The stage is set to celebrate the age-old ‘Bonderam’ festival in Divar this weekend. On August 27, 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.
In the 38 years of Bonderam celebrations by the Piedade Youth Association, this is the first time ‘Nightingale of Goa’ Lorna will be performing. This year’s monsoon festival will be hosted by RJ Ayesha Barretto with performances by Raagas2Riches and DJ Ryan Nogar. Minister for Tourism, Rohan Khaunte will be the chief guest.
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! Kevin Do Rego from group Primeiro and member of the organising committee of Piedade Youth Association says, “The floats have traditional themes depicting the traditions of Goa and are locally made. The contribution comes from the wards itself. The Piedade Youth Association also assists each ward’s float and there is no sponsor. He further adds that the theme of group Primeiro’s float named ‘Adli Godsann’ and will depict old Goan traditional sweets, “This will be all traditional sweets people have forgotten. The message we want to convey through our float is to bring awareness to our youngsters of our forgotten sweets which were so healthy and are now replaced by modern desserts,” he says.
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.
Freddy Ferrao from group Romantic says “Our float depicts Goan traditional occupations such as bakers, toddy tappers, farmers, etc and our message is to the youth, instead of migrating to other countries, take up these traditional occupations of the state.” He further adds, “Our ancestors lived a long life working in the fields, ate natural produce and were healthy. In the pandemic, everything was shut, people returned home from their professions abroad. The pandemic brought us back to our roots as people started taking up local occupations and this is the inspiration for our float.”
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.
Cecundita Dcosta Picardo from group, Jingle Bells, says “Our float depicts the olden modes of transportation of Divar ‘Divakarache adli ieradhari’. She adds “The main occupation of the people of Divar was farming so bullock carts were used. Caminhão, the popular mode of transportation from the houses to the ferry point; and before ferry boats Gasolin was the mode of transport to cross the river; all these were told as stories to us by our ancestors so we are going to depict these.”
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.
Rita D’souza from group Maddant Stars says, “Our theme is ‘Portugueseanche dias Goenkaranche aiz’, we want to show the historical importance of whatever the Portuguese have built such as old bridges and structures that we have to preserve this as its of historical and cultural importance.” She further adds, “We want to show that Goa is not only for party making and enjoying, but show its historical cultural identity.”
Caitano Furtado from group Vittozem says, “Our float depicts the festival of San Joao celebrated on June 24. The festival celebrations include villagers jumping into the wells, streams and ponds. This jumping is to signify the joy that St John felt as a foetus in the womb when Jesus was born. He further adds “The way the villagers unite to keep traditions alive is what we want to depict.”
“Our float depicts mother earth which provides us natural resources, and how we as humans, because of greed, have interfered with these resources and now it impacts our health,” says Anishka De Sa, from group Divar Centre.
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 Raagas2Riches, DJ Ryan Nogar and Goa’s very own nightingale, Lorna. The festivities will come to an end at 10 pm.
