Tourism
of Goa
Fairs
& Festivals ::
Hindu
Festival
Lairai
Jatra This
is one of the more famous and more unusual Jatra (Hindu temple festival)
celebrated in Goa. Shirgao is a small town in Bicholim taluka, east of
Mapusa. The Shirgao Jatra is famous among devotees and tourists alike for
the celebrated walk on hot coals raked from an enormous bonfire.
The
Jatra takes place in early part of May, when thousands of devotees of Devi
Lairai descend on the small town and religious rituals and poojas dedicated
to the Goddess are performed throughout the auspicious day.
Hundreds
of people from the villages in surrounding areas, also take part in these
celebrations. Groups of these villagers from villages such as Maulingem,
arrive in the early morning hours and participate in events throughout the
day.
In years gone by, the Jatra would take place over a period of
five or six days, however, in recent times the one day celebration has been
the norm. The festivals is celebrated by the tribal communities living in
the area although the devotees come from all over.
The festival
begins early in the morning and continues throughout the day. Men and a few
women who participate, take a ritual bath in special water tanks located
near the Temple. The devotees then walk all the way uphill to the temple as
an act of penance, endurance, and worship of the Goddess.
The
evening brings more devotees who all perform the same ritual of worship and
penance. Most of the devotees wear a peculiar type of dhoti (Hindu
traditional dress) especially for the festival, a white t-shirt, a colorful
cape around the shoulders, and a scarf-like cloth around the waist. Special
flower garlands made from jasmine and other local flowers are worn by the
devotees around their necks.
A special stick, about 6 feet long,
made from twisted vines is carried by the worshippers throughout the rituals
of the day. The sticks are made by the devotees themselves and decorated
with coloured yarn which symbolises the flowers used in festivals of
previous years.
Late into the night, as midnight approaches, the
devotees perform a frantic dance inside the temple which is all lit up for
the occasion. The dancing takes place to the rhythm of drum beats, in a
tight circle in front of Goddess Lairai. While chanting and moving in a
tight circle the devotees hold the special sticks clashing them against one
another.
The circular dance reaches a feverish high with a single
drum beat denoting the end of that dance session. A new set of devotees
enter the temple to start another session as the dancers who have already
participated go back down the hill to bathe once again.
The dance
sessions end around midnight when all eyes are on the huge pile of wood kept
in a large clearing near the temple. The final and most spectacular part of
the Jatra then begins, when a specially chosen person races from the temple
to the wooden pile and lights a massive bonfire with a blazing torch.
The
chanting and dancing then continues around the massive bonfire with the
devotees touching the holy fire with their sticks. The devotees believe that
the closer one comes to the fire, the more devotion and courage is
demonstrated.
In the early hours of the morning when the fire has
died down, the raking of the coals begins. The devotees await their turn to
walk on the holy path of hot coals. Around 4 a.m., the actual ritual starts,
with the devotees running through the hot coals carrying their sticks and
shouting the name of Devi Lairai.
As the crowd watches in stunned
silence, some devotees do the 'hot run' once, others do it several times.
Those who have finished their run, then remove and throw their flower
garlands onto a nearby Banyan tree and return home. The Jatra reaches its
conclusion as the sun rises in the distant hills.
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