TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
BICHOLIM: Several lamps decorated the Valvanti River at Sanquelim on the day of Tripurari Poornima, a festival of light that marks the end of Diwali festival.
The festival on Sunday attracted hundreds of devotees of the Vithal temple and visitors for the famous boat competition at Vithalapur-Sanquelim.
The annual festival held at Vithal temple, Sanquelim, is organised by the Vithalapur Deepawali Utsav Samiti in association with the Department of Art & Culture, Department of Information and Publicity, Goa Tourism Development Corporation and the Goa Tourism Department.
Tripurari Poornima is the full moon day in the Kartik month in the traditional Hindu calendar. The day celebrates the victory of Lord Shiva over the demon Tripurasura and the destruction of the three cities ~ Tripuri, made by demons. The festivities of Diwali conclude on Tripurari Poornima and since last several years the festival at Sanquelim has gained importance at the State level because of the boat competition.
The legend has it that a powerful demon named Tripuri or Tripurasura built three cities of gold, silver and iron with the blessing of Lord Shiva. The demon became so powerful that he started attacking humans and the gods (devas). Brahma and Vishnu failed to contain Tripurasura who was armed with several boons from Shiva.
Finally, the task of annihilating the demon fell on Lord Shiva and after three days of fight, Lord Shiva killed Tripurasura and destroyed the three cities ~ Tripuri. This great victory happened on the full moon day in Kartik month and therefore the day is celebrated as Tripuri Poornima.
Lighting of lamps in temples and homes in the evening after sunset in honour of Shiva is a major event on this day. On Sunday, hundreds of lamps were seen floating in the river Valvanti after the palanquin procession.
At Sanquelim, the tradition of celebrating the festival is more than 20 years old. Annually, several boats made of thermocol are floated in the Valvanti River decorated with lights and different colours. This year, there were about 40 eco-friendly boats made by several groups from all over Goa. Most of them were made up of grass and other such natural material.
There were also several programmes organised including ‘Geet Ramayan’ by Shridhar Phadke and the programme will conclude with boat show and fireworks after killing the effigy of demon Tripurasur.
