Shigmo
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Shigmo (also known as Shimga) is a festival celebrated in Goa, a state on the west coast of India. One of the prominent festivals of the Hindu community in Goa. In recent years, the state government has been offering its support for public Shigmo parades, made up of traditional folk and street-dancers and elaborately-built floats depicting scenes from regional mythology and religious scenes.
Meanwhile, Shigmo festivals also continue in diverse rural parts of Goa, spanning over a fortnight, with different days earmarked for celebrations in diverse areas. This festival is celebrated around March each year, is linked to the lunar-based Hindu calendar (hence its date according to the Gregorian or solar calendar varies), and comes not far from the Carnival festival, which is also celebrated before the Catholic season of Lent.
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[edit] Two Shigmos
There are two types of Shigmo festivals, the Dhakto Shigmo (literally, the 'small' Shigmo) and the Vodlo Shigma (meaning, the big Shigmo). The latter has greater consequence. According to the Gazetteer of India, Union Territory: Goa, Daman and Diu (1979), the Dhakto Shigmo is generally celebrated by "agriculturists, the labour class and rural population while (the) Vodlo Shigmo is celebrated by all the classes coming together".
[edit] Timing of the festival
Dhakto Shigmo begins some five days before the full-moon day of the Indian calendar's month of Phalguna and ends on the full-moon day in the Old Conquests areas of Goa. (Old Conquests are those areas which were under Portuguese colonial rule for a longer period of time, starting from the 'sixteenth century.)
In the New Conquests, the Vodlo Shigmo is mostly celebrated and commences with the Holi Pournima (full-moon day of the month of Phalguna) and continues for five days.
[edit] Some terms
Naman are the songs sung in chorus during the festival, when villagers assembly at a fixed place. Jot is a kind of song ung too, while the talgadi is a folk dance performed during the Shigmo. Dol and tasha are the drums, some of which can be huge in size, which people travel with, from door-to-door, dancing to its sound. Money is placed in the plate carried by the performers, and a song called the tali is sung after this is done, wishing the donor well. On the last day of the festival, it is believed that a spirit enters these persons who dance, and this is known as the gade padne. Mand Thevane refers to a collective bath taken after the festival comes to an end.
[edit] Folk songs and dances, temple festival
Dhakto Shigmo, says the Gazetteer, can mainly be considered as a festival of folk songs and folk dances. On the other hand, the Vodlo Shigmo is considered a festival performed in the village temple. It is celebrated in different temples on different dates, around the same period. The first day of celebration is called hendope or handane' and the second is dhulvad. On the first, the village deity is bathed and dressed in saffron robes. After the offering of food, the feast is held.
[edit] Gulal at Zambaulim
Zambaulim, a village in South Goa's Quepem taluka (part of the New Conquests of Goa) has a popular festival. It is held in honour of Damodar, the local deity of Margao town in South Goa, and commences on the seventh day of the second fortnight of the Indian month of Phalguna. It ends on the fourteenth day of the latter half of Phalguna. This festival takes places on a Tuesday.
This festival, being celebrated since 1927 and organised by the Mathagramastha Hindu Sabha, is marked with the use of gulal (red powder), hence its name. The principal item of food is sakar bhat (sweetened rice).
