Siparia is a town in southern

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

, south of San Fernando, southwest of

Penal Penal is a town in south Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago. It lies south of San Fernando, Princes Town, and Debe, and north of Moruga, Morne Diablo and Siparia. Penal is noted as a heartland of Hindu and Indo-Trinidadian culture. History Up ...

and Debe and southeast of Fyzabad.

History

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.

La Divina Pastora (Siparia Mai)

Siparia is the site of the annual festival of ( 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 Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

during a separate festival, held on

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

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 Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, 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 Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, Baháʼís,

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 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 Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of ''Shen (Chinese folk religion), shen'' ('spirits') and Chinese ancestor worship, ances ...

saw her as their goddess Guanyin. There has even been some Muslims who regard the site as holy and offer prayers towards

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

, but they do not worship the statue as it is against the teachings of Islam. The origin of the statue is unknown, but seems to have been in the Siparia area since the 18th century.

Notable people from Siparia

* Giselle Salandy, boxer * Ian Morris,

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete * Kamla Persad-Bissessar, politician * Daisy Voisin, Parang Queen * Njisane Phillip, cyclist

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Trinidad and Tobago