Maheswarnath Mandir, Triolet

About Maheswarnath Mandir, Triolet

The Maheswarnath Mandir, known locally as the "Grand Shivala" of Triolet in northern Mauritius, is the island's largest Hindu temple and one of its oldest. Its presiding deity is Lord Shiva as Maheshwarnath, the great Lord.

The temple was built by Tamil artisans under Mr Goinsamy Maestry — the same craftsmen who built the Jummah Mosque and the Kaylasson temple in Port Louis — and stands on the site of a former sugar factory. Its founder, Pandit Sajeebunlall Ramsoondur, is cremated within the compound; his samadhi and his wife's stand to the right of the entrance under banyan and frangipani trees. A popular legend says a pot of gold and silver coins, perhaps left by pirates, was found while the foundations were dug and paid for the building.

The temple has a special place in Mauritian Hindu life as the starting point of the Maha Shivaratri pilgrimage to Grand Bassin, and it remains a centre of worship and festivals for the north of the island.

History

Pandit Sajeebunlall Ramsoondur came to Mauritius from Calcutta on 4 April 1866 — he was originally from Odisha — and became a major landowner in Triolet during the land sales of the late nineteenth century. He built the temple at his own expense between 1888 and 1891, bringing murtis and priests from India and a second lingam from Kashi, which was carried in procession from Port Louis to Triolet. He donated land and money to a Hindu society to manage the temple and died on 25 February 1907. In 1898 he and nine people from Triolet made the first pilgrimage to Grand Bassin.