Ganga Talao

According to Hindu legend, the God Shiva and his wife Parvati were circling the earth, with the sacred river Ganges balanced on Shiva's head. Shiva noticed a beautiful, deserted island and decided to land, but in the course of touching down there, he spilled a few drops of the Ganges onto the island, creating a small lake. The Ganges, to no surprise, wasn't thrilled with having some of her precious water left behind on the island, but Shiva replied by saying that some day the people who resided along her riverbanks in India would settle on this deserted island and come to worship her there.

And so was born the sacred lake, Ganga Talao, now home to the biggest annual pilgrimage of Hindus outside of India. Each winter, hundreds of thousands of Hindus descend upon the lake, some coming from as far away as South Africa, to give offerings to Shiva and this distant "tributary" of the Ganges. It's one of the most important events on the Mauritius calendar. Unfortunately, I was about four months too late to participate in the festival itself, but that wouldn't stop us from paying our respects during the off-season.

	A statue of Shiva sits in the middle of the lake.

	Religious flags hover above the lake.		A giant eel swims along the lake shore.
	A man cracks coconuts over a shrine as he and his family give puja to the god Hanuman.		Pouring holy water onto the shrine. See a video of the ceremony!
			Closeup of the puja offerings.
	The statue of Hanuman.