Shigmotsav is a fortnight of lively festivities characterised by unique and age old traditions and rituals. NT NETWORK takes a closer look at the various ways in which this vibrant festival is celebrated across the state
SACHI NAIK
Shigmotsav, also known as Shigmo, is a vibrant and significant summer festival celebrated in Goa. The festival which signifies the relief after a year’s hard work is celebrated in the month of Phalgun, the last month of the Hindu calendar.
This is the festival of the people rooted to their folk life. Marking both, the end of winter and the bountiful harvest, the lively festivities are characterised by unique and age old traditions and rituals, and the showcasing of folk music and dance to the rhythmic beats of traditional instruments such as the ghumat, dhol, and tashe (cymbal).
It belongs to the tribals
‘Shigmo’ is derived from the word ‘Shig’. “One meaning of ‘Shig is’ abundance of sustenance,” says Indian writer and folklorist Vinayak Khedekar, adding that the festival belongs to farmers and tribal communities. “This is why we witness most of the folk traditions in villages. It never belonged to those who live in the city areas. The procession that is witnessed today in cities is just a glimpse of Shigmotsav of Goa meant purely for commercial purposes,” says Khedekar. He states that the essence of the real Shigmo can only be witnessed in the villages, especially the remote ones, which preserve the ancestral traditions even today.
The festival is called by different names in north, south and central Goa. “In the north we call it Romat, in south Goa it is called Khell while in central Goa it is named as Mell,” says Khedekar.
It is also celebrated for different time periods at different locations. “In north and south Goa, we witness Shigmo that goes on for 15 days starting with Holi, while central Goa witnesses Shigmo with Nam that ends with Holi and it only lasts for seven days,” explains Khedekar.
And while Holi is a festival that is celebrated all over India, the celebration of Holi in Goa and thereafter Shigmotsav is a unique to the state.
“There are so many places in Goa where there is a ritual of inviting people and priests of other religions to celebrate this folk festival. This cannot be seen anywhere else in India,” says Khedekar.
Goans live the Shigmo
The folklorist further explains that during his research he was surprised to observe that over the years there have been no changes in the rituals and traditions of celebrating Shigmotsav. “Shigmo is celebrated with great fervour even today just like the way they did in the past. Families have taken over their role of all the tasks they are allotted,” he says. There is cultural amalgamation of celebrating Shigmo at the grassroot level which doesn’t take place anywhere in India.
Highlighting the significance of Shigmotsav for a Goan, Khedekar says, “Goans cannot live without Shigmo. No matter where they are living, during this one season they all get together specially to perform their ancestral rituals. Goans live the Shigmo.”
Why families never miss Shigmo
Each family is given a particular task as per the tradition of Shigmo. Hence people from those families never miss participating in the festival. Some have the duty to play the music, while some have the duty to perform. They make sure to skip work to perform their
ancestral tasks.
“As per the beliefs, Goans never miss their village Shigmo. They believe that performing their rituals once a year will give them the best year of their life,” says theatre artist from Deulwada Morlem Sattari, Shablo Shrikant Gaonkar, who has been celebrating Shigmo since childhood. “What I still remember vividly about Shigmo is going from home to home asking for money, what we call ‘Shabay’. Every household used to give us one or two rupees and we accepted this happily,” he recalls.
Shablo adds that the Shigmo festival is of around six or seven days. “It commenced with Holi, followed by Chorotsav, Karavlyo, Romat, and it ends with the Nhavan.” Due to the increase in the number of houses in each village, Shigmo now extends for nine to 10 days. Despite this, in some villages, the crowd isn’t as large as it used to be. “Many people no longer stay out late to watch the festivities because of work commitments. The elders who once recited Sokarti and Jati (traditional chants), are rarely heard now,” he says.
The festival of Shigmo is also unique to its place. For instance, the Dhangar community celebrates Horbala, Chappay, and Radha-Krishna as part of their Shigmotsav. Ajit Painginkar from Paingin, Canacona says, “Shigmotsav is very close to the Dhangar community. They use various musical instruments for their performance like dhol, cymbal, ghumat, and most prominently the long flute ‘pawa’.” The community identify themselves with Krishna, hence they use the flute during their performance in Shigmo.
While there is the tradition of ‘romat’ in Ponda Taluka, in Sattari Taluka, there are other traditions like Karavli, adds Painginkar.
Gade Utsav
The village of Cudnem meanwhile is known for Gade Utsav. People specially visit it to receive blessings throughout the year. “While the Gade Utsav takes place at several places in several forms, the Gade at Cudnem and Sal are quite popular, which is why we witness a lot of people every year during the performance of rituals,” says Vaibhav Naik, a student.
Sotreo and Topshyo
Sotreo is celebrated at Shree Shantadurga Kunkalikarin Temple at Cuncolim. Here, the procession is led by 12 colourful umbrellas atop a tall pole of metal or carved wood. Each of these umbrellas are different and stand for one of the 12 vangodds (clans) of Cuncolim area. Sujeet Prabhu Khope who has been attending Sotreo since his childhood says that they are bound to attend their deity or village Shigmotsav. “I attend Satreo which is celebrated on Phalgun Krishnapaksha Panchami also known as Rangpanchami with a great fervour as it is a ritual I follow every year with a hope of a good new year,” he says.
Talking about the belief he adds, “On this particular day (Sotreo celebration day) devi returns to its ‘mulsthan’ (her original place) in Culvaddo, along with 12 umbrellas representing 12 clans of people who had moved her from Cuncolim to Fatorpa during Portuguese Inquisition. Hence, to celebrate her homecoming people celebrate this festival of umbrellas (Sotreo).”
Meanwhile the Shri Shantadurga Fatorpekarinn Temple celebrates Topshyo festival. ‘Topshi’ is a small special wood affixed on a long stick and brought from the hills, by the Velip community. This stick is supposed to wards off snakes. The highlight of this festival is the jumping over a line of fire, which is supposed to ward off and burn all evil.
Zambaulim Gulal
A student from Zambaulim, Manas Bhembre says that the village of Zambaulim is all lit up during Shigmotsav. This is especially true of the Shri Ramnath Damodar Temple at Zambaulim. “Right from the celebration of Holika Dahan, people celebrate Shigmotsav,” he says. There are stalls put up around the vicinity of Zambaulim Dambab temple. “Thereafter, there are a number of rituals that take place. There are different groups that perform plays during Shigmotsav and finally on Tuesday, we play Gulal,” he says. Gulal is similar to Holi where people joyously apply powdered pink colour to one another.
Sharveya Kunde from Margao says Gulal originally stands for red or pink colour. However people have been using different colours to celebrate it now. “Perhaps this trend has been copied from the celebration of Holi celebrated all over India,” he says.
Sheni Uzzo
Malkarne Village, which is located a few kilometers from Sanguem, celebrates Sheni Uzzo at night, seeking blessings from the local deities to protect their village. ‘Sheni’ means ‘dry cow dung cakes’ usually used for cooking fire; and ‘uzzo’ means ‘fire’. On this night, the villagers go and bring three tall arecanut palms as ‘holika’. These three palms are kept in a covered area called ‘maand’ and those that have made vows – carry these physically on their shoulder – sometimes two at a time. The villagers dance all the way, from the designated plantations to a certain spot in the village boundary. As the time for erecting these ‘holika trees’ at demarcated spots comes near, hundreds of bare-chest devotees light fire to the ‘sheni’ and shower the hot embers on their bodies. After the last holika is erected, the villagers break hundreds of coconuts as offerings. It is then, by about 5 a.m., that devotees climb the erected arecanut palm and when they are halfway through, selected people shower them with burning cinders and embers.
Shisha Ranni
Mallikarjuna Temple, Canacona, celebrates a unique ritual of Shisha Ranni, a few days after Holi. This is a traditional festival where rice is cooked atop the heads of three gades. The term ‘ranni’ directly translates to ‘stove’. Once the rice is cooked, one gade adds a little of his blood as part of the sacrifice. This rice is then thrown outside at the end of the ritual, while people have to escape it. Anika Gaonkar from Canacona says, “This rice is considered inauspicious. Hence people escape it. It is believed that the sacrifice of little blood is suggestive of taking away all the inauspiciousness to start a blessed new year.”
Durig
Durig is a unique festival celebrated at Shigao where one member of every family goes to the jungle to cut and get the Sanwar tree. This is then erected near the village temple of Shri Rangai Shantadurga. The tree is smooth and it is very difficult to climb it. Sushanti Naik from Ponda says, “For Durig, one gade climbs on top with flowers and water. Once he climbs, other gades all try to reach on top of the tree to remove the flowers kept on top of the tree, while the gade keeps pouring water on the tree making it slippery for them to climb. At the end, he removes the flowers and the ritual ends.”
