Grand Bassin

Mountain lake in the southern part of
Mauritius, an island in the Indian
Ocean 1,200 miles east of the east
African coast. The Hindu population of
Mauritius have established sacred sites
(tirthas) in the landscape that often
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Grand Bassin
The Grand Bassin, a mountain lake on the island of Mauritius. Just before the festival of Shivaratri,
crowds of people gather at this lake and draw water to offer to the god Shiva.
relate or correspond to sacred landscape features on the Indian subcontinent. Grand Bassin is a remote and
high lake, which the Hindus on
Mauritius call the Ganges River. In the
days before the festival of Shivaratri
(February–March), great crowds of people come to Grand Bassin. They bathe
(snana) in the lake, worship at the temples surrounding it, and then draw pots
of water from the lake and carry them
on foot back to their homes. The pilgrims time their departures to arrive at
their homes on the evening of
Shivaratri, and the water is offered to
the god Shiva in their local temple. This
sort of rite can be found in several
places in India, most notably at
Vaidyanath in Bihar.