Last week my focus was on Hindu temples. I had been visiting one of the temples in Grand Baie. This week I will show you the mosque and the church located by the main road just oposite each other. Over the centuries both colonization, immigration and slavery has led to Mauritius becomming a multi-ethnic nation. On this island you will see catholic churches, Hindu temples, mosques and buddhist places of worship, co -excist alongside each other. Here in Grand Baie the church and the mosque are neighbors. They lend their parking lots to each other. There is still quite a high degree of religious tolerance.

The Holy Saint Church

Located by the sea this rather small church has a modern design. I do not know when it was build. There were people here preparing for Easter services, so I didn't get a chance to find some information inside the church. One third of the islands population are Roman Catholic. This religion is practiced by most of the Creole population, even though with a twist of voodoo elements. But it's mainly practiced by the Franco-Mauritians. In addition some Chinese and Indians practice Catholisism as well. Some of them has converted, mostly because of intermarrige.

Mauritius didn't have a native population prior to European colonization. The island was settled by people from different parts of the world. They all brought with them their culture, traditions, religions etc, which has made Mauritius a world in minature. Hinduism makes up the largest of the religions. Then comes Christianity and Islam.

Masjid Ronaq-Ui- Islam Sunnee

This mosque is probably the largest in Grand Baie. It's Ramadan and prayer time when I passed it on this particular day, so unfortunatly I could not go inside.

Close to 1/5 of the population are practicing Islam. Most of them are Sunni Muslims with and understanding of the Urdu language. Like the Hindus, the muslim population are of Indian origin. They arrived here in Mauritius during the colonial period as indentured workers. They came to work on the sugar plantations after 1834 /35. Before then, slaves were working on the sugar cane fields. When slavery was abolished, the British colonial power had to look for workers from somewhere else. India was also a British colony at that time. There are many beautiful mosques spread across the island. What I am missing is Buddhist pagodas. I think there are a couple in the capital. I have to see if I manage to check them out too.

CC @patjewell

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