Aaparvasi Ghat in Port Louis Mauritius.

The Aaparvasi Ghatt , before known as Coolie Ghat is situated on the bay of Trou Fanfaron in the disctrict of Port Louis , the capital of Mauritius . The Ghat is an Immigration Depot , built by the British Government to receive indentured labourers from India, East Africa, Madagascar , China and Southeast Asia, to work on the island’s sugar estates. It is a world heritage site today .
Aaparvasi means immigrant and Ghat is the place where the water meets the land and it is here where the great Indentured Labourers diaspora began. The British Government selected the Island of Mauritius to be the 1st site of what is called « the great experiment.», in the use of free labourers to replace slaves, between 1834 to 1920 . The sucess of the « Great Experience »led of adoption to other colonial powers , resulting a world -wide migration of about more than 2 millions indentured labourersarrived from India at Aaparvasi Ghat to work in the sugar plantations of Mauritius , or tobe transfered to Reunion Island , Australia, Southern and Eastern Africa and the carabeens / Fiji , Trinidad and Tobacco , Guyana. Mauritius received almost half a million of indentured labourers .
Its the place where all our ancestors landed and after the adminstrations papers completed , so that they can be identified they were allocated to their respective sugar estates .The depot included Sheds for the immigrants, the office of the Protector of immigrants , quarters for officers , a hospital . The Protector of Immigrants was responsible for administrating the immigrant system, supervising the disembarkation, registration , to assigne them to sugar estates It was also an emotional espace , where the immigrants share their fears, and hopes , where their destiny has been traced.
The Aaparvasi Ghat , the buildings stands as the major historic testimony of indenture inthe 19th century, and is the sole surviving example of the unique modern diaspora, it is also the memories , traditions , and values of all these men, women and children who left their countries have bring with them . TO THE MILLIONS OF DECENDANTS FOR WHOM THIS SITE HOLDS A GREAT SYMBOLIC MEANING.
So many years have elapsed since the first indentured labourers walked through the historic gateway, and climbing the 16 steps upon which all immigrants has to lay foot before entering the depot. But still today, climbing the steps is an emotional experience. Echos of far away murmurs are heard , as if the walls have capted and try to share the fearful and anxious feelings, and the secrets of those souls who once marched ahead step by step to their new unknown destity. Once walking through these steps, is a tribute to the memories of our Ancestors, they do not only toiled the soil , but also boosted the development process of the country, which has led us all to thus highways of life style, and made us their heirs , to live a full live in dignity , entergrity and humanisme and continue to inspire us in our present life.
For this reason the site of Aaparvasi Ghat has become an important landmarkand tangible testimony for the people of Mautitius and for the shaping of Mauritian identity and inscribed on UNESCO ‘s World Heritage Site list in July 2006.
The first indenture labourers came in Mauritius in the Vessel named ATLAS on the 2nd November 1834 . Since 1971 each year the 2nd November , a commemoration ceremony is organised to pay homage to these brave immigrants who took the leap into the unknown to become indentured labourers in Mauritius . OUR ANCESTORS.

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