Pilgrims who have been setting out on foot each year since 1980 from Karwar, Dharwar and Belgaum are put up in a tent spread across 3000 sq metres near the panchayat house in Old Goa. The pilgrims, mostly Goan settlers who fled Goa in the 16th century, walk for five days, praying and refusing lifts from anyone along the way. Senior citizens also join in this pilgrimage of sorts and when they cannot go any further, they take rest in the vehicle which travels along with the group carrying their utensils and belongings. The pilgrims only received respite in
2010, the first time the tent was set up for them. Prior to this many had to take shelter under the trees with no proper place to change or freshen up. Advocate Bernard D’Souza from Margao set up the St Francis Xavier Pilgrims Welfare Trust and sees to it that the pilgrims
have the basic necessities in place when they arrive in Old Goa. The government besides setting up the tent for them provides them with drinking water, lights and fans inside the ten.
D’Souza requests that the Church
build a permanent pilgrim house for
these and other pilgrims who because
of their strong faith visit the Basilica
during the year and cannot afford to stay in a hotel. The Church has suggested
that the pilgrims should stay in the
new retreat house. The problem with
the retreat house is that it is 2 km
from the Basilica.
“After they have walked for hundreds
of kilometers you cannot expect the pilgrims
to walk two kilometers for each
meal and every time they want to freshen
up before mass,” D’Souza says.
A pilgrim house is also different from
a retreat house where silence is expected
to be maintained. The pilgrims when
they arrive want to meet and chat with
relatives. A retreat house is not conducive
to this.
Temples like the Shantadurga,
Mangueshi and Nagueshi all have rooms
in the vicinity of the temple for pilgrims
to stay. D’Souza has been pressing for
this with the Archbishop of Goa since
2009 and this year has also written to
Cardinal Oswaldo Gracias and the Nuncio
in Delhi, asking him to take up the
matter with Pope Francis. Last year
buses with pilgrims even came from
Tamil Nadu and Bassein.
