Varusha Pirappu

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.

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.

Tamil religious celebration (April/May). This morning in temples throughout the country - The Sittarai Cavadee celebrated in devotion.

Chinese families all across the Mauritius celebrates The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival. This holiday celebrates the date that parallels the autumn and spring Equinoxes of the solar calendar, when the moon is supposedly at its fullest and roundest.

The festival begins on the eve of the Chinese New Year with an explosion of firecrackers to chase away evil spirits. New Years Day is in January or February and does not fall on the same day every year due to the irregularity of the lunar month. During the week before New Year's Day there is a thorough spring—cleaning of the home. Traditionalists make visits to pagodas on New Year's Eve with offerings and prayers of thanksgiving. The Day itself is a holiday for the Chinese community who celebrate by going to the beach.