With the nation going by means of the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic, the celebrations of the upcoming festivals in the nation are most likely to witness muted celebrations. Apart from the festival of Holi 4 days later, there are numerous impending festivals in distinct components of the nation such as Shigmotsav, the annual festival of the state of Goa. Goa lately began recording more than 1000 every day Covid circumstances rising its tally substantially in a matter of days as it had only recorded 700 circumstances on March 15, reported.
What is the Shigmo festival? Rooted in the Konkan culture of Goans, the colourful festival is celebrated with songs, dances, cultural performances. Like numerous other festivals in the nation which trace their origin to a variety of stages of a crop cycle, the Shigmo festival also celebrates the harvest of paddy (rice). Prajal Sakhardande who is a Professor of History at the state capital’s Dhempe College of Arts and Science told that the tribal agricultural communities such as Kunbis, Gawdas and Velips celebrate the festival with wonderful pomp and show. Sakhardande additional mentioned that celebrated in the month of March-April each and every year, the festival also celebrates the arrival of spring season.
Festivities and Rituals of Shigmo The festivities commence with the ‘Naman’ (invocation) to the nearby folk deities from the villages. The musical beats of instruments like Dhol, Mhadle and Tashe accompany the prayers as the procession moves from one village to an additional. The procession accompanies a lot of attractions such as persons clad in colourful standard costumes with their faces painted with vibrant colours. The members of the procession also carry out folk dances like Ghodemodini and Gopha.
Recently the state government began the practice of parades on the cultural festival in distinct urban locations of the coastal state. Terming it a deaprture from what basically is a rural folks’ festival, Professor Sakhardande mentioned the government has began the practice of parades with floats on the occasion of Shigmo and the state Carnival festival. The parades which attract the consideration of the domestic as properly as international vacationers will be held in the state on April 3 and April 4 this year.
Impact of Covid-19 on Shigmo celebrations The government has decided to limit the parade celebrations at only 3 areas in the state namely Panaji, Mapusa and Ponda. In contrast to the the state Carnival festival held in February this year which saw a enormous congregation of persons at the venue of the celebration, the state government is mulling powerful social distancing measures at the time of Shigmo festivities. Goa Health minister Vishwajit Rane was quoted as saying that the improve in circumstances of Coronavirus may force the government to curtain the gatherings of persons