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You will see the name of this festival spelt in very many
different ways and as one word or two, but however it is written
it still translates to mean 'the great night of Shiva'.
Maha Shivaratri is celebrated in a wide variety of ways in
different countries where Hinduism is practised, but all are
concerned with marking the marriage of Lord Shiva to Parvati.
It is a very important Hindu festival and it is suggested
that some 300,000 pilgrims celebrate Maha Shivaratri in Mauritius.
It involves fasting, praying and making offerings to Lord
Shiva and can start up to a month before the actual day. In
Mauritius, all Hindus are also required to walk to the lake
at Grand Bassin, called Ganga Talao (or Lake Ganges).
Depending on where they live, pilgrims will start walking
to Grand Bassin several days before. They are usually dressed
in white and may carry a kanwar, a bamboo frame decorated
with flowers, bells, statues, etc, varying in size from small
personal ones to large ones (from temples) on wheels, pulled
along by a number of young men. Once they get to Ganga
Talao the pilgrims say prayers and make offerings of food
to Shiva, and the other gods represented there. After they
have finished at Grand Bassin the pilgrims return home and
may spend the night at the temple making offerings and saying
prayers (puja).
| The crater lake at Grand Bassin was discovered in 1897
by Pandit Gosain Naipual, a priest from Terre Rouge. He
dreamt that a holy lake existed in Mauritius and set out
to find it, which he did soon after. As people began to
find out about the lake, pilgrims started to walk there
as part of their celebration for Maha Shivaratri. Much
more recently holy water from the Ganges was brought to
Mauritius and was poured into the lake, making it even
more sacred. At this festival the pilgrims take sacred
water from the lake back to the house or temple to pour
it over a symbolic statue of Shiva (the Lingum). |
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