Sunday, December 16, 2012

Bihari women to celebrate Chhath Puja in Mauritius

http://www.indianetzone.com/photos_gallery/48/Chhath%20Puja.jpg
PATNA: Mauritius, the country with 70% of its population from Indian origin, has proposed to invite ten Bihari women to celebrate Chhath Puja, the most sacred and popular festival of Bihar, on the foreign shore.


Sources attributed the move to the fact that all the Hindu festivals except Chhath are celebrated in the island nation. "A major constituent of the Mauritian population is the people with origins in Bihar as their ancestors were shipped to Mauritius centuries ago. But the younger generation of them is somewhat detached not only from their roots but also from the rituals attached to their roots," Bihar tourism minister Sunil Kumar 'Pintu' said, explaining the reason behind the Mauritian government's move.


Pintu was in Port Louis in October to attend the 'Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas' function when the Chhath invite for the Bihari women was extended to him during a meeting with Mauritian President Rajkeswur Purryag and Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam. Pintu was told elderly people of Indian origin in Mauritius wanted to celebrate Chhath but they were not aware of the rituals.


On his return, Pintu discussed the invite with chief minister Nitish Kumar who has given his go-ahead to the proposal. "But he is a tad sceptical about the move getting materialized as we all know that the entire family has to assist the women perform Chhath," Pintu said and added the CM expressed doubts if women would agree to celebrate their most important festival away from their homes.

In view of this, the state tourism department has now proposed to allow the husband or another family member to accompany the women. While the travelling expenses would be borne by the Bihar government, the Mauritian government would make arrangements for their stay.

"We will insert advertisements in the media, inviting willing people to make their expression of interest for the purpose," Pintu said and added the nitty-gritty would be finalized after a proposed daylong visit of President Purryag to Bihar next month.



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