Ganga Talao
| Ganga Talao | ||
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| Ganga Talao in Mauritius | ||
| Geographical location | Mauritius | |
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| Coordinates | 20 ° 25 ′ 5 ″ S , 57 ° 29 ′ 31 ″ E | |
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| Altitude above sea level | 550 m | |
Ganga Talao (( Hindi गङ तलओ ); also known as Grand Bassin ) is considered the holiest pilgrimage site for Hindus in Mauritius .
location
It is located in the Savanne district and encompasses an area around a crater lake 550 meters above sea level , on the banks of which there are several statues of Hindu gods and several smaller temples.
At the entrance of Ganga Talao there has been a 33 m high statue of Shiva since 2007 . This is the tallest statue in Mauritius. The statue is a copy of the statue from Sursagar Talav Lake in Vadodara, India . On the other side of the road there is another 33 m high statue showing Durga Maa Bhavani.
The depth of the lake is unknown.
Shiva monument
Statues of gods
history
It is said that Shiva and his wife Parvati once circled the earth while Shiva balanced the sacred river Ganges on his head. When Shiva landed, he spilled a few drops of the Ganges, creating Lake Ganga Talao. Shiva predicted that one day the people of India would come to the island of Mauritius and visit the lake as a holy place.
This belief goes back to a dream by Giri Gossayne in 1897.
The first pilgrims to visit Ganga Talao in 1898 came from the town of Triolet , where the island's second largest temple complex can be found, and were led by Pandit Giri Gossayne from Terre Rouge . The pilgrims paid homage to Shiva and took holy water from the lake.
In 1972, holy water of the Ganges was mixed with the water of the lake to create a symbolic connection with the sacred Indian river. In addition, the lake was renamed from Grand Bassin to Ganga Talao.
In 1998, one hundred years after the first pilgrims arrived, the lake was declared a “holy lake”.
Nowadays, the annual pilgrim marches at Shivaratri to Lake Ganga Talao, some of which are more than 70 kilometers barefoot, represent the largest pilgrimage of Hindus outside of India. Not only Hindus from Mauritius are represented, but also from South Africa, for example. Around 450,000 pilgrims are counted in February and March. In addition, there are almost 1000 tourists every day. The inhabitants of Mauritius donate food and water to the pilgrims along the way. The most beautiful statues that the pilgrims carry with them are awarded.
Grand Bassin in 1873
pilgrim
literature
- Bernard Carillet, Anthony Ham, Mauritius e Réunion, Torino, EDT srl, 2011, ISBN 9788860407160 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ nationsonline.org: aerial photo , accessed May 5, 2007
- ↑ a b c d e edwebproject.org: Ganga Talao , accessed on February 23, 2016
- ↑ a b c d whc.unesco.org: Laureates 2007 , Melina Mercouri International Price, January 21, 2008 ( Memento of January 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
