Arya Samaj in Trinidad and Tobago

The earliest efforts to establish Arya Samaj in Trinidad were made by visiting missionaries. Pandit Tiwary was the first to arrive in 1904. In 1929, Pandit Mehta Jaimini arrived and encouraged the construction of a building where Hindi classes were held. In 1934, Pandit Ayodhya Prasad arrived, and the local Arya Samaj community was so impressed with him that, he was asked to prolong his stay to three years. Prasad performed the shuddhi (conversion) ceremony on many people of other faiths. He laid the foundations of the first Arya Mandir (temple). The temple is also used as a primary school and as the headquarter of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Trinidad, which was formed in 1943 with ten branches. The Sabha runs nine primary school in Trinidad. A split occurred in the organisation in the 1960s and a splinter body, known as the Vedic Mission, was formed. The Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Trinidad is affiliated to the United Hindu Organisation and works in close cooperation with Arya Samajs in Surinam and Guyana.

References

• Vidyalankar, Nardev; Manohar Somera (1975). Arya Samaj and Indians abroad. New Delhi, India: Sarvadeshik Arsfnbaienya Pratinidhi Sabha. pp. 153–156.