A holy city is a city important to the history or faith of a specific religion. Such cities may also contain at least one headquarters complex which constitutes a major destination of human traffic, or pilgrimage to the city, especially for major ceremonies and observances. A holy city is a symbolic city, representing attributes beyond its natural characteristics. Marketing experts have suggested that holy cities may be the oldest brands, and more specifically, place brands because they have value added via the perception of religious adherents.
The study of women and religion examines women in the context of different religious faiths. This includes considering female gender roles in religious history as well as how women participate in religion. Particular consideration is given to how religion has been used as a patriarchal tool to elevate the status and power of men over women. In addition, religion portrays gender within religious doctrines.
Oladevi is the goddess of cholera and is worshipped by people of Bengal region and Marwar, Rajasthan. The goddess is also known as Olaichandi, Olabibi and Bibima. She is venerated by Hindus and Muslims of Bengal.
Devī is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is deva. Devi and deva mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism.
In religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a very long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a sacred area or shrine of importance to innate faith. Members of every major religion participate in pilgrimages. A person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim.
Reema Harrysingh-Carmona is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian economist who served as the First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago from 2013 until 2018. She is the wife of the fifth President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Anthony Carmona.
The Minor Basilica and National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora, known canonically as the Three Kings Parish, is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and national shrine in Gapan, Nueva Ecija in the Philippines that was founded in the 1500s.
Divina Pastora is a statue of the Madonna and Child, the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, with a lamb at her side. It is considered to be one of the most important religious icons of Venezuela. Divina Pastora is the patron saint of the city of Barquisimeto and of the Venezuelan National Militia. The image dates from 1735. Divina Pastora is celebrated in a procession on January 14 of each year, when a massive Marian procession occurs, considered to be one of the largest in the world, attracting millions of pilgrims.
The term Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is an English-language acronym referring to the Latin American and the Caribbean region. The term LAC covers an extensive region, extending from The Bahamas and Mexico to Argentina and Chile. The region has over 670,230,000 people as of 2016, and spanned for 21,951,000 square kilometres (8,475,000 sq mi).
Divine Shepherdess or Divina Pastora is a title which refers to Mary, mother of Jesus, in connection with Jesus's role as the "Good Shepherd". This title may refer to:
Caribbean Shaktism, also known as Kalimai Dharma or Madras Religion in Guyana, refers to the syncretic Shakti Kali/Mariamman worship that has evolved within the Indo-Caribbean Tamil community in countries such as Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Jamaica and Suriname. It can be found across the Caribbean and any South American country with an Indo-Caribbean community. It is a syncretic blend of Dravidian folk religion and Hinduism and has also been influenced by other cultural and religious traditions found in the Caribbean such as Catholicism, Trinidad Orisha, Comfa and Obeah. It is considered to be a form of Folk Tamil Hinduism and many attend services of Vedic Origin, more Orthodox Tamil Origin, and Madrasi origin.