The sound of Sanskrit chants, worship, bells and conch shells, dholak and bhajans filled the air, as Hindu devotees gathered at the Marianne River in Blanchisseuse to celebrate Ganga Dhaaraa on June 8.
The religious festival commemorating the coming of Holy Ganga to Earth was organised by the Hindu Prachaar Kendra.
The climax of the festival was the procession and immersion (visarjan) of a murti of Ganga Maiya in the river, and the release of hundreds of yellow buttercup flowers along with lighted deyas in coconuts.
All of the items involved in the rituals were collected afterward in a catchment area lower down the river, as the importance of non-environmental pollution is stressed during the celebrations.