Sanjeev V Sardesai
We can see many rituals followed by communities, the world over, in celebrations or as a penance. Each of these rituals are enveloped in some sort of a mystical fascination which beside bonding its people, also have a magnetic effect in attracting visitors.
Goa, as a destination, does not lag far behind! We can experience many fascinating and striking celebrations, especially during the fortnight of the Holi or the Shigmo celebrations. Phalgun is the last month of the Hindu Lunar calendar, after which the Hindu New Year opens from the first day of Chaitra. This first day is celebrated as Gudi Padwa or Sanvsar Padwo.
A fortnight prior to the Gudi Padwa or New Year’s Day, and from the full moon night in the last month Phalgun, a fascinating celebration starts in various villages and regions of Goa. These are locally called as the Shigmo or Shimgo celebrations. Each festivity has its own charm and mysticism. While some are pleasing to the eyes, like the Ghode Modni festivities in Bicholim and Sarvan, or the Karavlyo festival in Sattari Taluka of North Goa, there are equally scintillating festivities such as Saalantle’ Gade, wherein you find hundreds, if not thousands, of devotees as well as thrill seekers, running like the wind on a mountainside, in pitch darkness, chasing a flickering flame of the spirit!
The other ‘Gade’ festivities held at night, in Goa, in pitch darkness are not meant for the faint hearted! Other than these festivities of ‘Gades’, the Goan cultural diasporas, literally lays a huge platter of festive extravaganza to whosoever wishes to participate, following all protocols. Many of these festivities are related to religious temples and care must be taken to maintain strict protocols of entry and participation.
Unfortunately, tourists and also most of Goans themselves, are sadly unaware about these once-in-a-lifetime experiences. These festivities are in urgent need for a properly promoted and strictly streamlined calendar, monitored by respective tourism promoting agencies, the hospitality industry or in case of their inability, aggressively promoted through enthusiastic heritage promoters organising ‘Heritage walks’.
In this article let us look at just one such aspects of fire walking. While fire walking is held all over the world, in Goa it is usually related to a temple festival and the process of participation varies from place to place. Some of the festivities have a rigid religious regimen; while in case of others the festivities are sometimes open to almost everyone present. Let us make ourselves aware of three such places – Wadwad Village of Curca on Tiswadi Island, Sri Devki Krishna Bhumika Mallinath Temple on Chorao Island and the Sri Lairaie Homkhand in Bicholim Taluka. While the initial two are held during Shigmo, the one at Shirgao is usually held around the first week of May.
Wadwad is accessible from the NH at the Siridao junction. In this village, on the date of this festivity, a pile of wood, placed in a pyramidal form of about five-six feet high, is lit by the temple priest and after the wood burns to cinders, the local men and boys pass over the hot embers, barefoot! Over 75-100 people walk past and over this pile of embers, to the enthusiastic beats of local percussions – the dhol, tasha, and the cymbals!
At Chorao Island, originally known as ‘Chudamani Dwip’ and later, after it became a haven for the Portuguese landlords, ‘Ilha da Fidalgos’, is about six-seven kilometres from Panaji and accessible via Ribandar Ferry, past the Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary. The Sri Devki Krishna Bhumika Mallinath Temple, which is newly renovated starts attracting people of all walks of live from around 8 p.m.; however, before lighting the tall 15-20 ft high wood pile in the temple porch, the action takes place about 200 metres down the main road. Men and children, carrying long, dried, coconut fronds securely tied to remain stiff, gather here and dance to the beats of the traditional percussions and cymbals.
At the chosen time, the gathered people flank either side of the road, holding the fronds to create an arch. The priest comes running from the temple, carrying the fire, at about 9 p.m. and lights the fronds. It looks like a ‘tunnel of fire’, as the procession winds its way dancing to the beats, and heading for the temple. Once they reach, they light the piled wood and as the wood burns, the devotees form themselves in two rounds of a circle-within-a-circle, and dance the Goan folk dance Talgadi, a sequential traditional all male dance, inter-weaving between themselves in precision, accompanied to the percussion beats. The frenzy with which the dancers carry out the routines is mind-boggling!
At about 2 a.m., when the wood burns to hot embers, skilled volunteers remove the unburnt wood blocks with long bamboo poles and spread the red-hot coals. After the priest carrying the deity walks over this coal, the people run over these hot coals. What chills the spectator’s blood is the sight of some devotees running over these coals with a small child or two in their arms. This is done in fulfilment of the vows made by them! Anyone can walk over this layer of coals, which is extremely
hot.
The fire walking at Sri Lairaie Temple is religion-related, and has a wonderful story of a sister’s penance vow for an act of rashness done by Sri Lairaie towards her brother, Sri Khetoba, with temple at Vainguinim in Bicholim. We shall understand this in detail in a future article dedicated to Sri Lairaie. However, on this day, a huge pyre-like wood pile is created by persons called ‘Homkhandkars’ over which the devotees known as ‘Dhonds’ walk in thousands carrying a woven cane stick called as ‘Venth’ or ‘Benth’. The devotees range from men, women and even children – boys and girls. The ‘Dhonds’ have a seven-day obligation vow of eating vegetarian and bathing. Sometimes an accident is attributed to breaking of these vows.
It is this writer’s opinion that such festivals, related to fire walking, may have been introduced by our wise ancestors to enlighten us that ‘fire is our friend and that if used properly will never hurt us. Abuse of this fire can be disastrous’. In all possibility, they enveloped this concept and lesson as a religion related festivity, to convey their message.
Whatever be the case, many such festivities can get us on tenterhooks, granting us a wonderful experience. Leave the confines of your homes, when the epidemic subsides, and bond yourself and your families, with unexplored Goa!