Ganesh Chaturthi, festival going upscale every year in Mauritius

There are 33 million Gods in Hinduism, but the God that is worshiped first in every prayer is Ganesh, the God with the elephant head, son of Shiva for whom Maha Shivratri festival is celebrated with a lot of intensity and devotion across the country.

Initially in Mauritius, Ganesh Chaturti was celebrated only in the homes of Marathi families. Gradually, the celebrations extended to temples, organizing big community prayers. Then came the gorgeous statues imported from India, which made this whole festival more beautiful with traditional “navvari sarees” and traditional music, dance and the immense on-feet processions to Flic-en-Flac beach, which witness thousands of Ganesh idol immersions for this festival. This year, there might be something new associated with this festival.

Cultures travel across borders through different means, sometimes with humans, at other times with books and the internet has a role to play nowadays. Indian culture travelled to Mauritius from India through indentured labourers around 180 years ago, on ships with the coolies. Eventually after Independence, the Indian culture again travelled to Mauritius but this time on airplanes, through cultural diplomacy. Culture is something which transforms itself through travelling, taking a novel shape in a new land according to the geography of that area. It also changes according to the socio-political scene of that country. This is what happened in the case of Mauritius when different cultures travelled from huge and different continents to this tiny island and in the process, created a multicultural society.

Many festivals and rituals came with the Indian culture. Some festivals were lost during the hard days of colonial exploitation in the sugarcane fields but others survived in their feeble houses, holding on strongly to their beliefs. Some Indian festivals, which were lost due to the lack of so many circumstances like time, money, resources, among others, were revived through other means like Indian daughter-in-laws, cultural diplomacy, conferences and international relations. One such festival which kept going upscale with the development of the country is Ganesh Chaturthi. it has become very popular and has been celebrated with lots of pomp and vigor for some decades. 

On this special public holiday during Ganesh Chaturthi, lots of processions with big Ganesh statues, loud music and dancing are common sights on Mauritian roads, especially around south west where the there is a large congregation of the Marathi community.

History of Marathi culture in Mauritius 

More than 40,000 labourers were brought from the port of Bombay to Mauritius between 1835 and 1910. They came from different regions of Maharashtra, mainly from the Konkan coast, including Ratnagiri and Rajapur, but also from Pune, Satara and Kolhapur, just to name a few. The indentured workers lived mainly in settlements situated on the sugar estates for which they worked. The sugar estates of Le Val, La Rosa, Virginia, La Réunion and Alma welcomed numerous Marathis since mid-19th century. Some settlements were thus named according to the ethnic identity of its inhabitants, such as the “Kan Bombay” (Marathi camp) in La Gaulette.

The migration from villages occurred eventually due to various reasons and the Marathis moved from rural to the urban areas of Vacoas, Quatre Bornes and Beau Bassin.  Black River district is believed to contain the oldest as well as the greatest number of settlements pertaining to the Marathi community. When they settled in villages, they started celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi with the available resources.

The oldest and most symbolic Marathi temple of Mauritius is that of Cascavelle, the association was registered in the year 1902, but the temple is assumed to have been built around 1890-1900.

The Mauritius Marathi Mandali Federation was indeed created in 1960, to encourage and promote the language, culture and religious practices of the Marathis amongst young people.