Ganesh Chaturthi and the kindness of strangers

A few weeks ago, Merv and I went with some friends to a show jumping event in a small stadium in Quatre Bornes. It happened to be in the street where our friend Patrick grew up, and he decided to pay a quick visit to one of his ex-neighbours while we waited in the car. He didn't stay long, but when he came back, he announced that we were all invited to a dinner a couple of weeks from then.

One of the great things about Mauritius is the hospitality of the locals. If someone is having a party, they invite all their neighbours, colleagues, and, in this case, friends of friends who they may never have met before. They really do believe "the more, the merrier." Being so far from home, from my family and friends, this really means a lot to me, and it's a great way of learning more about Mauritian culture, which was one of the main reasons for coming to live here in the first place. 

The dinner in question was part of the family's celebrations for the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. I had never heard of this, but there was a long article about it in the local newspaper, and, with the help of Google, I managed to learn the basics before going (about the way it's celebrated in Mauritius, there are probably some variations between countries)

Some weeks before the festival, people install specially made clay statues of Ganesh in their homes or in public places. They are brightly coloured and often decorated with flowers and lights. The evening we were invited, the family and other Hindus in the area held a prayer vigil and brought offerings of fruit. It was a huge event, with a policeman outside to control the traffic and everything. Members of the family served food to all the visitors. They were so kind and attentive, treating us like long lost friends, rather than strangers who were totally ignorant (though respectful) of their religion and culture. We ate our food off banana leaves, with our fingers - not easy, but we wanted to fit in so refused offers of a spoon. 

After the night of prayer, the Ganesh statues are carried to a local river, or to the sea, and immersed. The statues are traditionally made of clay so that after immersion, they disintegrate in the water, reflecting the constant state of change of the universe and the cycle of creation and dissolution in nature.

We headed down to our local beach in Albion and watched the rituals. You didn't really need to understand what they were doing or why to appreciate it, the colours alone were amazing. It also explained a lot about why we often see pieces of material and chunks of coconut washed up on the beach! 

People queuing to present their offerings to Ganesh

Music and singing during the prayers

The statues are then carried down to the beach

People on the beach waiting for Ganesh

The statues are immersed in the water and disintegrate

Mauritius is a multicultural and multi-religion country and Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the two Hindu festivals observed as a public holiday. The Chinese, Christian and Muslim communities also have two annual public holidays each. More on those another day.