Ryan Ba­choo

Lead Ed­i­tor - News­gath­er­ing

ryan.ba­choo@cnc3.co.tt

On Tues­day, the Kali Ya­tra Fes­ti­val re­turns to the Di­vali Na­gar — now recog­nised as one of the largest Hin­du fes­ti­vals out­side of In­dia. This week-long cel­e­bra­tion is ded­i­cat­ed to God­dess Kali, but its roots run deep.

Found­ed by Gopaul Ra­goo­nanan to dis­pel mis­con­cep­tions about the god­dess while cre­at­ing a space for Hin­dus every­where to unite in com­mon rev­er­ence, the fes­ti­val has grown steadi­ly in scale and promi­nence.

This year, a new gen­er­a­tion will lead the way. At just 20 years old, Ri­an­na Neera Ra­goo­nanan is spear­head­ing the 12th edi­tion of the fes­ti­val — a re­spon­si­bil­i­ty she em­braces as both an ho­n­our and a call­ing. Two years ago, her fa­ther en­trust­ed her with lead­er­ship, and she has since tak­en the event to new cre­ative and cul­tur­al heights.

WE Mag­a­zine sat down with Ra­goo­nanan to learn more about her jour­ney and the mean­ing be­hind Kali Ya­tra.

“Kali Ya­tra didn’t just shape my path — it be­came my path.”

Q: How did you first get in­volved with the Kali Ya­tra Fes­ti­val?

A: My jour­ney with Kali Ya­tra is not a chap­ter I en­tered — it’s the soil I grew from. Born in­to a home where de­vo­tion was lived, not spo­ken of, I was raised with­in the heart­beat of this move­ment. My fa­ther, Gopaul Rick Ra­goo­nanan, and my moth­er, Sal­isha Ra­goo­nanan, co-found­ed the fes­ti­val with noth­ing but faith, vi­sion, and a prayer to glo­ri­fy Maa Kali.

From as ear­ly as six, my twin broth­er and I qui­et­ly served: set­ting out chairs, sell­ing tick­ets, sweep­ing tem­ple floors. We were taught that the high­est de­vo­tion lives in un­seen mo­ments — in dis­ci­pline, hu­mil­i­ty, and silent ded­i­ca­tion. Now, stand­ing at the cross­roads of tra­di­tion and lead­er­ship, I car­ry this lega­cy not as a task, but as a birthright.

Find­ing strength in de­vo­tion

Q: What in­spired you to be part of this cul­tur­al cel­e­bra­tion?

A: My in­spi­ra­tion was deeply per­son­al. As a young girl, I wres­tled with anx­i­ety, self-doubt, and the pres­sures of school. I didn’t have the loud­est voice, but I had some­thing en­dur­ing — a sa­cred bond with Maa Kali.

She be­came my sanc­tu­ary, my source of strength, and my mir­ror — a mis­un­der­stood De­vi whose essence is root­ed in trans­for­ma­tion and com­pas­sion. That recog­ni­tion awak­ened me. I nev­er set out to lead; I sim­ply fol­lowed the thread of de­vo­tion, and it wove it­self in­to some­thing larg­er than I could imag­ine.

Cre­ative lead­er­ship with a spir­i­tu­al core

Q: Can you tell us about your role in the fes­ti­val this year?

A: I serve as Cre­ative Di­rec­tor and Mar­ket­ing Lead, blend­ing spir­i­tu­al ground­ing with cre­ative vi­sion. I work on theme de­vel­op­ment, vi­su­al sto­ry­telling, per­for­mance cu­ra­tion, and me­dia pro­duc­tion — en­sur­ing every de­tail feels au­then­tic.

Our 2025 theme, Maa Bha­vatari­ni: Lib­er­a­tor of the World, ho­n­ours the un­veil­ing of what we be­lieve to be the first mar­ble mur­ti of this form in Trinidad — a mo­ment of his­toric and spir­i­tu­al sig­nif­i­cance. This year, I al­so led the pro­duc­tion of our orig­i­nal mu­si­cal col­lab­o­ra­tion, fus­ing clas­si­cal In­di­an sound with youth­ful en­er­gy. Be­yond the stage, I en­gage in youth out­reach and com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice, in­clud­ing food dis­tri­b­u­tion to fam­i­lies in need. For me, de­vo­tion must live through ac­tion, artistry, and im­pact.

More than an event — a cul­tur­al move­ment

Q: What does the Kali Ya­tra Fes­ti­val mean to you per­son­al­ly and cul­tur­al­ly?

A: It is where pas­sion aligns with pur­pose, where cre­ativ­i­ty be­comes ser­vice, and where de­vo­tion takes form through ac­tion. Per­son­al­ly, it has ground­ed me and giv­en me be­long­ing. Cul­tur­al­ly, Kali Ya­tra has be­come a bea­con — a con­flu­ence of sa­cred rit­u­als, dance, dra­ma, mu­sic, and youth-led ini­tia­tives that reignites pride in our her­itage, es­pe­cial­ly among younger gen­er­a­tions.

Mo­ments that stay with me

Q: Are there any mem­o­ries from past fes­ti­vals that stand out?

A: The 10th an­niver­sary was un­for­get­table — I had the ho­n­our of recog­nis­ing my par­ents for their qui­et de­vo­tion. But of­ten, it’s the small­er mo­ments that leave the deep­est mark: a fam­i­ly re­turn­ing year af­ter year, a sin­gle tear dur­ing prayer, a smile dur­ing a per­for­mance. These mo­ments re­mind me that de­vo­tion, when done for love rather than ap­plause, be­comes sa­cred.

Pre­serv­ing tra­di­tion for the fu­ture

Q: How im­por­tant is it to pre­serve tra­di­tions like those show­cased in Kali Ya­tra?

A: In a fast-chang­ing world, pre­serv­ing tra­di­tions is sa­cred work. These rit­u­als are liv­ing ex­pres­sions of iden­ti­ty and mem­o­ry. At Kali Ya­tra, we see our­selves as torch­bear­ers, build­ing a bridge be­tween our el­ders and the youth. Pre­serv­ing tra­di­tion is not on­ly about ho­n­our­ing the past — it’s about guid­ing the fu­ture and keep­ing our cul­tur­al flame alive for gen­er­a­tions to come.