MARGAO: In a tradition that dates back 300-plus years, on Monday, August 5, villagers of Raia and from various parts of Salcete converged to celebrate the age-old ‘Konsanchem Fest’ yesterday
The feast of Our Lady of Snows Church in Raia was celebrated with pomp and gaiety, especially when Goa’s Auxiliary Bishop Rev Fr Simião Purificação Fernandes, blessed the field for a bountiful harvest descended into the fields along with the parish priest and cut the first sheaves of paddy, using a silver sickle, to ceremoniously cut the first sheaf of grain. The paddy metal sheaf later adornd the main altar of ‘Our Lady of Snows’ Church Raia during the Eucharistic celebration.
The feast celebrates the cutting of the first sheaves ‘konsa’ of the rice harvest. To commemorate it, farmers and other villagers participated enthusiastically and collected the blessed sheaves that were distributed after they were cut. Auxiliary Bishop blessed the farmers for providing food grains to the State.
Incidentally, Raia is the first village to harvest paddy, heralding the beginning of the harvesting season in Goa and it attracts people from all over Salcete.
The harvest also has biblical significance. It may be recalled that in the book of Genesis, Abel offered his best sheaves of corn to God.
The local community emphasized that the festival emphasized on the first corn and that it serves to boost agriculture.
The parish youth put up a live brass band for the feast mass.
There were a lot of programmes after the feast mass also to commemorate the feast day that is of great importance to the local residents of Raia.
Of course there were freshly baked grams, khajem, clothes and utensils at the fair.