Indian businesses and services in Paramaribo, Suriname

Suriname's Hindustani community traces its arrival to 5 June 1873, when the ship Lalla Rookh landed the first indentured labourers from India at Paramaribo. That date is marked each year as Indian Arrival Day, and at the 2012 census Hindustanis were the largest single group in the country. Many still speak Sarnami, a language that grew from the Bhojpuri and Awadhi of their ancestors, alongside Dutch and Sranan Tongo.

In Paramaribo the arrival is commemorated by the Baba and Mai monument on the Kleine Combéweg, unveiled in 1994, which shows an immigrant couple with the few possessions the first arrivals brought. The city is home to many Hindu temples, among them the Arya Dewaker mandir of the Arya Samaj, opened in 2001 and the largest Hindu temple in the country, and Sanatan Dharma temples are found throughout the city and its outskirts. The wider Hindustani heartland lies in the farming districts around the capital, especially Wanica, with Lelydorp at its centre, as well as Saramacca and Nickerie further west, where rice farming has long been important.

Phagwa, the spring festival of colours, and Divali are both national holidays, and Phagwa in particular is celebrated in public, with abir, the red powder, and chautal singing in neighbourhoods and at temples. On Divali, homes are lit with diyas. Phagwa usually comes in March and Divali in October or November. The Central Market on the Waterkant is the place for vegetables, spices and roti ingredients. Visitors should note that traffic in Suriname drives on the left, and that Dutch is the official language.