Expressing satisfaction with T&T’s diverse culture, Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, says Government remains committed to preserving T&T’s rich traditions. She was speaking at the launch of Ramleela 2016, at the Brian Lara Promenade, Port-of-Spain, on Monday.
Gadsby-Dolly commended T&T’s 26 Ramleela groups for upkeeping their heritage, saying that the Ramleela Council of T&T Inc was celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
“I am happy to see this part of our culture being preserved. In T&T we are so diverse and have so many traditions. The Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts is interested and involved in preserving all aspects of these traditions,” she added.
President of the council Rodney Ramjit said: “Ramleela traditions in T&T are known as one of the largest and most splendid in the region.
“It takes place in the month of November. This year we have 26 groups of the National Ramleela Council performing Ramleela across the country. While the council itself is 25 years old, Ramleela has been part of our national culture for the past 136 years,” Ramjit said.
Despite intermittent rainfall, all the Ramleela groups marched along the promenade. Shalini Juteram and Karan Rampersad, of the Swaha Tulsi Maya Shakti Dance Group, performed classical dances while onlookers were given snippets of the Ramleela scene.
Kamalwattie Ramsubeik, secretary and long-standing member of the council said: “Ramleela has been declared a world living heritage by UNESCO in 2005. Our country is one of few countries that has preserved an abundance of groups and each year we have more and more groups participating.”