Music is a part of every Goan festival, and as Goa celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi today, homes, temples and places of worship will reverberate with the sound of aarti and melodious devotional songs dedicated to Lord Ganesha. These melodies are composed and produced by artists from around the state. “Every year for Ganesh Chaturthi, I create compositions. There was a break during Covid, so last year, I made a compilation of all my compositions on Ganesh and released it on YouTube as an audio jukebox,” says music composer and singer, Mukesh Ghatwal. He further adds, “This year I have done music arrangements for other artists; six compositions of mine are ready but are being held up as the videos are still being worked on.”
Music producer, Kalika Bapat, says “I released the album on devotional songs in June titled ‘Shri Avadhoot Geetanjali.’ The album contains devotional, spiritual and meditational songs by Shri Sadguru Narayan Swami along with his own traditional compositions, beautifully revived by well-known Goan musician Mukesh Ghatwal and sung by renowned Goan singer, Rajesh Madgaokar. The first song which is always dedicated to Lord Ganesha is called ‘Shri Ganesha Lambodara.” The album was created by Manassa Creations, an organisation working in the fields of art, culture, literature education, social service and medicine and is produced by Dr Rajendra D Bapat and Dr Niranjan D Bapat. “As of now the album is not available online, as the first edition is not for sale, I have given it to temples across Goa,” she adds.
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Playback singer and composer, Laxman Naik, who also lent his voice to the film, ‘KGF2’, says “The album ‘Morya’ which is in devotion of Lord Ganesh was released recently and will be available on YouTube. The lyrics were written by my teacher and I really liked them, so I got one of my music students to perform the song. The beginning of the song is sung by a child. I am grateful to my fellow artists for making this possible. The lyrics are by Manoj Naik Gaonkar, videography and editing by Pritam Putu Pagui and music by Mukesh Ghatwal.”
“This year, I wrote a Marathi song, ‘Tu data tu vidhata’ devoted to Lord Ganesh which is composed by Akshay Naik. Last year, I wrote a Hindi devotional song composed by musician Joe D’Costa and before that a Konkani song composed by Mukesh Ghatwal,” says John Aguiar, a Konkani poet, writer and lyricist, whose song ‘Viva Carnival’, was chosen as the Goa carnival theme song in the year 2012. It was musically composed and sung by Ghatwal.
The ten-day long festival manifests itself in its traditional avatar with ghumot aarti groups singing ‘bhajans’ and ‘kirtans’ twice a day with much fervour. These are followed by delicious lunches and dinners served to all who are present. No invitation needed, friends and neighbours can walk in to participate in the aartis.
Musician Nitin Mardolkar says, “The ghumot is a membranophone instrument from Goa, played by Christians and Hindus alike. The percussion earthen vessel instrument has either side open; and has a leather drum membrane of a monitor lizard across its bigger opening.”
The Ghumot forms an integral part of Goan folk, religious and temple music. It serves as an accompaniment to the folk songs and to Mando music. But most importantly, it plays a vital role in the music played in Goa during Ganesh Chaturthi. The use of monitor lizard leather is now banned by the government but the authentic rich sound cannot be replicated by other membrane materials.
The practice for aarti Vandana starts from the month of Shravan by preparing the musical instruments, and practicing. “It is heartening to see youth taking the initiative to learn the instruments and take their skill to a professional level. There are approximately 400 groups around the state participating in competitions,” says Mardolkar.
