Ganga Talao (Grand Bassin)

About Ganga Talao (Grand Bassin)

Ganga Talao, better known as Grand Bassin, is a crater lake high in the mountains of Savanne in southern Mauritius, and the most sacred Hindu site on the island. Its name means "Lake of the Ganga": for the descendants of Indian indentured labourers it became a living link with the holy river thousands of miles away.

Temples and shrines line the shore, dedicated to Shiva, Hanuman, Goddess Ganga and Ganesha. At the entrance stands Mangal Mahadev, a 33-metre statue of Shiva holding his trident, inaugurated in 2007 — the tallest statue in Mauritius and a copy of the Shiva statue at Sursagar Lake in Vadodara, Gujarat. A 33-metre statue of Durga Mata stands nearby; Durga Puja and Navaratri are celebrated lavishly across the island.

Every year at Maha Shivaratri, close to half a million Mauritian Hindus make a pilgrimage to the lake, many walking for days from their homes carrying hand-made kanwars — decorated shrines — dedicated to Shiva. Pilgrims pray and make offerings at the water's edge, and many carry home bottles of the lake water for those who could not come. Along the routes, families offer food and drink to the walking pilgrims.

History

According to tradition, in the 1890s a priest, Pandit Jhummun Giri Gossagne, saw in a dream the waters of the lake flowing from the Ganga. In 1898 a group from Triolet — with Pandit Sajeebunlall Ramsoondur of the Maheswarnath Mandir — walked to the lake to collect its water for Maha Shivaratri, starting the pilgrimage that continues today. In 1972 water from the Ganges was mixed into the lake and it was renamed Ganga Talao; it was declared a sacred lake in 1998.