It could be the longest procession, covering over two-and-a-half hours, for a feast in Goa. The involvement and active participation of the Hindu brethren speak volumes about the blend of faith with tradition in the village of Mandur.
The tiny and serene village of Dongrim-Mandur in Tiswadi taluka is dominated by the Hindu community, with merely 30 percent Catholics existing in the village. The feast of Our Lady of Good Success is celebrated with pomp and religious fervour in this village annually. The chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Good Success in Dhakttem Bhatt wears a festive look, with nine days of novena, followed by the solemn feast.
The feast is celebrated by Catholics and Hindus alike, on a Sunday prior to the Carnival festivities, and it also coincides with the Intruz festival in the village. The eight wards are decked up with buntings along the roadside and as the procession penetrates with the statue in the entire village, a serpentine queue of Hindu brethren is witnessed all along, waiting anxiously to pay their homage to their ‘Gaunchi Saibinn’.
The Hindu community believe that Our Lady of Good Success is the sister of Shree Shantadurga, which is installed in the village temple. The tradition of carrying the statue of Blessed Mother throughout the village has been followed for years together and the age-old tradition continues till date with the same religious fervour, both among the Catholics and Hindu community.
The parish priest of Our Lady of Amparo Church, Mandur, Fr Roland Carvalho informed that the feast of Our Lady of Good Success is celebrated in Mandur in Tiswadi taluka and Pirni-Nagao in Salcete taluka. “Here the chapel is dedicated to Our Lady of Good Success whereas the chapel now raised to the status of a church in Pirni-Nagao is dedicated to the Our Lady of Succour and Good Success and the patron feast is celebrated on 3rd Sunday of January,” he revealed.
Elaborating more about the chapel feast, Fr Carvalho said, “Blessed Mother appeared to Mariana de Jesus Torres (Conceptionist Sister on February 2, 1594.” He said that it is the longest procession ever witnessed in any village, with the active involvement of the Hindu community.
When the feast of Our Lady of Good Success dawns in the village of Mandur, the celebration by the two communities needs to be commended as neither of them feel superior or inferior on the festive occasion, but it is a grand celebration of one single family. The Hindu families revering the statue with religious fervour can be witnessed during the 2-hour long procession and they believe it is a moment of pride and faith for them.
“On the festive day, none of our brothers and sisters will move out of the village,” informs Asha Madkaikar, the sarpanch of the village, “and the intake of food will follow only after the procession culminates at the chapel.” “People seek favours from ‘Gaunchi Saibinn’ and when their wishes are fulfilled,” she informed, “as a sign of gratitude, they participate in the long procession. We felt elevated this year when prayers and hymns were heard in Hindi for the first time on the sound system, which followed the statue during the procession.”
Fragile Dropoti Shirodkar, now in her 70s, informed that the procession with the statue of Our Lady of Good Success has been followed in the village since ages. She has completed 45 years of her marriage, but the tradition has been followed by the villagers much before, during her childhood. “We all believe she is our ‘Gaunchi Saibinn’ and it is the feast not only of the Catholics, but it is the village feast as a whole,” she adds.
“As it is considered a village feast,” Shirodkar mentioned, “the females who are married outside the village, make it a point to return to their maternal house on this festive occasion and actively participate in the procession and feast. Along with the Catholic brethren, we also cook food for this feast and share in the joy as one community.”
During the long procession, which had active involvement of the Hindu community, devotees are spotted offering candles, flowers and ‘agarbati’ as a mark of respect and thanksgiving. “People seek good health while others pray for the gift of a child and when such favours are granted,” revealed Shirodkar, “small offerings are a gesture of gratitude. This humble act of offering and thanksgiving with active participation in procession is seen only in this village.”
Francis Fernandes, a villager from Mandur stated that earlier the feast along with Intruz was celebrated through the income earned from sale of paddy. “Today the paddy fields are left barren,” he grieved, “and a huge area of khazan land is unutilized. Yet, with the contribution made by like-minded people, the celebrations continue in the village.” “Earlier, four people would come forward to celebrate the feast as a team,” he added, “but today, the feast is celebrated by the villagers as one community.”
