The story
Indian Arrival Day in Paramaribo/Nationwide
Indian Arrival Day, known locally as Prawas Din, is a Surinamese national holiday held every June 5 to commemorate the 1873 arrival of the first Indian indentured laborers aboard the ship Lalla Rookh. It is marked nationwide with cultural and ceremonial activities honoring the Hindostani community's role in Suriname's development.
On June 5, 1873, the ship Lalla Rookh docked in Suriname carrying 410 indentured laborers recruited from British India, the first of many thousands who would arrive over the following decades under contracts that promised eventual return passage but often became de facto permanent settlement.