Chorao festival- Homkand

Hello Readers, since our blog is about Secreats of Goa .I’ll be telling about one Festival which is unknown to most of them . “Homkand”, The most favourite festival of Chorao folks.As most of them must be unaware of it let me first brief about my beautiful village chorao.Chorao is also known as Chodna, is an Island along the mandovi river . It is the largest among  other 17 islands of Goa. It is located 5KM away from the state capital the city of Panjim. Chorao is accessible by the ferries from Ribandar.Chorao is mainly known for its beautiful bird sanctuary. Saude is the centre of the Island.

Homkand is enjoyed by all Men, Women, Children and old .Its practised in the month of March .After the whole colourfull celebration of holi.This unique festival is only celebrated in Chorao. Chorao might seem a very small place but its a beautifull village within us .homkand is celebrated at two different places  the central part of chorao, Saude and the other at Madel.The preparation for this festival begains with very aunthusiasum  .As for my personal experience, I reside at Chorao since i was born That is 1997.since its practiced at two different places let me discuss about my favourite one the one held at Madel .Most of the Crowd is seen there.everyones houses are filled with positive vides and relatives residing from different places.

“Homkand” is derived from a Sanskrit word  “Homkund” which relates to  burning of  evil powers around, in the holly fire .As the name describes Homkand  is celebratd by putting up a huge bunch of wood on fire .The height of the bunch is around 20 ft. The Homkand is commenced by the beautiful  and energetic traditional  dance  performed by young boys of  Chorao .This dance is the main highlight of the festival. As most of the crowd gathers specially to enjoy this traditional dance.The most important part of homkand is the possession of few special people of the village by the Diety “Bhumika Mata “It is belived  that the soul of godess and few other supernatural powers enters the body of this people for the betterment   of society.The conversation between the god and the priest continues for a long time .Later the festival  is ended by breaking of coconuts by all the males present at the temple.And the same coconut is taken home as the “Prasad”

The preparation of this festival starts from  a month prior. It includes decorating the temple, some people  go throught the whole village and gets wood.The wood is given willingly from every household .Every men keeps aside a bunch of wood to be given for the festival .By collecting all the bunch of wood its kept near the temple where actually Homkand is held. Boys feel very energetic that day ,they just cant wait to dance.The energy is all around the village. Newly married couple comes speacially to this temple to take blessings .  As the night arrives all the people gathers at the temple .The festival is commenced by the dance and it continues for a long time.Then the Homkand with many bunches of wood is lite up and slowly the fire turns very big . its sometime scary to watch.The the traditional “ Aartis “ are sung withmany instruments there is lots of noise during Aarti and many of them fight to play the instrumens.No body leaves their place till the fill gets reduce the dance and artis are continued . After few hours when  the fire have slowed down  its time for most dangerous thing to happen .All the boys runs across fire {Some even run 2-3 time} the fire is still so hot but they do it very effortlessly.Now a days childrens are also seen running through the fire.But by the grace of god nobody is harmed or damage their legs.and finally the festival is ended by breaking of coconuts .This is how the festival is held in Chorao .Its always worth watching this beautifull night.

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF ASSUMPTION

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF ASSUMPTION

This chapel is located at Cabo Raj Bhavan Dana Paula. This chapel is around 500 years old. "our lady of the cape" chapel was constructed around the years 1541.A large numbers of devotees mostly from the near by villages attend the mass. 
The feast of the chapel is celebrated on 15 August which coincides with the independence day of India. There are steps leading down to the grotto.This saint used to be venerated in the 4th and 5th centuries. You will notice tat the saint is being paid due to respect even today with Indian styled garlands and floral tributes.
There is also a tradition were the priest says a prayer and bless the crops (paddy crops) and later distributed among the people and people take the blessed 'konsa' after  the mass. And are placed at alter at homes and some put the konsa in their cars as a sign of symbolic protection.

Bamanbudo waterfall

Bamanbudo waterfall "gaodongari"

This waterfall is located by the road side of cancona.It is very easy to reach beautiful bamanbudo waterfall. It takes 25 kms from cancona to reach this waterfall. The road is fully sheded with cashew tress.the fall comes to life at the time of monsoon and offers visitors to enjoy and have fun under the fall. Its very adventurous to climb up the big stones but that may not be safe as the place is quite slippery. The force of the fall is very high hence it blends into white foam and it enhances the beauty of that waterfall. ...

Tisreanche fest

"After a clild is born in Bhattier, the family celebrates the Tisreo fest. this year the feast is being celebrated for the gift of David and Shalini's son Isaiah."

It was around 9am on sunday morning (17th May). a unique facet of Niz Goemkarponn came alive in the waddo of Bhattier in Nerul. Women from different household's picked up the Adoli cutting and scrapping from their kitchens and hurried to the house of the festacho prisdent. Eeach of the women placed the adoli on a bambo mat under a specially erected canopy. 
Like a large happy family they mounted their cutting tools and got busy cleaning large quantities of shellfish (tisreos).In another corner of the yard, others busied themselves scrapping coconut. The man, not wanting to be letf out, occupied themeselves in chopping large quantities of onion's , chillies , and tomatoes. These hectic preparations underway were all a run up to the celebrations of the Tisreacnche Fest at a tiny chapel of St.Anthony in the ward.


As per the tradition the festacho president has to serve the guest's sambaracheo tisreo (a tasty delicacy prepared from tisreo) after the litany. The entire community, relatives, friends and married daughters from the waddo turned up to partake in the Tisreanche Fest.

The festacho prisdent this time was David D'souza in whose house the sambaracheo tisreo was prepared. A guest in his house explained the tradition. She said "Aftera child is born in bhattier, the family celebrates the tisreo fest. This year the feast is being celebrated for the gift of David and Shalini's son Isaiah."

The feast has to be booked one year in advance. The tradition of this feast has been going on for generations. Isaiah's mother Shalini informed us that the family had not been able to celebratte the feat either for David or for his father.so it indeed was a accomplishment to be able to celebrate it for Isaiah.

In olden days the Tireo was served in bowls made out of banyan tree leaves. Now people have switched over to readymade silver foil bowls. There is also a tradition of serving mangoes or jackfruit along with the tisreo.

An elderly neighbour was supervising the entire cooking operations. She explained that the main dish served is:
Sambaracheo Tisreo 81/2 (sacks of tisreo)
160 coconuts
5kg masala
35kg onions
8kg tomatoes
1kg ginger
11/2 kg garlic 
6kg of sugar
10 pkts of oil
besides other ingridients are required to make this dish. she told us that se regularly makes the masala and sells it to customers as far as the United Kingdom.

The cooking operations finally wound up at 7pm and the litany began at 8pm. Tiny yound voices sang as the violin provided the music. In a final retual the patron for the next year was requested to come forward. He knelt down in the chapel and a small prayer was said for him . Another prayer went out for the good cooks of the feast.

Finally everybody picked up the shellfish, emptied the shells, relishing the whole process thoroughly. I saw raw mangoes smeared with spices being served in the bowls along with some bread.
Its great to see one whole community bonding over this feast. It's these traditions that have made Goens famous for being hospitable, magnanimous and fun loving people.

MOUNT MARY CHAPEL, Old Goa

Last year I went to visit this chapel as i had heard a lot about it, and i noticed that most of the churches and chapels are located on ground level, except this one. that's why the name Mount Mary.Though not many people know that this Chapel exists, a series of steps lead the the white colored Chapel.

The Chapel remains closed throught the year except on mother mary feast which is on the 8th of september, there is no care taker either. Many of them say that one should not go alone to this place after 7pm becouse the road which leads to the church is known for being haunted.


Not much is known about the history of this Chapel.The Chapel offers a beautiful panoramic view of the Old Goa, the other churches in Old Goa, the coconut trees, river Mandovi twisting and turning itself and off course the Konkan Railway. It is all surrounded by greenary. A couple of movies are also shot here like GolMal2

The church was built by Afonso de Albuquerque, completed in 1519, and has been rebuilt twice since; it now makes the perfect, suitably sorrowful place to watch the sunset over the ruins of once-mighty Old Goa.

Usually locked, you can gain entry during the Feast of St Francis Xavier in December, and the Monte Music Festival in February, when concerts are held here.

 It has three main altars dedicated respectively to our lady of the mount, St. Anthony and St. Andrew. 

TOUXEANCHE FEST

Most of the people around might not heard about the village of Santana Talaulim which is  beautiful and small village situated in tiswadi talauka, but when we ask them about ‘TOUXEANCHE FEST’ at once people come to know about it. That’s what makes our beautiful village a famous spot where every1 wants to visit. Talking about ‘TOUXEANCHE FEST’.

The annual feast of our  patroness st.anne is celebrated with pomp and gaiety. Recently it has been declared as the state festival by the goa government. This state festival is celebrated on july 26^th or the Sunday following it.

The feast of st. anne is popularly known as ‘TOUXEANCHEM FEST’. People rush here for the annual feast from Goa and elsewhere not minding their caste and creed. What draws them to this place is their need and attitude of gratitude.

Amoung the crowds of devotes for the novenas and feast one can group them in four clases: The eligible bride , The eligible bachelors, The barren couples, Those whose marriage is on rocks, the rest of the devotes who comes to fulfil their vows and express gratitude come with offerings, and the people coming in our church and keeping their prayers in front of st.anne never get disappoint because they always get what they ask for.

As portutugese was widely spoken in our village during the time , the devotes to the church would address st. anne in portugese.

1.     Eligible bachelor would come with a silver metal spoon or wooden ladel and addressed st.anne by saying ‘Senhora tomai colher, dai mulher’ which means lady, take this spoon, give e a bride.

2.     2. Eligible bride would come with ‘Urido’ pharadus max and addressed st.anne by saying ‘Senhora, tomai Urido, dai marido’ which means, Lady take these cereals, give me a bridegroom.

3.     Newly married couples come with tender cucumbers and addressed st.anne by saying ‘Senhora, tomai pepino, dai menino’ which means, lady take this cucumber, giv us a child.

4.     Deiring a girl child a bangles is offered by saying ‘Senhora tomai manilha dai filha’ which means , lady take these bangles, give us a doughter.

Beside these there is a tradition  of offering the ‘chuddo’ a bunch of wedding bangles to the saint asking her to bless and protect their marriage. This what makes the ‘TOUXEANCHE FEST’ so famous that people all around wish to have a visit in our village once atleast.

KUSKEM WATERFALL

After a day of trekking to the avlem top, we visited the kuskem waterfall. Not many known about this waterfall. The kuskem waterfall is located in the Canacona taluka in south Goa. It was a rainy day, we had to walk a little distance to reach the waterfall. It was such a beautiful scene to see when we reached the waterfall. The water was gushing over the rocks, the water flowed smoothly, the air was damp and moist. The rest of the pool was as clear as cellophane, enabling us to see down into the rocky bottom. The water, making its way around and over the rocks, made a beautiful noise. The frogs croaking and the insects nearby added to the wonderful sounds. The smell of the soggy, wet air surrounded the waterfall. We stood under the waterfall to cool down, it was so cold that it gave us goose bumps immediately and we ended up shivering. If I get a chance I would love to visit it once again.

THE THREE KINGS CHURCH, CANSAULIM

During our summer vacation I decided to visit some places of Goa I had never visited before. One of the places I visited was the three kings church which is situated on a hill-top in Cansaulim. It is also known as the “Our Lady of Remedios Chapel”. In addition to the beauty of the church was the stunning view from the hill-top. The ocean, palm trees that border the beach stretching below, field looked mesmerizing and peaceful. The ambiance around was so calm and refreshing. Visit this place was a relief from the busy hectic city life.

 a view from the Three Kings Church

Later I learnt that the church was also known for being haunted. The story of the church being haunted lies in the past. There were three kings in Portugal that constantly struggled and fought with each other to win their claim over the Indian territory of Goa. After several battles, a peace treaty was signed and they all agreed that Goa will remain as a shared territory. One of the three kings however, King Holger Alvunger, was really not happy with the treaty and wanted Goa all to himself. So one fine evening, he invited the other two kings for supper at the Our Lady of Remedios Chapel. This Supper was decided as a sign and hope of ever lasting peace but King Holger had other plans. He poisoned the other two kings that evening and claimed Goa and rest of the Portugal to himself. This act however was heavily criticized by the public and King Holger was asked to descend from the throne. Ashamed and burdened by the guilt, he then committed suicide by consuming the same poison that he had once served to his fellow kings. Ever since then, this church has been known as the “Three Kings Church”.

However I was much delighted by the scenes of beauty. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the church.