04 Jun 2023  |   05:47am IST

THE GREAT GOAN LEGACY OF ‘PURUMENTACHEM FEST’

Sushila Sawant Mendes

Monsoons are at our doorsteps. The sun dried red chillies, fish and tamarind, especially made provision for this time of the year, in almost every village home will now be consumed. I have fond memories as a child looking forward to the Purumentache fest in Margao, as it involved travelling in a Careira from Velim to Margao, to buy the provisions that were required for the next three months of the monsoons. It was here that most Goan children were initiated into the skill of bargaining. The colour, smell, sounds and festivities were truly intoxicating. All this movement was with the background of the gigantic white washed walls of the church. For a child these surroundings were fun to be in– a kaleidoscopic moving picture of Goan sense and sensibilities! After this, followed the ritual of platting the onions with dry grass and hanging them on a wooden bamboo in the kitchen. The red chillies were also put to dry in front of the house, so that they would last those months without getting spoilt.

Goa is known as a land of feasts and festivals. Although the monsoons reach Goa in June and continue for three months, preparations to store the provisions for the rainy season are also raised to the level of a feast. In the past, this feast was associated with the feast of the Catholic liturgical calendar and held in the outer compounds of the concerned Churches, but today the Caculo Mall has taken it to a different level! Even the Tanishka Women’s network of a local newspaper celebrated the ‘Purument fest’ at the Dr F L Luis Gomes Garden, opposite Kala Academy, Campal this year. This was their attempt of showcasing and protecting a Goan tradition. This feast is celebrated in a big way in Santacruz, Sanguem, Panjim and Margao, among other churches of Goa.

Every society around the world has these special days, called ‘Farmers’ Day’ or ‘Market Day’ and the items sold are those that are locally grown. In Bhutan it is Yak cheese and butter, besides other local vegetables; in the US  villagers bring home baked cakes, cookies and jams. Young children are given a few dollars to buy whatever they want so as to inculcate a spirit of responsibility and independence. The government has made a good move in starting the Ganesh Chaturthi local markets in the cities of Goa. It enables the local farmers from the country side to market their home grown produce. The city dwellers appreciate this local produce which is normally organically grown. Local eggs and live poultry are rare commodities in an urban market and with their guaranteed health benefits; there is a demand from those who can afford to pay.  

In Goa, these are culinary ingredients like chillies, onions, tamarind, ragi, cashew nuts, kokum, chepnim (raw mango in brine), pickles, homemade garam masala, jackfruit chips, pork sausages, palm vinegar, coconut oil, local salt, parboiled rice, kidney beans, turmeric, pepper, jaggery, and dried fish. Terracotta eco-friendly vases as well as cooking pots are also commonly seen, providing a market for the kumbhars who work so hard and get so little.

On the 3rd of May, (if it is a Sunday)or on the first Sunday of May,  the people of Santa Cruz celebrate the feast of the patron of their church, ‘Santa Cruz’ or the Holy Cross. In yester-years on this feast day the purumentachem fest was also celebrated. That was the time when the local farmers of Santa Cruz village would sell their produce and people from the whole of Ilhas and Bardez would patronize them. However as most farmers in this village have given up farming, the purumentachem fest is now on a very small scale. 

In Sanguem, it is considered as the second biggest purumentachem feast (the first being in Margao), in South Goa. It is associated with the Church of Our Lady of Miracles Church in Sanguem and is celebrated on the third Saturday of May every year. Sanguem being the biggest taluka in Goa, this feast serves as a market for the farmers of the villages of the hinterland of the adjoining talukas of Quepem and Dharbandora as well

The feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, is also called Purumentachem Fest in Panjim,  one of the important feasts of the 400-year-old Church of the Immaculate Conception. While the church is well-known for the feast of its patroness, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (December 8), the other important feast is the feast of the Ascension.  Located in the heart of the capital city of Panjim, the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Igreja da Imaculada Conceição) is one of Panjim's most famous landmarks. The Catholic world celebrates the feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ forty days after Easter (and ten days before Pentecost). The day always falls on the sixth Thursday after Easter, but the celebrations are held on the following Sunday. This week-long fair would attract shoppers from the city as well as the neighbouring villages. The farmers of Taleigao and the nearby villages also found this as a nearby market for their farm produced vegetables, rice and fruits.

In Margao, traditionally the feast was held fifty days after Easter, as the feast of the Pentecost, or the feast of the Holy Spirit. The Easter season ends with Pentecost, which is derived from the Greek word “pentekoste,” meaning “fiftieth”. Pentecost as per the liturgical calendar of the church is the time when the holy Spirit descended upon the apostles. The Holy Spirit Church celebrates it's feast in the last week of May or the first week of June. The fair lasts for about a week, as people from all the villages of Salcette come to Margao to buy their monsoon provision. The status of Margao, today as the commercial capital of Goa, could be linked to the Purumentachem Fest. Today besides culinary provisions, ready made garments are also sold here as a part of  ‘new commerce’.

 Those were the days when transport was difficult so coming to the city was not easy during the rains. Today’s situation is different and provisions like chillies are available in the shops throughout the year. However local organic produce, like the Canacona chillies, the par-boiled rice grown by our own farmers are not the same as Kashmiri chillies or white polished rice imported from the other States of India! These culinary essentials would be stocked up by people for the monsoon season ahead. Also available is furniture, household items and the traditional Goan channa and Khajem, (locally referred to as Kadio Bodio).

The Purumentachem Fest is therefore not only an economic enterprise but a forum of celebration and social interaction among people and communities and at the same time a feast associated with some churches. This feast has a slice of Goan culture and heritage as also portrayed by the Goan temple fairs. The government needs to preserve and protect the interests of these small farmers and vendors who have traditionally earned a living from these Goan feasts. These local markets making provisions for the difficult periods, also foster the culture of feasts and festivals in Goa.

(Prof (Dr ) Sushila Sawant Mendes is an Author and Professor in 

History, Govt College of Arts, Science & Commerce, Quepem)

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