Crowning Hypocrisy: The Contrast Between Navratri Celebrations and the Treatment of Women in Indo-Caribbean Society

Author: Shivane Chandool

As Navratri unfolds, Indo-Caribbean Hindus in Guyana, Trinidad, Suriname, Jamaica, and other diaspora communities gather to celebrate the divine feminine. This festival honors the nine forms of the Hindu Goddess, a vivid celebration of her manifestations, emphasizing her. Across New York, Florida, Texas, the UK, and beyond, temples come alive with vibrant saris, dazzling jewelry, and joyful chants that echo through the walls. Men, women, and children come together to worship the murtis, the sacred icons adorned in their finest attire, and receive blessings.

For nine days and nights, the Goddess is revered—her power, grace, and nurturing role are celebrated in rituals like Kumari Puja, where young girls embodying Goddess Durga’s pure form are worshipped. These girls, often between the ages of 5 and 16, are hailed as sacred symbols of divinity. Pandits remind us that goddesses, like women, must be respected, honored, and celebrated.

Yet, as the final prayers fade and the temples grow quiet, a stark reality returns. The young girls adorned in jewelry and flowers, treated as embodiments of Durga herself, soon face the harsh societal expectations that strip them of the reverence they briefly held. The echoes of "You run like a girl" or "Keep your voice down" start to follow them, marking the beginning of a lifelong battle with gender stereotypes. This stark contrast exposes a deep-rooted hypocrisy that extends beyond Indo-Caribbean culture to womanhood in general.

While women are symbolically seen as goddesses, they are rarely granted the same respect and dignity in everyday life. This dichotomy is all the more glaring in a community where domestic violence is a known issue. While women are celebrated during religious festivals, they often face oppressive social dynamics in their households and public spaces. The statistics on domestic violence in Indo-Caribbean communities, particularly in places like Trinidad and Guyana, reflect this grim reality. The reverence of goddesses during Navratri does not extend beyond the temple walls, leaving women vulnerable to societal mistreatment that directly contradicts the values expressed during the festival.

This is where the women of the Miss Lotus Beauty Pageant come into focus. They navigate the same cultural landscape where goddesses are celebrated, but women often face unrealistic double standards. Participating in beauty pageants, a space where physical beauty is judged, these women strive to reclaim their narratives. While pageants have historically emphasized external appearance, many of today’s pageants—including Miss Lotus Beauty Pageant—use their platforms to advocate for change. They are challenging the narrow perceptions of femininity, using their voices to address issues such as domestic violence, gender inequality, and the cultural dissonance they experience.

Like the young girls during Navratri for Kumari Puja, these women are often seen as symbolic representations—of beauty, culture, and the "ideal" woman. Yet, after the crown is given and the spotlight dims, they, too, must navigate the complexities of living in a society that simultaneously reveres and restricts them. On top of this, many contestants face the harsh realities of social media bullying, where their appearance and character are unfairly judged, exposing them to public scrutiny. The journey of a beauty pageant contestant mirrors the experience of the girls in Kumari Puja: temporarily celebrated for their beauty and grace, only to confront the limitations imposed by a patriarchal society that continues to undermine their worth.

Through their participation, the Miss Lotus Beauty Pageant women are beginning to challenge these contradictions. They are using their visibility not just to win crowns but to spark conversations about the treatment of women in their communities. Their platforms give them a voice to highlight the hypocrisy that exists between celebrating goddesses during religious festivals like Navratri and the everyday mistreatment women endure. By doing so, they are redefining what it means to be an Indo-Caribbean woman, blending beauty with advocacy to shift cultural perceptions.

As Navratri ends and the final lamps flicker out, the laughter of young girls in the temple fades, but the dialogue around women’s rights and respect must persist. The Miss Lotus Beauty Pageant and its participants symbolize a new generation reclaiming their stories, advocating for change, and striving to transform a community that reveres goddesses and femininity while often neglecting the challenges women face. By doing so, they confront the deep hypocrisy—where goddesses are worshipped, yet real women's struggles are overlooked—and offer a vision for a future where women are genuinely respected, not just in ritual but in daily life and the world of pageantry.