Saints and evil and the wayside shrines of Mauritius

Abstract

This article discusses the cultural practice of constructing wayside shrines in the Black River district of Mauritius. Using interdisciplinary methods, the authors map the material practices of shrine-making, examine their historical and social contexts, and investigate their contemporary cultural meanings and values. The Mauritian tradition draws important parallels to what scholars have termed ‘spontaneous shrines’ but is a singular material expression of popular religion that is deliberate, often durable, apolitical, profoundly religious, and inextricably tied to the supernatural. In Black River, the majority of roadside shrines are grounded in a local folk Catholic tradition, derived from beliefs about the power of saints in everyday lives, the co-dependent relationship between the living and the dead, and the omnipresence of evil in the world. These shrines are complex sites that materially locate Catholic believers in the country’s varied ethnic geography, yet they also work as an articulation of popular religion that creates a unique intercultural space.