Down to Earth traditional celebration of Diwali season in Goa
By: Lara Pereira Naik
Tags: Goa, Diwali, Festivals

The midterm vacations for the schools in Goa in the second half of October and the first half of November ring in the Diwali festival. As we all know that Diwali is known as the festival of lights and is celebrated by the Hindus all over, in this article let me tour you across Goa to show you that Diwali here is not just a festival of lights but a celebration of a season of traditions for the local agrarian society.

The Goan Hindus celebrate an entire season of Diwali which is not just for a couple of days but lasts for about a fortnight. This season starts on the day of Dhantrayodashi, which is two days prior to the main festival of Diwali. In Goa, this Diwali is known as the Dhakti Diwali (small Diwali) and is celebrated on the Amavasya (new moon), in the holy month of Ashwin of the Hindu Shakya calendar. This is followed by some important celebrations in the immediately following month of Kartika. The Diwali season extends to Dwadashi (the twelfth day of the waxing period of Kartika), the day of the Tulshi Lagna (wedding of the Tulsi, the holy basil plant) known as Vhodli Diwali (big Diwali) here and ends on the Pournima (full moon) night of the holy month of Kartika.

Akashdivo (Diwali lantern)

Dhantrayodashi is the 13th day of the Krishna Paksha (waning period) in the month of Ashwin and is named after Dhanvantari, the Hindu God of medicine and the founder of Ayurveda. As the saying in Sanskrit goes “Arogyam Dhansampada", which means health is wealth, this day is celebrated by the Goans to pray for the good health of the entire family. It is believed that Lord Yama (the God of Death) comes down to the earth from the Southern direction, on this day to visit his sister Yamuna (the river) and will be staying here for the next five days. Hence the local Hindus, light an oil lamp on the Southside of the house for five/six continuous nights starting from this day of Dhanatrayodashi till the day of the Bhaubhij (festival of brothers). This lamp of oil is lit to appease the Lord Yama and keep him happy so that the entire family is blessed with good health.

The next day of Dhantrayodashi is the Narak Chaturdashi. This is the eve of Amavasya (new moon night) on which Diwali is celebrated. Narak Chaturdashi is celebrated in a unique way in Goa, with a display and a parade of the effigies of the demon Narakasur. It is believed that Narkasur was the son of mother Earth who turned evil and was killed by Lord Krishna on this day. In the main cities of Panaji, Margao, Mapusa, Ponda, Savordem and Vasco and some other towns, special competitions are held for awarding prizes to the best effigy of this demon. The Narkasur effigies are usually made by the youth with the help of the school kids who are on vacation. All of them put in a lot of hard work in making the effigy. It consists of a framework made from bamboo (cane) and stuffed with grass and old newspapers. This is painted and decorated with cloth and costume jewellery to resemble an actual three-dimensional figure which can move mechanically. At these competitions, it is a feast to the eyes to see these moving Narakasur effigies and the reenactment of the scene of its killing by an effigy of Lord Krishna. Afterwards, in the early hours of the next day, the effigy of the demon is burnt and a Diwali lantern known as Akashdivo is lit in the courtyard of every Hindu house to celebrate the victory against Narakasur. Along with the Akashdivo, several pantiyo (earthen lamps) with cotton wicks dipped in oil are lit in the courtyard thus marking the celebration of Diwali, the festival of lights.

The Akashdivo is a traditional lamp that is made out of small bamboo sticks (native cane) tied together to form a framework that is hexagonal in shape and decorated with colourful papers. In the past, the Akashdivo would be lit from inside with an earthen lamp. This has been replaced in modern times with an electric bulb and along with the earthen lamps, the houses are illuminated with colourful, decorative series of tiny LED lights.

An effigy of Narkasura

On the morning of Diwali day, all the family members have an abhyangsnan (grand bath) after applying Utne (a paste of Sandalwood). This is followed by the breaking of bitter carrita (a small bitter cucumber-like fruit) by the men with their left toe. The juice of this fruit is tasted by all the family members as a gesture of victory of good over evil. After this ritual, the women of the house perform the ovalnim or deeve dhakovop ceremony for all the men in the household, with a plate containing a lighted deevo (lamp), some vermilion, a betel leaf and a betel nut in it. In return for this ritual, the men gift the women some cash.

Ovalnim or Deeve dakhovop ceremony performed on Diwali day. (Picture credit to Ms Nutan Mandreker, Sada- Vasco)

Then, the entire household enjoys the special meal called Diwalicho faral, consisting of the paanch taranche fov (five dishes made with pounded rice/ poha as the chief ingredient) along with an usal (spicy dish of a white gram). Along with this ambadyanche raite or sasanv (sweet and sour dish of hog plum) or ambadeacho karam (a sweet preparation of hog plum) is served as a part of the faral. Goa is a rice-producing state, hence Diwali is celebrated here with special dishes made from fov (pounded rice). My friend Ms Suvarna Laad from Sanvordem, prepares the traditional paanch taranche fov for Diwali every year. Her faral consists of usal and ambadeacho karam along with the fov cooked in curds (dhanyatle fov), in milk (dudhantle fov), coconut milk (rosache fov), with potatoes ( batat fov) and also fov prepared with jaggery and grated coconut which is known as kaloillele fov. Some households make a dry chewda (roasted snack) of fov or a dry sticky spicy dish known as tikhat fov or tikshe, ladoos (round balls of sweet) and chokreo (spiral-shaped spicy sweets). Diwalicho faral is distributed to the neighbours and friends from other communities or they are invited over at home by the Hindu households to partake the same.

Traditional Diwalicho Faral with the five types of fov, usal and karam of ambado (hog plum) prepared by Ms Suvarna Laad.

In the same evening of the Amavasya (new moon) or at times on the next evening depending upon the tithi (date) as per the Hindu calendar, a Laxmi puja is performed in all the shops, business establishments and the houses belonging to the Hindu brethren. Laxmi puja is a religious ritual of worship of the Goddess Laxmi (Goddess of wealth) for prosperity and blessings to the business throughout the year. A new book of accounts is opened from this day onwards for maintaining the yearly business accounts in all the shops and establishments. As a part of the prasad (offering to the devotees) of the Laxmipujan, chirmuliyo ( puffed rice) and some sweet candies or sweets made from milk are distributed to all. In our childhood days, we would get to see children going around with cloth bags to all these shops and collecting the chirmuliyo in them. On the next day, these chirmuliyos would be moulded into round ladoos with molten sugarcane jaggery.

On the next day of Diwali, starts the new month of Kartika. The first day of Kartika is known as Padvo in Goa. This is the day when Lord Krishna and the cattle are worshipped by the farming community in Goa. Lord Krishna is considered a friend of the cowherds and the cattle as friends of the farmers since they help them in the various farming activities. For the farmers this being an important day, it starts with cleaning the cowshed and decorating it with marigold flowers and leaves of the mango tree. Then the cattle are rubbed with oil and bathed and cleaned. Their horns are painted and the back is decorated with some special designs. A special circular design on the back of the cattle is drawn with the help of a kotti (half coconut shell) or a human palm dipped in a coloured paste of rice flour. The cattle are fed with polle (a flattened round dosa made from ground rice). A pollo is also tied around the neck of the cattle along with a garland of marigold flowers . They are given rest for the full day as a gesture of thanks for helping the farmer. A miniature model of the cowshed is made from cow dung right next to the Tulsi Vrindavan (a shrine with a basil plant) in the front courtyard. This mini model of the cowshed is decorated with carrita, the small bitter cucumber-like fruit to represent the cattle and the cowherd.

Model of a cowshed made from cow dung and the green coloured carritas (bitter cucumber-like fruit) representing the cattle. (Picture credit to Ms Shradha Sardesai Kholkar)

In the village of Murdi / Murdiwaddo in Narvem, Bicholim, on the Padvo day, the locals hold a special outdoor meal beside the normal traditional Padvo celebrations. As told by a close relative Mr Naresh Naique a resident of Murdi, the villagers gather on the outskirts of the village on a hillock known as Barazan and enjoy a traditional outdoor meal. All of them share the special meal of polle (thick dosas of rice) and sumtanche sukhe, a spicy dish cooked with freshwater prawns caught at the village manas (a mini barrage /dam with sluice gates). This tradition has been practised right from ancient times. Most probably this must have been the place, where the village elders met in the past since the name Barazan implies twelve headmen.

Villagers are seen enjoying the outdoor meal at Barazan hillock near Murdi village in Narve, Bicholim. (Picture credit to Sachin Amonker).

In another village of Marcel in Ponda taluka, this day of Padvo is celebrated with a Padvo Rath carried around the village. A family friend Mr Rajendra Prabhu Kholkar whose ancestral house is in Marcel told me that the Padvo Rath (mini chariot) contains the idol of Lord Krishna. This idol on the other days is housed in the local temple of Devki Krishna and the Padvo Rath ceremony is organised by the priest of this temple along with the bhagat (sort of a tribal priest). The Rath is decorated with ghudiyos (flags) and a moon-shaped decoration called abderger with an idol of Lord Hanuman. It is carried by the villagers from door to door accompanied by the beating of the dhol and tashe (traditional musical instruments). The Rath halts at certain chosen houses, one of them being Kholkar’s house as his mother had made a vow about 75 years ago. When it halts in the courtyard of his house, his family members as well as the neighbours worship Lord Krishna and offer peddas (a type of sweet made from milk) to it. The villagers swing the Rath with their hands in tune to the beating of the dhol and this is called Rath nachaita. Mr Kholkar remembers his youthhood days when he himself would perform this action of Rath Nachovop. At the end of the day, the Rath returns back to the temple courtyard. Here the ghudiyos are distributed as blessings of God to the villagers, who keep them in their houses till the next year Padvo, while the abderger and the Hanuman idol are auctioned off. Mr Kholkar informed me about another Rath of Gadvas which is also carried from door to door on this very day in Marcel but this one covers a wider area as compared to the Devki Krishna Rath.

Padvo Rath at Marcel in Ponda with ghudhiyo and abderger. (Picture credit to Ms Shradha Sardesai Kholkar)

Another ceremony called the dhendlo ceremony is also celebrated on Padvo day by tribals residing in the villages of Ponda and Tiswadi talukas in Goa. Dhendlo consists of a wooden box-like alter in which a picture of Lord Krishna is kept as he himself signifies the dhendlo. This alter is decorated with flowers and carried by a young man balancing it on his head while moving around in the respective village. Traditional musical instruments of dhol and tashe are played as this dhendlo goes from door to door of every Hindu household in the village. The lady of every house washes the feet of the young man carrying the dhendlo and worships Lord Krishna inside the alter. The dhendlo is offered some money, rice and coconuts. The villages of Dongri, Karmali, Adoshim from Tiswadi taluka so also the villages of Betki, Adkon, Bhoma, Savoi Verem, Palsare and Pedde from Ponda taluka have continued with the celebration of this age-old tradition of the dhendlo ceremony.

Dendlo being carried by a young man ( Picture credit to Ms Shradha Sardesai Kholkar)

My friend Ms Shradha Sardesai Kholkar, daughter-in-law of Mr Kholkar recited to me a verse which is sung by the villagers when the dhendlo is being carried around, which is as follows:

Dhe dhendlo, dhendlya Paus shendlo

Dhendlya aiee mhatari

Shelle hun khatali

Dhe dhendlo

Dhendlya paus shendlo.

(When loosely translated it means, dear dhendlo now that the rains (monsoons) have receded and your mother is an old woman, she eats cold and hot food).

The Padvo is followed by the second day of Kartika which is celebrated as Bhaubhij, the festival of brothers. This day is an auspicious day on which the sister performs the ritual of ovalnim of her brother in the evening. Ovalnim is a ritual of waving a plate in front of the brother. The plate contains a lamp-lit with a cotton wick soaked in oil, Haldi kumkum (turmeric and vermilion) and flowers. After the ovalnim, kumkum is applied on the forehead of the brother and he is offered some sweets. Then gifts are exchanged between the siblings. This day is a very special one as it is considered a day of strengthening the bond between a brother and his sister. Hence the married sisters pay a special visit to their brother's house to perform the ovalnim. This is the last night of lighting the Southside facing lamp, which was meant for the appeasement of Lord Yama. It is believed that after Bhaubhij he takes leave of his sister the Yamuna and goes back to his abode.

Meanwhile, the Akashdivo (Diwali lantern) is continued to be lit every evening. The eleventh day of the Shukla Paksha (waxing period of the moon) is the day of Ekadashi. This day is another auspicious day as the savashins (married women) observe a fast till the next day of Dwadashi (twelfth day).On the Ekadashi the Tulsivrindavan locally known as the Tulas, which is a small shrine in the courtyard with the basil planted in it, is cleaned and painted. The savashins perform a mini puja of the Tulas and offer naivedya (an offering to God) of fruits and moongache konn (a sweet dish prepared with jaggery and moong, a type of a lentil). The Dwadashi is the day of the Tulshi Lagna or wedding of the Tulsi. This is a very important festival for all the Goan Hindu community and it is known as the Vhodli Diwali here. On this day, in the late evening, a grand puja of the Tulsi is performed following the Ganesh puja. Then the rituals of a wedding ceremony of the Tulas are conducted. According to the Puranas (ancient holy scriptures of the Hindu religion), it is believed that Lord Vishnu married Tulsi on this day. For conducting the wedding the Tulshivrindavan is decorated like a bride with Tulsi (basil) planted inside it along with dino (Leea indica) to represent the groom and uss (sugarcane) as the dhedo (best man). A branch of chinch (tamarind) is the dhedi (bridesmaid). Soon after the Tulshi Lagna, the savashins light a plate with jodio in front of the Tulsivrindavan praying for a long and healthy married life with their husband. Jodio is a collection of 365 pairs of cotton oil wicks soaked and dipped in oil which are kept burning on a plate till they are charred to ashes. A pair of the oil wicks symbolise the jodi (couple) for each day of the year of 365 days. The dried charred ashes are put in the Tulas. Then the entire family enjoys a meal which is a special Hindu wedding meal that includes a sweet dish of ghodshe. Some of the families actually erect a lagnacho matov (outdoor, open-air wedding canopy) to celebrate the Tulshi Lagna. The Shastras (religious scriptures), allow the Tulshi Lagna to be performed on any day from the Dwadashi till the Purnima of the month of Kartika which is celebrated as Dev Deepawali (Diwali of the Gods), so different households perform it as per their convenience on any of these auspicious days.

Tulas decorated for the Tulshi Lagna

Dino stick (Leea Indica) being decorated as the Novro (groom) for the Tulas.

The dino (Leea Indica), The sugarcane and the tamarind branch, who represent the Novro, Dhedo and the. Dhedi at the Tulshi Lagna.

On the night of the Kartiki Chaturdashi (a day prior to the day of the full moon), the city of Margao celebrates the well-known festival of Dindi. This festival is celebrated in the form of a grand procession of the Palkhi (palanquin) of Lord Vitthal and Rakhumai (reincarnations of Lord Vishnu and his consort Laxmi). The entire city of Margao comes alive on the night of the Dindi as many programmes of Indian classical singers are held to celebrate the festival.

In the town of Sakhalim in Bicholim taluka, a temple dedicated to Lord Vitthal at Vithalpur celebrates the festival of Tripurari Purnima on the full moon night of Kartika. As this day is also celebrated as Dev Deepawali the devotees of this temple traditionally release lighted lamps in the river. A special boat festival is organised in which miniature models of boats and ships made from decorative materials are illuminated and sailed in the water body next to the temple. Prizes are awarded to the best boats, by the organizers of this mini boat festival.

The celebration of the Tulshi Lagna or the Vhodli Diwali marks the end of the Chaturmas (four months) period which had begun from the Ashadhi Ekadashi the eleventh day of Shukla Paksha (the waxing period of the moon of the holy month of Ashadh). Chaturmas is the holy period of the Hindu religion during which marriages in the community are not allowed to be held as Lord Vishnu (Krishna being his reincarnation) is believed to be taking rest. The marriage season starts only after Lord Vishnu gets married to Tulsi on the day of the Vhodli Diwali. In this year of 2021, the Dhakti Diwali was celebrated on the 4th of November and the Vhodli Diwali/ Tulshi Lagna on the 15th of November all over Goa. This marked the end of Chaturmas of 2021, thus paving the way for the commencement of the marriage ceremonies of the Goan Hindu community and also for the celebration of the various local zatras (temple festivals) that will be held in the temples located all across Goa.