Sittarai Cavadee

Tamil New Year. Puthandu marks the Tamil New Year’s Day and is celebrated in the beginning of Chithirai - the first month in the Tamil Calendar year. The auspicious occasion of Puthandu is also popularly known as Varusha Pirappu or the birth of New Year and falls on 13th or 14th April according to the Gregorian Calendar. Many people in Tamil Nadu also celebrate Puthandu as the day when Lord Brahma - Hindu God of Creation started creation. People of Tamil Nadu celebrate Varusha Pirappu in a big way by merrymaking and feasting.

Population and Religion

At 31 December 1997, the population was estimated to be 1,120,530. It is divided into several ethnic groups, namely the Indo-Mauritians, creoles (that is persons having European, Madagascar and African origin) and Chinese Mauritians. Most of the festivities without fixed dates have been brought by the Indians but mostly by the tamilians. But there are also Chinese and Christian rites. The musical instruments that can be seen in Mauritius are the Ravane, a kind of big tambourine to give the rhythm for the tam-tam of the sega.

FESTIVITIES

Seemadree Appana Parsa
Telegu religious celebration. There is little uniformity in the celebration of festivals across the Telugu community. Each region presents a kaleidoscopic variation of interpretations and emphases on common themes.

Vivahabandhan

This is a Hindu and Tamil fire-walking ceremony in honour of various gods. The ceremonies occur throughout the year, but mostly in December and January. After fasting and bathing, the participants walk over red-hot embers scattered along the ground. The Hindu temples at Camp Diable, The Vale and Quatre Bornes are noted for this event. A feat along similar lines is sword climbing, seen mostly between April and June. The best demonstrations occur at Solitude, Triolet and Mt Choisy, in the northwest.

The first of the year's religious festivals. It is celebrated in the beginning of the Tamil month Thai in January/February, and is also known as Thai Pongal. It is an occasion of thanksgiving for the harvest where food is offered to the gods, which is represented by the ceremonial boiling of pongal (mixture of rice, sugar, milk and dhal) and the decoration of cows which are then fed the pongal. It is customary to wear new clothes at this time.