Goa News Clips

Shigmo In Goa http://www.goa-tours-india.com/festivals-of-goa/christian-festivals/shigmo-in-goa.html Shigmo Festival, the Goan version of Holi is celebrated with big parades and crowds; drum and dance groups vie and huge blows threaten to bring down telegraph wires and rush towarsds through streets in a festive mood. During this festival period famous temple Yatras are held. Processions are carried out at temples by throwing colour and dancing with god and goddess umbrellas and Dindi. This festival celebration is organized in different cities to attract tourists. Processions are carried out in cities with conventional Goan dances and modern drifts. People are esteemed for best performance in the procession. When does it fall? This festival is celebrated around March each year is linked to the lunar-based Hindu and comes not far from Carnival festival, which is also celebrated before the Catholic season of Lent. Shigmo begins some five days before the full-moon day of the Indian calendar's month of the Phalguna and ends on the full-moon day in the old areas of Goa. The celebrations presumes a big proportion in Panaji, Mapusa, Vasco-da-Gama and Margao

Shigmo reflects varied and rich folk dance traditions 8 Mar 2009, | Rajendra P Kerkar , TNN http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Goa/Shigmo-reflects-varied-and-rich-folk-dance In the past, agricultural activities played an important role in the lives of Goans. Farmers toiling hard in the soil during the winter season for Vaigan agriculture got relief through entertainment and religious rituals and celebrations. Shigmo celebrations gave this much needed relief to the agriculturists from the day to day pain and suffering. Shigmo festival occupies an important place in the cultural life of the land. Though the non-Brahmin communities are mainly involved in the celebration and rituals of the Shigmo, nowadays the Brahmin communities also wholeheartedly take part in the festival. During the sixteenth century, when the Portuguese conquered Tiswadi, they put a ban on the celebration of the Shigmo. All over Goa Shigmo is celebrated in the month of Phalguna, but only in Dongari of Mandur, Tiswadi, it coincides with the carnival of the Catholic community, known as Intruz' which is derived from Entrudo' meaning carnival. As the Shigmo was abolished by the Portuguese in the old conquests, it only survived in Dongari in disguise. The farming communities celebrate Intruz in Dongari with the same enthusiasm as Shigmo with the blessings of their presiding deity Shashti Shantadurga. According to Bhiku Gauns, "Even after religious persecution, our forefathers have continued to celebrate Shigmo under the name of Intruz and maintained their linkages with the ancestral cultural heritage." In Goa, two types of Shigmos are observed. The first Shigmo which takes place during the first half of Phalguna is known as the Dhakto Shigmo and the Shigmo which is celebrated from the full moon day of Phalguna is known as Vodlo Shigmo. The Dhakto Shigmo is mainly observed by the villagers in the Zuari basin whereas Vadlo Shigmo is celebrated by villagers of the Mandovi basin. Mallikarjuna temple of Shristhal is associated with village communidades of Canacona, Nagarshem and Palolem. From time immemorial the deity Mallikarjuna was not only associated with villages of Canacona but also with villages in Karnataka like Hosali, Mudgeri, Makkeri and Kharge, which are parts of Shirveshwar or Karwar region. The Avatar Purush of the temple of Mallikarjun pays visits to Karwar region from full moon day of Paush. Devotees welcome the procession with the utmost respect. After spending two-and-half months, the procession returns back to Canacona on the seventh day of Phalgun. On the return journey, devotees scattered in various areas of Canacona, join in the welcoming celebrations. In many villages of Canacona, villagers gather near temples to invoke the deity by reciting Naman' wherein they sing folksongs praising the gods. These folksongs are sung by the folklorists with tunes inherited from their ancestors. These songs are important and known by very few elders of the village. Loliye has the temple of Keshav. Villagers sing the Naman' and perform folkdances. They then proceed in large groups to other villages to the tunes of folk musical instruments to present folkdances. Till full moon day the villagers come together with various folk performances of Shigmo festival. In Poinguinim, Loliye and other villages of Canacona, the Bhagat and Velip communities annually observe the Viramel, a unique form of martial art from the ninth day of Phalgun to the full moon day. The folk artists of Bhagat community, wearing a white dhoti and a turban, holding a sword and carrying a broom of peacock feathers called the Pillakucho visit every house in a procession to the tunes of folk musicians playing dhol', taso', jaghat' and a horn shing'. The artists make the ritualistic performance. The Shigmo of Canacona reflects a varied and rich folk dance traditions mainly performed by male artists. These include Tonyamel, Talgadi and Goff. "Our folk artists have maintained the tradition of the folk dances. Even when the rest of Goa is under the influence of modernization, folk artists present these dances of Shigmo," says Mahendra Phaldesai, a folk artist from Poinguinim. Actually, the preparation for Shigmo starts from the Mahashivratri, in some villages of Goa, wherein the folk artists impart training to the budding artists.

Goa Church People Accuse State Of Helping Only Luxury Hotels By Bosco de Souza Eremita | On 2009-3-10 Article printed from Union of Catholic Asian News: http://www.ucanews.com PANAJI, India (UCAN) -- Church people have expressed dismay that the western Indian state government has issued an ordinance that they say protects a luxury hotel from an adverse court ruling. Describing the ordinance as "outrageous," Father Bismark Dias, a social activist in Goa and Daman archdiocese, charged that the ordinance, promulgated on Feb. 28, is "tailor-made" to save a five-star beach resort near the state capital of Panaji. On Jan. 21, the Supreme Court asked the hotel to demolish by April 29 at least 50 rooms, a convention center, a gym and a beauty parlor it built on about 1,000 square meters of public land. However, the new ordinance, named Land Acquisition (Goa Amendment) Ordinance 2009, seeks to change the law in such a way as to give ownership of the land to the hotel, Father Dias notes. "Big money is changing hands," the priest said, adding the luxury hotel has put "the highest authority in the land (the government) on the job of protecting its illegalities." An ordinance is an emergency law enacted when the legislative house is not in session. It becomes a full-fledged law only if passed in the legislative house within six months. In August 2008, the Federation of Small and Medium Hotels and Guest Houses of Goa (FOSAM) presented a 55-page white paper on tourism to the state government. FOSAM is an initiative of the archdiocesan council for social justice and peace. The paper says the government supports luxury hotels that cater to about only 10 percent of tourists to the state and ignores small and medium hotels that take care of the rest. Goa, an internationally acclaimed holiday destination known for its palm-fringed sandy beaches, reportedly drew about 2.3 million tourists in 2008. About 365,000 of these were from overseas. The FOSAM white paper notes that most tourists stay in small and medium hotels but the government does not develop them. The paper demands quality infrastructure at the village level, support for local entrepreneurship, an end to bureaucratic delays in granting licenses, and steps to develop environmentally friendly and sustainable rural tourism. According to FOSAM president Serafino Cota, 95 percent of tourist accommodation in Goa belongs to Catholics. This former Portuguese colony has 1.3 million people, about 27 percent of whom are Christians, mostly Catholics. Catholics own the small hotels while business firms belonging to people of other religions own the major hotels and luxury resorts, he said. Cota added the federation is not only protesting the government's "double standards" but also asking it to "take us into confidence as partners in development." Father Feroz Fernandes, editor of the Konkani-language Catholic weekly "Vauraddeancho Ixtt" (worker's friend), finds the new ordinance "a classic example" of letting the "the big fish" get away with irregularities. "This will be a trend setter to permit illegal structures along the coastline," the priest warned. Ranjan Solomon, consultant on the white paper, said small and medium hoteliers help local businesses as they depend entirely on local resources, unlike luxury hotels. But these enterprises get no support from the government and they "are in debt," he added. Increasing influence of tour operators to select services for their clients, stiff local competition and a lack of alternative jobs force small and medium enterprises to accept the prices offered by the tour operators, Solomon said.

Archbishop hopes electorate will vote responsibly Describing the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections as a decisive moment as it will seal the destiny of the nation for the next five years, the Archbishop-Patriarch Rev Filipe Neri Ferrao (in a message to the electorate of the state) expressed hope that the people will exercise their franchise with a sense of responsibility, after a proper and dispassionate discernment of the political situation in the country. [NT]

Erosion has devasted Sinquerim beach The surf seen in front of Angela's Dolphin Inn shack at the scenic Sinquerim beach is hardly any consolation to tourism, shack owners or visitors to the beach. The sea has been consistently preparing for a catastrophe since the shore-based people woke to see the ominous wreck of “River Princess” ship come and settle off the coast in July 2000. The sea has already swept away nearly 40 to 110 metres of the beach width over the turbulent nine years since then. The current must have changed its natural path, in its vicious wake altering the topography of the once beautiful beach. It has eroded areas of the beach, in some places leaving nothing of it, and added beach width at some other places. The beach lies in the tourism heartland of Goa and as such tourism business along the beach has been severely affected. The star resort at Sinquerim too has suffered quite heavily due to heavy erosion by the lashing waves. Every full-moon night when the tides are considerably high, people fear the sea which once provided livelihood to the coastal population, even before tourism became popular in Candolim. Goa's long coast is also considered susceptible to rising sea level problems though the problem is not so acute so far. Contractors commissioned to tow away the ship have utterly failed to do the job, while the government has virtually thrown up its hands in helplessness leaving tourism, Sinquerim beach and the coastal population at the mercy of divine providence! This week itself, locals say that as much as 1.5 metres of the beach has been claimed by the sea. The locals hope and fervently pray that nothing serious happens tonight since it is full-moon today

Panjim needs football stadium not casinos: Botelho “It’s a laughing stock that Goa’s capital city – Panjim, does not have a football stadium, and it goes to the credit of Don Bosco and Peter Vaz of Sporting Clube de Goa that they have kept football activities alive in Panjim,” voiced Tonito Botelho, Chairman of GFA’s Youth Development Committee and former GFA secretary. [H]

Less number of foreigners doing biz in Goa The number of foreigners visiting Goa for business purposes has fallen considerably. While 26 foreign tourists on a business visa established ventures in Goa in 2007, the number was 5 in 2008. Data obtained by TOI from the Foreigner’s Registration Office of the Goa Police under the Right to Information Act reveals that the highest number of foreigners setting up business in the state was in 2005, when 53 foreigners set up shop in the state. “There has been a decline in the number of foreigners setting up business in Goa.

Warming Goa While environmentalists have been arguing for protecting and preserving the forests, planting more saplings and tapping of renewable energy to offset carbon footprints and counter the effects of global warming, it is irony that felling of trees in the forests of Goa has been taking place in a systematic manner. A report appearing in this newspaper points out that most of the trees from private forests in Ponda spreading over 280.70 hectares have been cut. It underlines the fact that present forest policies have proved to be insufficient in protecting the trees of these forests. [Edit/NT]

Female elephant calf falls prey to explosive Though all is quiet on Goa's border in the vicinity of Dodamarg, the peace has followed the tragic death of a female elephant after consuming some explosive-laden' trap recently. The elephant, a five year old female calf, was captured by Maharashtra forest officials on the other side of the border in a badly injured condition. "It was unable to eat anything and was administered 400 salines and daily injections. It somehow survived three weeks and died late last month," Naresh Zarmuri, district forest officer, Maharashtra said. [TOI]

An Impatient Wait Flow of the remittances from the Goan Diaspora has slowed down by 30 per cent during the last six months. This is certainly not good news for Goa and its economy as remittances from Goan’s residing abroad has been the major source of foreign income. How much the Goa government values its 500,000 expatriates could be gauged from the fact that it has appointed them on state boards and corporations, placed them on a high powered committee to address their grievances and facilitate their reconnection with their roots. [Edit, NT]

‘Community’s growth linked to town’s growth’ For any town or village to grow, it is important for the community to grow, London-based architect, Charles Campion, highlighted in a talk he delivered on “Involving People, Changing Lives’ at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Alto-Porvorim, on March 5. Architect Dean D’Cruz, a member of the state government-appointed Task Force to prepare the draft Regional Plan 2021, spoke at length on the draft and even apologized for being unable to give accurate maps. He nevertheless stressed that the ‘planning for your village’ concept is a great hope for Goa. [GT]

People’s role key to RP 2021 success: Campion People’s participation and the process that enable it in the draft Regional Plan 2021, are crucial factors for a sustainable and people friendly plan. This was emphasized by architect Charles Campion who stopped over in Goa en route home to England on the request of architect Dean D’Cruz, to share his experience of working on planning projects that involve people, in England and on the Auroville international township near Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu. [H]