Governed by customs, Morpirla’s Velips still rely on their budvant to decide on Shigmo celebrations

Margao: Katu Fondu Velip, a resident of Morpirla in the remote Quepem taluka, is employed in a reputed higher education institution in Panaji, which means he is unable to travel back home every day, a distance of nearly 60km. However, what’s interesting is that he also doubles as the headman of his village — ‘budvant’ (wise man) as the chiefs of the traditional caste council are reverentially referred to in the tribal nomenclature. Following the death of his father over a year ago, Katu assumed the hereditary position and is now called upon to settle disputes among villagers.
Katu has taken long leave from work to “guide” his tribesmen in the celebration of Shigmo, the major festival of the tribes in Goa. No traditional event in the village can be initiated without the approval and blessings of the ‘budvant’.
“We hold a meeting with the council of Velips and decide on the dates for the celebrations, a ritual that is governed by customs,” Katu told TOI, breaking off from the ‘mell’ (traditional dance troupe) at the village ‘mand’ (community place).
Dressed in the traditional costume of the ‘budvants’ — loincloth around the waist and a stole thrown casually over one shoulder — Katu Velip explained how the village has preserved the tradition “untouched by any adulteration of modernity.”
The village of Morpirla predominantly comprises Velips, the original settlers of the land.
“The younger generation may have migrated to distant places for jobs or other reasons, but Shigmo has kept them tied to their roots, culture and tradition,” said Katu. “Wherever they may be, they make it a point to take a few days off from work to participate in the Shigmo ‘mell’. The elders train the youngsters in performing the folk dances and playing the traditional musical instruments.”
As regards his role in settling conflicts as the ‘budvant’, Katu said that the decision of the headman is accepted “without question in 99% of the cases.” Only a few among those unresolved one per cent reach the police or courts for adjudication, he said as he hurriedly rushed back to join the ‘mell’ for the last round of the folk performances at the ‘mand’.
Former sarpanch Khushali Kushta Velip said: “Villagers assemble at the mand for ‘ganvponn’ (as the assembly is called) where the ‘budvant’ in consultation with the members of the council of Velips takes decisions over matters concerning the organisation of rituals, conflict resolution, and other matters. There are four ‘bhoundis’ (hunting expeditions) to be held in a year as dictated by tradition, and it’s the budvant who decides on the dates that are then announced at the ‘ganvponn’.”
Moments later, Khushali donning a colourful headgear, and Katu, now beating a drum braced to his shoulders, joined the revellers in the ‘mell’ who are by now dancing in a devotional frenzy to the tunes of an abhang:
Anandacha kand hari ha Devaki nandan pahila II
Kans bhayane Vasudevane Nandayashoda vahila II
It's the last day of Shigmo on Monday. The celebration that began two weeks ago, just a day after Mahashivratri, with a ritual that they call ‘vakhad karap’ — a ceremony that entails the village ‘vaiz’ (healer) preparing the ‘vakhad’ (concoction) that’s consumed by the villagers — followed by the invocation of the tribal deities (‘naman’) and then the performance of various folk dances by the ‘mell’, first at the mand and then door-to-door, will culminate into a village fair at the Bhoomi Purush site by midnight.
It’s a cacophony of sights, sounds and smell, as ‘divja’, ‘bhar’, and ‘satreo’, keep the village entranced in a wave of devotion before Holi draws curtains on the festival of the farmer that celebrates the arrival of the new crop in his humble abode.