MUNOO MAHARAJ AND MANILAL MAHARAJ – DESCENDANTS OF PIONEERING BADRI MAHARAJ FAMILY OF OTTAWA
(Mr Munoo Maharaj with his wife, Suminthra, mother, Mrs Srimathie Badri Maharaj, and eldest son, Krish)
TWO MAHARAJ BROTHERS WHO WERE SOCIAL, RELIGIOUS AND COMMUNITY WORKERS IN OTTAWA
By Subry Govender
Pundit Manilal Badri Maharaj resided, with his wife, Bhanmathy, five sons and a daughter, on the Old Main Road, Ottawa. The pioneering Ponnen Budda family and Maharaj family were neighbours.
Pundit Manilal Maharaj was an esteemed and popular priest who conducted various types of prayers at weddings, funerals, and other functions.
About two years ago, I had the privilege of interviewing one of his sons, Mr Suren Maharaj, who is 74-years-old. Mr Suren Maharaj was an archive of information pertaining to their family history.
During the interview, at his home, Mr. Suren Maharaj said: “Being a priest was richly ingrained in the Maharaj family from as far back as when my great-grand-father arrived in South Africa from a village in North India in the mid-1890s.”
(Pundit Badri Maharaj, the father of Munoo Maharaj and his brother, Manilal, seen here performing the soil turning prayer for the construction of the new Jhugroo school. The lady also performing the prayer was Mrs Sanjaria Jhugroo, who donated the land in memory of her husband.)
His great-grand-father, Pundit Sewnundhan Sharma, arrived in South Africa, in1890 on the ship, named the SS Umzinto, with his wife, son Badri Maharaj , and a daughter, Chameli, who passed on at a very early age. They came from Jhakrasi village in the district of Rai Barelli, near the town of Lucknow, which is located in the state of Uttar Pradesh in North India.
On his arrival he stayed on a sugar farm in the Umhlanga Rocks area, which is currently known as the Hawaan Forest Estate. After a while, Pundit Sewnundhan Sharma settled in Redcliffe.
The young man, Badri Maharaj, who took over his father’s priestly profession, worked very hard. He saved most of the “gold crowns” he was paid for his priestly services. Over time he purchased 18 acres of land between Maharaj and Kissoon Roads, Ottawa, from a Mauritian family. He bought the land for farming purposes.
His traditional ox cart travels from his home at the far end of Maharaj Road to the Old Ottawa Station created a track which was later constructed into a formal road and named Maharaj Road.
Badri Maharaj married Srimathi Janaki at a young age and they had eight children – four sons and four daughters.
The eldest son was Parameshwar Maharaj, also known as Munoo, who lived with his family at the far end of Maharaj Road. Munoo Maharaj was also one of the local leaders who made a huge contribution to the construction of the new Jhugroo Primary School
The second son was Surajnarain Maharaj, who moved to Bolton Road in Overport, Durban.
The third son was Pundit Manilal Maharaj who was a part-time priest and lived on a property on the main road in Central Ottawa.
The fourth son is Harrypersad Badri Maharaj, also known as Dadoo, a school teacher by profession who is currently 98 years of age and the most senior member of the Badri Maharaj Family, living in Essendene Road, Overport.
The eldest of the four daughters was Mrs Soni Maharaj. The second daughter, Sursathi Maharaj, married school principal, Pundit S S Maharaj. The third daughter was Bhanmathi Maharaj. The fourth daughter, Chunderwathi Maharaj, was a polio victim and never married.
Badri Maharaj relocated with his family to Ottawa in 1895 and settled on the land he purchased. It was here at the far end of Maharaj Road that Pundit Badri Maharaj built a 10-room wood and iron house. where one of his daughters, Chunderwathi, lived till the end of her life. The family later sold this property in the 1970s for the construction of the Ottawa Civic Hall.
In the 1950’s, Badri Maharaj sold two acres of the land to M K Moodley and D K Moodley of Mount Edgecombe.
Mr Munoo Maharaj, who played an important role in the construction of the new Jhugroo Primary School in Tin Town, married Sumintra, who stayed with her family in the historic settlement of Cato Manor in Durban.
They had 10 children. They were Kissoonchander, who was also known as Krish; Rajpathie; Minora; Ramchander who was well known as Rogers; Roopdai; Maganlall; Gayathrie; Jayanthilall; Parasnath and Ashwin.
The eldest, Krish, who also worked at Flash Clothing like many other young people of Ottawa, married Prathima, who was the eldest child of the owner of Flash Clothing, Mr SS Maharaj.
One of his daughters, Minora, married Mr SS Maharaj’s youngest brother, Mr DS Maharaj, who was a school teacher and famous musician for the first band group in Ottawa called the Young Serenaders. He compiled a song during the school construction. “Jhugroo School, Jhurgoo School, we are the children of Jhugroo School”.
I spoke to two third generation descendants, Parasnath Maharaj and Suren Maharaj, about their pioneering fathers, Mr Munoo Maharaj, and Mr Manilal Maharaj.
According to Parasnath Maharaj, his father, Munoo Maharaj, used to accompany his father, Badri Maharaj, when he worked as a priest. Mr Munoo Maharaj, in addition to helping his father, also worked as a sales person at Popatlall Kara’s sari shop in Durban.
According to Parasnath, his father, who died at the age of 88, was a very strict person who brought up his children to be respectful to all members of the family and the community at large.
When I spoke to Parasnath in 2020, he told me that seven of his siblings were now late and that there were now only three of them. They are Minora, who is now 82; Rajpathie, who is now 84, and Parasnath, who is now 73.
Recalling his early days, Parasnath said life was tough when they were growing up. They had no electricity or water at that time.
“I remember we used to fetch our water from the river nearby in big drums. We used to carry the drums in a long stick called banga.
“Despite our tough lives, the situation was very peaceful and we all respected one another. We all lived like families irrespective of our different religious, language and cultural practices.”
According to Suren Maharaj, his father, Pundit Manilal Maharaj, was a well-respected member of the community. Pundit Manilal Maharaj’s full-time employment was in the building industry. Additionally, he was a priest and Hindi teacher, who volunteered his time at the Shri Gopallal Temple in Verulam.
Mr Suren Maharaj said, his mother, Bhanmathy, was a disciplinarian. She took great pride in enforcing the life lessons that Pundit Manilal Maharaj taught their children. She was extremely hard working and self-motivated in the face of extreme hardship. They ensured that all their children were well provided for, educated and embarked on successful careers as adults.
(This is the house that Pundit Manilal Maharaj built for his family in 1963)
Pundit and Mrs Maharaj first lived in a wood and iron house and later Pundit Manilal Maharaj built a brick and tile house which is still occupied by their youngest son and his family on the Old Main Road. Pundit Manilal Maharaj, like his brother Munoo Maharaj, also volunteered his time during the weekends and public holidays in the construction of the new Jhugroo School.
According to Suren Maharaj, the descendants of Pundit Sewnandan Sharma now number more than 600 and span over seven generations. Two grandsons owned garment factories that provided jobs for the residents of Ottawa; and three others ran their own businesses which have now been passed onto the younger generation.
Most of the descendants today have made tremendous progress in their lives. Seven of them have become attorneys, one advocate, some of them have entered the medical profession, some the teaching profession and one descendant has entered the media world by establishing his own independent radio station, Megazone Radio, on FM and online.
Suren Maharaj said: “Ottawa has been not only a little village where we all lived in harmony and respect for one another but also participated in all the religious festivals – such as Diwali, Christmas, Eid and other traditional prayers.
“But life for their parents and for their generation in Ottawa was challenging yet with perseverance they overcame these challenges. They had no running water, electricity or proper roads.
“We washed our clothes on the river banks, fetched water from the river and picked up wood and coal from the railway lines”.
According to Suren Maharaj many of them have visited the land of their ancestors over the past 30 years. He himself has visited India nine times and the village of their ancestors on two occasions.
“We are South Africans of Indian-origin and cannot forget our roots.” Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com Updated Dec 4 2023
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