Kali Worship in Queens, NY [slideshow]

[Guest guest]

Unexpected Folk Arts in Queens

 

by Lisa Biagiotti, Sushma Subramanian, and Michele

Wilson

 

Slideshow:

http://newmedianewsroom.com/c/arts_slideshow2.html

 

Queens [New York] is a borough known for its

immigrants, airports and ethnic restaurants - not

necessarily its folk arts scene. But [...] this

scene in the borough is thriving. [....]

 

At the Rajkumari Center for Indo-Caribbean Arts and

Culture in Richmond Hill, for example, the Indo-Caribbean

traditions from Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname are taught,

preserved and passed on through sacred ritual and social

interaction.

 

Every Sunday the community gathers at the Shri Maha Kali

Devi Mandir temple on the border of Queens and Brooklyn

for hours of healings and song devoted to the Madrasi

Hindu Mother Goddess Kali.

 

" A lot of traditions they are practicing in the temples they've

been doing for 5,000 years, " said Pritha Singh, who founded

the center in 1996. " We are going after these rare art forms

and trying to coax it out of the sacred space, so it can

actually be appreciated by the broader community, and to

develop a methodology for its preservation. "

 

 

http://newmedianewsroom.com/c/arts.html