A majority of the Hindu immigrants to Mauritius came from the North Indian plains of the sacred Ganges river. The river played an important role in their religious life. Upon arriving in Mauritius, the early immigrants felt the absence of the Ganges, especially at the festival of Maha Shivaratri, the festival of Lord Shiva and of pilgrimage to the river. In 1897, Shri Jhummon Giri Gosagne, a priest from the North of the island, had a vision of a sacred lake in the southern jungles. He and a group of followers set out to find the lake, which his vision described as related to the river Ganges.