“Dismantling centuries of misunderstanding”: The Role of the Kali Yatra Festival in Addressing Stigma Towards Kali Worship in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

Kali worship occupies a paradoxical position within Trinidad and Tobago’s Hindu Indo-Caribbean community: historically rooted yet persistently stigmatized, widely practiced yet publicly silenced. The Kali Yatra Festival, established in 2013, has sought to disrupt this marginalization through structured educational programming, offering devotees a collective space to engage with and reclaim their religious identity. This qualitative study examined how 40 Kali devotees in Trinidad and Tobago experienced this educational intervention, drawing on four virtual focus groups conducted between July and September 2025 and analyzed through interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three themes emerged: (1) educational exposure reframed Kali worship as scripturally legitimate, dismantling internalized and externally imposed stigma; (2) devotees moved from concealment toward actively educating others; and (3) shame gave way to collective pride and openly affirmed religious identity. Findings underscore the capacity of community-based festivals to foster stigma resistance and support identity transformation among marginalized religious communities.