Sahadeo Tiwari
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Pt. Sahadeo Tiwari (
Trinidadian Hindustani Caribbean Hindustani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Indo-Caribbeans and the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. It is mainly based on the Bhojpuri and Awadhi dialects. These Hindustani dialects were the most spoken dialects by the Indians who came as i ...
: सहदेव तिवारी) was born in the village of Sarwan in
Arwal district Arwal district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India, and Arwal town is the administrative headquarters of this district. It was earlier part of Jehanabad district. As of 2011 it is the third least populous district of Biha ...
,
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
on 25 February 1892. He came to
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
as an
indentured laborer Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an " indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment ...
in 1912 upon the vessel SS Sutlej, and later married Sunbass Tiwari (not related). This marriage according to his daughter Kanti, produced two sons: Ramakant and Surrindra and, five daughters: Maianti, Shanti, Savitri, Kanti, and Reanti.


The Sanatan Dharma Board of Control

In January 1932, Tiwari established The Sanatan Dharma Board of Control. The ''
Port of Spain Gazette The ''Port of Spain Gazette'' was a newspaper based in Port of Spain, Trinidad (and later, Trinidad and Tobago) between 1825 and 1959. The paper took a proslavery position in the 1830s, and later supported the rights of local elites against the ...
'' noted that the principal objective of the organization was to unify
Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and further the interest of the Hindu religion among the Hindu section of the local community. The Sanatan Dharma Board of Control was based in
Tunapuna Tunapuna is a town in the East–West Corridor of the island of Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago. Town Tunapuna is located between St. Augustine, Tacarigua and Trincity. Tunapuna is the largest town between San Juan and Arima. It is an importa ...
and as stated by the Port-of-Spain Gazette, was composed of predominantly orthodox, practising pundits who formed part of a Committee of Management that included: Pundit Sahadeo Tiwari (President), Pt. Bhagouti, Pt. Ramnarine, Pt. Dyalchan, Pt. Seereeram, Pt. Sohan, Pt. Seereedath, Pt. Sooknanan and Pt. Gosyne. The organization also had other objectives which were: (a).To further and assist the education and advancement of the adherents to Sanatana Dharma. (b).To provide by voluntary subscriptions of its members with the aid of donations: :(1).For the relief or maintenance of members when in distressed circumstances. :(2).For the relief or maintenance of members during sickness or infirmity. :(3).For the payment of the burial and other incidental funeral expenses of any members if needed. :(4).For the giving of a dowry in a suitable case to the daughter of any member who by reason of his or her poverty shall be unable to provide for her marriage. J.C. Jha noted that the group was formed by pundits and the pundits were critical of the Sanatan Dharma Association, another Hindu organization that had a number of
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
on its board.


Vivaha Samskara

Pundit Tiwari was the first Pundit to perform a
Hindu marriage The Hindu marriage () is the most important of all the samskaras, the rites of passage described in the Dharmashastra texts. Variously defined, it is generally described to be a social institution for the establishment and regulation of a prope ...
ceremony or Vivaha Samskara in the day despite opposition from other Pundits who even threatened his life. The Hindu marriage ceremony at the time was performed in the night and this resulted in the procession from the boy side or Baraat having to stay overnight. The family of the girl or dulahin had to look after and entertain the Baraatians, a rather costly exercise. It was because of such economic circumstances that Pundit Sahadeo Tiwari felt it best to perform the marriage ceremony of Francis Jairam Bhopalsingh and Rajoo Narayansingh in the day. The ceremony took place on 23 April 1933 at 11:00 am in Tunapuna at the Old Railway Station. By importing a book from India called the Vivah Paddhati, a Hindu manual on the marriage ceremony, Pundit Tiwari was able to silence his opposition against performing the ceremony during the day. Debate among the elite (
Panchayat The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical men ...
) was simple. Pundit Kaysho Byragie stressed that a wedding performed in the night meant that the Dhruva Taara (
North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude tha ...
) was shown to the bride and because the star was fixed, it was used to demonstrate to the bride that she should remain fixed in her commitment to her marriage. However, if the ceremony was done in the day, then Surya Darshan or the
Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
was shown and it was made clear that the Sun held the same significance of the North Pole Star which was that it is in a fixed position. Thus, Pundit Byragie concluded, the validity of the day wedding was established through the facts put forward by Pundit Sahadeo Tiwari.Byragie Keysho Interview Pundit Sahadeo Tiwari died on 14 April 1972. During his life he tutored a number of well known Pundits such as the late Ramcharan Byragie, the late Satnarayan Panday and Pundit Param among others.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiwari, Sahadeo 1892 births 1972 deaths Trinidad and Tobago religious leaders 20th-century Hindu religious leaders Indian emigrants to Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Hindus