All roads lead to Divar this weekend as the stage is set to celebrate the age-old ‘Bonderam’ festival on the island. On August 26, the island of Divar will erupt into a festive mood. In Piedade, Bonderam is celebrated on the fourth Saturday of August to usher in ‘Novidade’ (harvest festival) which is celebrated on the next day when sheaves of the first paddy crop are ceremoniously cut and brought to the church as a thanksgiving offering to God.
The festivities will begin with the flag parade at 3 pm followed by the All Goa Fancy Dress Competition, the float parade by six wards and a scintillating evening of music with live performances by The 7Notes Band, Ryan Nogar and Mark Revlon live with band.
The festival sees six groups comprising of the wards of the village namely Romantic, Divar Center, Maddant Stars, Vittozem, Jingle Bells and Premiero, competing in a float competition. Every year, each ward composes their own songs. There are marks for music, floats, presentation with each ward having a minimum of 100 participants, from ages 3 to 80 years.
Bonderam derives its name from the Portuguese word ‘bandeiras’ (flags) and the festival has been celebrated in Divar for over centuries. It is stated that during the Portuguese rule in Goa, there were frequent disputes between two sections of the Divar village, namely Sao Mathias and Piedade over property issues. These often led to violence and fights in the village. Subsequently, the Portuguese introduced a system of demarcation of boundaries with flags.
The rival groups, however, knocked down the demarcation flags sometimes with stones. Till recently, in a parody of the past, this was commemorated with a “Fottash” fight (toy weapon of bamboo stem and berries used as projectiles) in a mock fight between rival groups to knock down an offending flag. However, today this practice has been stopped as it has resulted in eye injuries etc, although this bamboo ‘Fotash’ is still visible as part of the parade.
The celebration of Bonderam by the island’s communidades went on uninterrupted until 1981, when it was discontinued due to a financial crunch. It was at this juncture that the Piedade Youth Association took over the celebration from the communidades of Goltim- Navelim with an interest to preserve the popular festival.
Kevin Do Rego from group Primeiro and member of the organising committee of Piedade Youth Association says, “Through the festival and the floats, we try to showcase the true traditions and culture of Goa. Each theme is different and colourful with all age groups involved. Each float also has a unique song that is written according to the theme.”
Porbu Waddo-based Freddy Ferrao from group Romantic says, “Every group will be coming up with floats on different themes and till the last day, it is a great suspense that builds up a healthy competition on the island. Though the village is divided by wards, we are all united as Divadkars and this is shown beautifully through the festival of Bonderam. For our group, everyone is given responsibilities according to their strength. We have been one of the groups that have won the first place the most in the 38 years of the float competition and this year too, we will be putting up our best efforts.”
Juvina Vaz from Santar Bhatt which forms the group, Jingle Bells, says “We won the first place for our float that depicted the olden modes of transportation of Divar ‘Divakarache adli ieradhari’, last year that too after many years’. This adds more pressure on this year’s float. Everyone is very excited and the win has certainly motivated us to do better this year. The festival also shows great unity on the island as everyone comes together to take on different roles for Bonderam.”
Rita D’Souza from group Maddant Stars that represent Khursa Bhatt, Maddant says, “Divar is made up of three villages, Piedade, Malar and Naroa. We wait for the Malar Bonderam to be celebrated before practising for the Piedade Bonderam. Many of the participants are part of both the celebrations and the practises clash if held early. Over the years, the pressure to put up great floats has increased. We receive people from all over Goa for the festival and now with social media, our floats can be seen live across the world. Our floats, music and performances have to be up to the mark. This is a really hectic week.”
Ciena Furtado from group Vittozem says, “Our float will feature over 50 members of the ward and everyone wants to play a part in the float parade. For many years, we had a couple from Fatorda joining in the revelry of our float. This year, they will be joining us again and for the first time, their son will be accompanying them for the parade. Every year, we bring out new themes for the floats that makes people think about our traditions and how it can be still used in the present times.”
“It takes two months of planning and a month of proper preparation of the floats. The competition certainly ctches up as well reach closer to Bonderam and no matter what is happening on the island, everyone unites for this festival and people want to work towards bringing out the best talent for the float parade. Jerson Colaco has written the song for our float and we have been practicing very dedicatedly to put on the best show,” says Anishka De Sa, from group Divar Centre.
Mark Revlon has grown up watching Bonderam up close as his maternal grandmother is from Vanxim and he has spent many vacations in his childhood on the island. “Bonderam is a traditional festival kept alive by the people of Divar and celebrated by the whole of Goa. My band and I am very honoured and happy to be a part of this year’s Bonderam. It is full of energy and celebrations. For me, it’s all the more nostalgic. I used to watch Bonderam but being able to perform for the festival, makes it all the more special,” says Mark, who recently returned from a musical tour to Italy, Scotland and England.