01A lake that became the Ganga
From 1834 the indentured labourers came to Mauritius from Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the south, and most never saw the Ganga again. In 1897, the account goes, Pandit Giri Gossayne of Triolet dreamt of a lake whose water flowed from the Jahnavi, and the next year he led the first pilgrimage to Grand Bassin, the lake in the island’s central hills. In 1972 water brought from the Ganga in Bharat was poured into it, and the name Ganga Talao was given.
02The Shivaratri walk
In the days before Maha Shivaratri, families walk from their villages to the lake, some for two or three days, carrying kanwars decorated with paper, mirrors and flowers. Roadside stalls run by volunteers give free food and tea all the way. At the lake they fill vessels with water to pour on the Shivling at their home temples on the night of Shivaratri. Close to half the island’s people are Hindu, and the government treats the pilgrimage as a national event.
03Mangal Mahadev
At the entrance to the site stands Mangal Mahadev, a statue of Shiva 33 m high, unveiled in 2007 and modelled on the Shiva at Sursagar in Vadodara. A matching statue of Durga stands beside him. Around the lake are temples to Shiva, Hanuman, Lakshmi, Ganesh and others, and on ordinary days families come to offer flowers at the water’s edge, where the monkeys wait for prasad.
The life of this place
- 1898Pandit Giri Gossayne led the first pilgrimage to the lake.
- 1972Water from the Ganga was poured in and the lake named Ganga Talao.
- 2007The 33 m Mangal Mahadev statue was unveiled.
In the south-west uplands, near the Black River Gorges. Maha Shivaratri (February–March) is the great season; on other days it is quiet.
