february 16th & the walk to ganga talo
Original Post Date: February 16th 2007
Death anniversaries are truly a peculiar animal. However, for all the ways that they are uncomfortable and strange, they are also wonderful. Unlike the remainder of the calendar year, anniversaries can be a day set aside for reminiscing, a day for letting the past creep back into your conscious.
On February 16th 2006, I commemorated the 1st anniversary of my father’s passing by getting a small memorial tattoo. This year, however, I observed the 2nd anniversary of my father’s passing by participating in the island-wide walk to Ganga Talo.
My friends and I (all decidedly non-Hindu) began our journey at midnight, setting out on streets that were eerily vacant. Unlike the previous evening, food servers had vanished, tents had been stuck down, and the only other pedestrians on the road were persons returning from the lake.
Although we had not anticipated it, we were the final pilgrims of the year, and this heightened both my appreciation for the journey and my sense of quietude.
My friends completed the hilly 26 km/ 16 mile trip in just under five hours and arrived at Ganga Talo just in time to witness the sun rise behind a blanket of fog, bathing the lake in soft, somnolent light. There we also found several hundred Hindu families spread out along the lakeside, making offerings of incense, flowers and coconut and saying prayers.
Although the journey was long and fatiguing, it was one the most valuable experiences I’ve had since coming to Mauritius. The journey that many Mauritians make as a demonstration of faith became for me a demonstration of love. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to pause, reflect, and remember.
Photographs from the walk [slideshow]
Labels: february 16, religious festivals
