Sarah Kali

Every year on May 24, Gypsies arrive from all over the world in this little fishing town of Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer to honor Sara as their Patron Saint. The next day is reserved in honor of Saints Mary Jacobe and Mary Salome.

Saint Sarah also known as Sara-la-Kali ("Sara the Black", Romani: Sara e Kali), is the patron saint of the Romani people. The center of her veneration is Saintes Maries de la Mer, a place of for Roma in the Camargue, in southern France. Legend identifies her as the servant of one of the Three Maries with whom she is supposed to have arrived in the Camargue.

During the day of the pilgrimage honouring Sarah (May 24th), her statue is carried down to the sea to re-enact her arrival in France.

Some anthropologists have drawn parallels between the ceremonies of the pilgrimage and the worship of the Hindu goddess Kali (a form of Durga*), subsequently identifying the two.


*a principal and popular form of Hindu warrior goddess, whose mythology centres around combating evils and demonic forces.

GitanesGipsyRomaniRomsSaint SaraSainte SaraSainte Marie SalomeSainte Marie JacobeSaintes Maries de la MerCamargueFranceEurope