ABSTRACT
They are called jhandis – these colourful ags ying atop bamboo poles in the front yards1 of Hindu-Caribbean homes. They are not adornments, but are ritually raised and planted on the Earth as a symbol of victory to a deity that was worshipped in pj; they personify the deity and are therefore equivalent to a mrti or sacred object of worship; they also constitute the axis mundi that connects individuals to three worlds.2 These jhandis are annually renewed and cannot be uprooted or relocated. In the Caribbean or West Indies, these jhandis are some 15-20 feet tall and located in the northeastern corner of the yard. In urbanized spaces, including American space, they may alternatively be located inside apartments or outside on small terraces (2-3 feet tall) and if placed in yards they are shorter (3-5 feet tall); they all look like dwarf replicas of their Caribbean antecedents.
