The quiet village of Shirgao becomes a bustling hub, when thousands of dhonds, devotees and
tourists visit the village, during the annual Shirgao zatra, which is also
known as ‘Dhonanchi zatra’. The festival attracts devotees from over 500
villages of Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka, making it one of the most attended
Hindu festivals in Goa. The special tradition of the zatra, is the treading on
coals by dhonds, which has been carried out for centuries.
Goddess Lairai is known as the deity of
the forest. Though the zatra of Goddess Lairai is celebrated in Shirgao, the
residing Goddess is Sateri. While Goddess Lairai is depicted in the form of a
‘Kalash’ or pitcher, Goddess Sateri is represented in the form of an anthill.
Sanjeev
Sardessai, a hands-on historian explains, “When you see Goddess Lairai, there
is no idol there. It is in the form of a brass copper pot with water from the nearby
lake. Every year, the water is changed and a new mogra flower is dropped in the
pot of water. When you look at it from a holistic view, our ancestors were
telling us to respect nature and in turn respect life. There are nearly 25,000
people walking in the fire but they are not harmed. The zatra is open to both
men and women dhonds. In the case of those who were dhonds and passed away, the
year after their death, their decorated stick or benth is brought and placed near the fire which is eventually burnt.”
The dhonds maintain a strict vegetarian diet. Ten days prior to
the festival, they get together in their respective villages and reside in a
place close to the river known as ‘Tol’, and on the night of the first day of
the festival, the devotees await their turn to walk on the holy path of hot
coals in the tradition of Agnidivya.
Rupesh
Pednekar, from the neighboring village of Pirna, has been participating in the
festivities as a dhond for the past five years, and is the youngest member from
his ward. “We will be going to pray to Goddess Lairai in the morning and then
we will come back home for lunch. In the night, we will be going back to the
temple for the rituals which usually begin at 12 am and will go on till the wee
hours of the morning. Nearly 70 dhonds will be going from Pirna,” says Rupesh.
