Faith to the fore as kin flock home in hundreds for Chaturthi

Times of India | 2 months ago | 07-09-2022 | 04:31 am

Canacona/Bicholim: The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi sees many families flock to their ancestral homes for the annual celebration. And for some families this results in, believe it or not, hundreds of relatives converging at a time.The Naik Gaonkar family of Agonda sees at least 100 members coming together at the large family home. Performing the aarti together is a big part of the family’s tradition. This year, the 11th generation continued the practice, with the menfolk taking care of the decor and the women preparing the special festive meals.Mahesh Gaonkar, a retired police officer, said the family is spread across the globe in Australia, the UK, and the US as also across Goa, occupying high positions, but never failing to keep up the tradition of celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi at the ancestral home.“As per our family tradition, we also observe ‘navim’ on the second day of Ganesh Chaturthi and bring ‘konnsam’ (sheaves of paddy) and offer it before the idol of Lord Ganesha,” said Sadanand Naik Gaonkar, 75, a retired official from the mamlatdar’s office.The family has a history dating back to 1771. It moved over the years from Nagarcem in the Canacona municipal area to Bokdamoll in Agonda, and later resided at Indrem, also in Agonda.It is understood that the family finally settled at Dessaiwada, where the largest house in Agonda is situated, with its massive courtyard and eight-foot-tall tulsi vrindavan. The Naik Gaonkar family has been based at Dessaiwada for the past 200 years.The Naik Gaonkar house is the only one in the village where all the six tarangas of Shree Mallikarjun are brought and kept for 12 hours during the annual temple festivities. Up north in Bicholim, the Prabhugaonkar family of Piligao sees more than 200 family members gather for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. Four rounds of lunches have to be served during the mahaprasad to ensure that all family members have partaken in the blessed meal of the festival.It is during the singing of the aarti that almost all family members participate, giving it the appearance of a synchronised performance.The family members also come together to dance the fugdi and other folk dances during Chaturthi.“We remain scattered throughout the year, but once the Ganesh Chaturthi approaches, the family members are overcome with Chaturthi fervour and come together under any circumstances to observe the festival unitedly,” said a senior member of the family.

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