Goa's Cultural Heritage

I liked this article on Goa by Dr. P.R. Phaldesai in the Navhind Times
Thought I'd share it with you..

After all the spirit of Goa that runs in us all is what makes us what we are, and this spirit needs to be imbibed by us all Goenkars.

The article
(http://www.navhindtimes.in/content/goa-treasure-house-culture)
(16th March, 2010)


Endowed with natural beauty, Goa presents a fine sensitive blend of Indian and Western culture in some respects. Various socio-cultural systems such as Gaonkari, Mand, Barazan, Bhudvant, etc. have been preserved since time immemorial. The speciality of this land could be seen in the worship of anthill, revered as Goddess Sateri i.e. Mother Earth.

The simple folk have been singing and dancing to the gods, to the nature and also to their family rituals. They sing for the born and also for their dead. Due to changing colours of history we find a fine blend of India and West in Goa. The tradition of oriental art and music was started with the advent of Portuguese in the 16th century A.D.

According to the historic realities the Christian faith was brought to India in the first century by the Apostle St. Thomas, and probably also by St. Bartholomew. The indigenous tradition of folk songs, which prevailed for centuries together in this region, further had an opportunity to come in contact with the tradition of western music. It was propagated through the devotional medium and had a blend of western musical impulse and native lyricism to create a rich contribution to local folk traditions. The best examples of such a blend could be cited as cantaram, yers, purção ladainha, mando and dulpod. In addition to this, is Intruz, the local variant of Carnival, the Catholic equivalent of the Hindu spring festival of Shigmo.

We find a variety of folklore forms in music, dance and theatre in Goa that have been preserved by the rural folk. The typical forms of folk theatre like Perni Zagor could be traced to Neolithic period. Shigmo, Dhalo as well as Zagor or Khell are the most popular folk performing art forms. They are associated with spring festival, fertility cult, agrarian as well as pastoral culture.

It would be interesting to see how South Indian culture has influenced Goan musical life. The powerful dynasties ruling in south like Chalukyas of Badami, imperial Rashtrakutas, Yadavas of Devgiri, besides several minor dynasties encouraged, the development of Goan music. Goa had intimate trade contacts with the marketing centres in south India. This helped in importing musical ideas in Goa.

The folk performances like Veerbhadra and Khel performed traditionally in Dashawtari Kalo style in southern Goa clearly indicate the influence of South Indian culture. In the performance of Veerbhadra the announcement of invocation starts in Kannada. Similarly the Dashawtari Khel presented in Canacona, Sanguem and Quepem region depicts great influence of Yakshagana – the popular dance drama of Karnataka on the dance patterns. The delivery of dialogues, songs dance and fighting are quite noteworthy in special context of Carnatic influence. Goa was flooded with musical ideas during the rule of the Vijaynagara Emperors (1380-1472 A.D). The musical instruments used during the temple rituals show the Dravidian influence to a very large extent.

Goa is the first place in Asia to have a printing press that was started in the year 1622. The uniqueness of Goan culture also lies in the architecture of the baroque churches, temples and Goan houses.
Goan food is also no exception to it. The Goan cuisine also finds its uniqueness in various dishes like Sannas, Khotkhotem, Manganem, Udda-methi, Bebinca, Dodol, Sorpotel, Elafae and what not. It is also very pertinent to mention that one finds rich Konkani culture with powerful impact of Marathi language and culture. It is found especially in the devotional literature like Bhajans and Kirtans as well as Stotras and prayers and also Marathi dramas, which are staged in almost all temple festivals and Zatras.

On the other hand during Church feast one can experience the devotional music patterns during the day. In the evening the Church premises would be engaged for the theatrical performance called Tiatr. Tiatr is a unique performing arts genre. It has element of drama, music, comedy, tragedy and improvisation.

Goa is really a treasure house of festivals. Not a month passes without any festival in this beautiful land. But Shigmotsav which comes in the Fagoon month of Hindu calendar is the longest and known for variety of folk forms. A fortnight long festival begins out with presentation of performing art forms dedicated either to the Gods and Goddesses or in honour of princely states which ruled this tiny land since the hoary pasts. In Shigmotsava all fifteen days the element of exorcism is fully exploited.

Dhalo, exclusively participated by women is an eco-feminist dance form as Earth-Mother worship. It is performed on a sacred place called mand. Their ritualistic performance show many patterns of dance, right from Lord Krishna playing with Gopis to other Gods and Goddesses coming to their dance.

Cultural and especially mythological ethos could be seen in the folk play Perni Zagor. Their themes used to be drawn from Hindu mythology. Ramayan and Mahabharata used to dominate in their show. The total Hindu pantheon they used to bring into Zagor and indirectly tell the people with pride their heritage and culture. Perni Zagor today remembered nostalgically for their unique wooden painted masks they would wear of Hindu Gods and their spouses.

In Christian Zagor the actors use costumes made of tinsel material. Their style consists of all men but tinsel is given to create richness and distinct feature of male characters. They go on singing intercepting short dialogues. All these Zagors are supported with traditional music, mostly the percussion instruments like Ghumat, Shamel, Mhadalem, Dhole, Dobe, and idiophones such as Kansalem and Zanz.

Goan culture has imbibed the best from the east and the west. The communidade system gave it a solid foundation and the rich folklore preserved its’ soul. The western influences were incorporated without disturbing the communal fabric and by enriching the aesthetic elements. In totality, Goan culture offers a unique window to the globalise world as a model of a peaceful, tolerant, creative, dynamic and inherently non violent, terror free product of the great Indian civilization. The deeper one delves into its’ hoary depths, the richer one gets the enthralling experience…


(Dr. Pandurang Phaldesai has also written a book on Goa, titled, Kaleidoscopic Goa: A Cultural Atlas.

Goenyaa..tujhya Vinna

Goa!!

The very thought, and one visualises tall palm trees kissing the skies, gently waving in the breeze, by the sea, overlooking the sand and the surf...

...the fisherman, plowing his canoe through the waves as the early morning sunlight reflects upon his bronzed, muscled back...

...the cool shade of the kullaghars, the cashew farms, and the mancurado mangoes in the summer heat...

...the gathering of the dark clouds, the breeze turning to a dust storm, and finally the first smattering of the first raindrops as they kiss the parched earth with a vengeance.. and then the petrachor filling the air...

...paanchvichaar shetaan bhaataan...

...the aroma of the freshly baked pao and unddo wafting through the streets at evening times...

...the xacuti and the humonn, the balchao and the alsaandyache tonnak, the ambot tik and the almee xacuti...

...the igreja fest and the temple jatras, the channe and the bommado, the revddyi and the khaaje, the teen paana, the godgodo...

..tiatr and cantaaram, the jagor and the mando

This, my friends, is not the visual of Goa of the tourist, but Goa of the true Goan, the Goenkar.



For many a day I felt the desire to express my love for that little corner of the world where, in the middle of all noise, I will always find the tranquility and the solace I seek. The hermitage when I am wearied by the innumerable journeys and travails in this wide world.

And I wished others too would see Goa the way I and many true blooded Goans see it, as a piece of paradise God created upon Earth.

Goa, today, is more than just a state with a physical area of 3702 sq.km.

For all who those who have been associated with Goa, the three letters have come to represent freedom and a way of life..

This blog is dedicated to this tiny piece of land on the western coast of India, that a small number of people call Aamchem Goem.

This blog reaches out to all those who have the remotest of associations with Goa, through blood, roots or otherwise. Whether they reside in Goa, or Karwar, Kerala or Karwar, Dubai or Africa or anywhere else.

A little bit of Goa always exists in each of our hearts. But, many a time, we do not wish to explore it. I hope this blog bridges that tiny gap for us..