Foreign journalists had a taste of doubles and dhalpuri yesterday, when they visited the Hindu community in the Waterloo district, Carapichaima.

The group arrived minutes after a sign was planted at the entrance of the Temple in the Sea and frenzied cleaning was completed by gangs of workers.

They bowed and exchanged ’Sita Ram’ greetings from temple devotees before leaving their shoes outside for a lesson in Hindu worship.

School teacher Pamela Gokool showed off the new murtis (statues) of Sri Hanuman Ji, Sri Ganesh, Lord Shiva and Maa Durga, which replaced the murtis destroyed by vandals last January.

In answer to a question, she said that jhandis (bamboo poles with flags) were a symbol of victory of good over evil and each colour represented a different triumph.

The visiting media were greeted with tassa drumming at the Indian Caribbean Museum a short distance away.

Officials of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, dressed in festival wear, led the tour and offered doubles and soft drinks to the visitors.

The last stop was at the Dattatreya Yoga Centre, also in Waterloo, where a mock Hindu wedding was re-enacted.

A dulaha (bridegroom) sat on a flower-decorated cart pulled by a painted buffalo and was led to the entrance of the temple where tassa drummers approached from the east and western sides.

Relatives of the groom walked behind the tassa drummers to meet the parents and relatives of the bride, who were also led by tassa drummers.

The meeting of both parents is known as ’milap’.

The groom’s tassa drummers are always allowed to win. If they don’t the groom would not be allowed to enter the bride’s home. A lavish vegetarian feast was laid out for the visitors at the end of the ceremony.

The food was prepared by Quality Caterers and included karhee, dhalpuri, channa and potato, saheena, biganee and other popular vegetarian dishes.

Only a handful of the accredited foreign and local journalists turned up for the visits titled ’Central Cultural Experience’.