PONDA: Notwithstanding the heavy police deployment, there was a huge flow of devotees for the Navdurga zatra at Marcaim on Saturday.
Ever since the dispute arose between the Mahajans and the locals over the ownership of the temple and the idol, there was a fear that devotees would slowly stop visiting the Navdurga temple pushing it to obscurity.
On the contrary, ever since the controversy broke out, the follow of devotees has seen a steady increase. Currently, the Marcaim zatra attracts over three lakh devotees.
The idol of Navdurga in the temple is the oldest and unique one in Goa; it has a tilted head and fierce eyes.
The devotees all over Goa and nearby States observe one-day fast during Zatra. The Godess is popular all over Goa and on the first day (Saturday) of the festival, there was a long queue of devotees for having a dharshan of the goddess.
The controversy began when the Mahajans of the temple attempted to replace the idol in the year 2015, on ground that the idol had developed some cracks. However, they were opposed by Marcaim locals tooth and nail. The locals claim that they too have right over the idol, which is being worshipped for hundreds of years: generations after generations. Besides, they also claimed that the goddess has not given her approval for replacing the idol, through Prasad Kaul – the traditional method of obtaining goddess’ permission for doing something. Nevertheless, the locals agreed that the idol can be repaired.
Therefore, the matter landed in Ponda District court, which temporarily restrained the Mahajans from replacing the idol of the goddess till the court gives a final verdict in the case filed by the villagers (Navdurga Prathishtan).
At the same time, the court permitted the Mahajans and the locals to carry on their temple activities and celebrate festivals.
But since clashes between the disputing parties continued over performing religious rituals and celebrating festivals, the Court directed both the parties to celebrate the festivals without obstructing each other’s.
