BASSE-POINTE, MARTINIQUE, March 13, 2018 (France-Antilles, translated from French): Albert Allemele was one of the great vatialou (master of the sacred) of Martinique. The grandson of indentured workers from South India, Albert Allemele was a great connoisseur of Hindu ceremonies. Nearly a year after his death and according to his last wish, his ashes were scattered in the sacred waters of the Ganges, India. Around the funerary urn, a prayer ceremony was held in the presence of a Swami, children and relatives. Three of his children, accompanied by cousins and friends, recently traveled to India, to the city of Varanasi, to disperse his ashes in the Ganges. “According to Hinduism, whoever dies in Varanasi and whose ashes are thrown into the Ganges, is assured of being delivered from the cycle of reincarnations and thus reach Paradise,” says his daughter.
“His life was India,” says Celine, one of Albert Allemele’s daughters.” In 1994, my father went there. That trip had touched him a lot.” His role at festivals was to recite in Tamil the sacred texts, sing, dance and play tapou karin [rhythm on a Tamil frame drum]. When he passed away on March 13, 2017, at the age of 89, the Indian community of Martinique paid tribute to him by organizing a Hindu vigil at the community center in Basse-Pointe.