Team Herald
PONDA: With the State witnessing widespread opposition to the felling of trees, several artists from Ponda have setup unique and massive matolis at their residences using a variety of fruits and vegetables stressing the need to protect Goa’s environment.
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The Goan matoli is decorative canopy in which fresh fruits and flowers are revered along with the idol of Lord Ganesh. The traditional matoli comprises chikoo, banana, orange, melon, mango, apple, guava, breadfruit, pomegranate, custard apple, coconut, pineapple, betel nut, pumpkin, ladyfinger, cucumber, gourds and others.
Compared to traditional/usual matoli, the artists who have participated in the matoli competition organised by the Art and Culture Department have used a portion of the roof for matoli. The traditional matoli comprises 20 to 30 items but this year, these artists, who have put in a lot of hard efforts, have used around 300 to 400 fruits and vegetables found in Goa’s forest for the matoli.
However, due to pandemic these artists are not encouraging the public to visit their houses to catch a glimpse of the matoli and have avoided publicity on account of SOPs.
Sunday being the third day of Chaturthi, the Art and Culture Department officials visited the houses of the artists who have participated in the contest and inspected the matolis.
At Curti, an artist has decorated a matoli depicting Lord Krishna lifting Govardhan Hill with his finger while another artist has depicted Lord Vithoba in his house.
The Art and Culture Department annually holds State-level matoli competition. Around five to six artists from Ponda participate in this competition. Besides, artists from Valpoi, Canacona, Netravali, etc take part in this competition with their massive eco-friendly matolis which attracts huge crowd.
A senior artist from Curti, who has bagged several State-level prizes, said he and his nuclear family celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi together.
“This year, we have created matoli using 385 fruits and vegetables, including forest and bagayat ones. The theme of our matoli is protecting the environment,” the artist said.
