The Coordination Committee on the forthcoming celebrations of the Govinden festival and prayers (Puja), met this afternoon in Port Louis. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of the Minister of Arts and Cultural Heritage, Mr Avinash Teeluck.
Several representatives from governmental institutions and sociocultural associations were present to share their proposals for the advent of the religious ceremony.
Discussions during the meeting focused on, namely: the provision of necessary amenities that will be made available during the prayers to be held in some 150 temples across Mauritius such as proper lighting and proper tent accommodation; and live telecast of the prayers by the national television, the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).
In his statement, Minister Teeluck recalled that the Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, gave instructions for the holding of a meeting with all the temples that will celebrate this festival so as to ensure that any assistance that can be offered is given due consideration.
Today’s meeting, Mr Teeluck underlined, is a follow-up of a previous coordination meeting held last week to take note of proposals as regards the holding of the festival and to inform concerned temples that the government has agreed to grant a certain amount of tent space and other facilities to all temples wishing to celebrate this festival.
In addition, the Minister observed that regional task forces have been mobilised at the local authority level to coordinate with stakeholders such as the Central Water Authority and the Central Electricity Board and, hold regular sessions aimed at facilitating the implementation of measures that will ensure that the prayers take place in the best possible conditions.
As regards the live telecast of prayers by the MBC, Minister Teeluck affirmed that the MBC will offer live coverage like every year in different parts of the island. “Since the prayers are celebrated over a period of four weeks, there will be four live coverages scheduled on four Saturdays, across the island as well as a fifth dedicated to the celebration of the Day accompanied by broadcasts of special features during the period of prayers,” he remarked.
Also present at the meeting, the President of the Hindu Maha Jana Sanghan, Mr Manoven Sadayen, expressed satisfaction with regard to the provision of all facilities to the devotees during the celebrations in particular to the ‘Shri Krishnamoorthy Draupadai Ammen’ temple in Terre Rouge, which welcomes more devotees during the celebrations.
This meeting, he observed, is a good initiative from the Government to take into consideration the proposals raised by the various sociocultural representatives for the holding of this festival.
It is recalled that every year, devotees, mainly of the Tamil and Telegu faiths, observe a one-month fasting festival called Govinden from mid-September to mid-October which is dedicated to Lord Krishna.
