Close celebration of Phagwah, Easter heightens Guyana’s cultural diversity

Phagwah revellers

Guyana has just witnessed one of the rare wonders of its composition as a multicultural society. Today is Easter Sunday, the high day of the Christian celebration of the Easter festival. It is the zenith of the Christian festival, but actually the end of two religious weeks that were observed almost simultaneously. It saw the coincidence of two major festivals belonging to two different major religions of Guyana. It was the Holy Week of the Christians and the week of Holi for the Hindus, containing two important holidays – Phagwah Day on Wednesday and Good Friday just two days after.

20101114artsonsundayThe study of cultural festivals continues to be of great interest, and particularly so in a multicultural society like Guyana where the festivals of three dominant religions co-exist, occasionally being celebrated in proximity to each other. Christianity, Hinduism and Islam also happen to be the largest, most dominant religions in the world and their practice in Guyana will always offer significant details of comparison and parallel. These come with the cultural practices that arise from the religions and in particular their feasts and festivals which also serve as national cultural festivals.

The coincidence of Phagwah and Easter mere days apart in Guyana provides another opportunity to see the