Sunday, April 18, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

Gurmeet takes his Lady love to Goa on her Birthday

Posted: 18 Apr 2010 07:26 AM PDT

In the current scenario, love is in the air 24/7 and expressing love just on Valentine’s Day is fading with time. Basically lovers don’t wait for a reason to express themselves, but when they get an opportunity they don’t let it go too.

Same is the case with lover boy Gurmeet Choudhary as he plans to not let go of this opportunity to make his lady love, Debina Bonnerjee feel special on her Birthday this year.

Debina celebrates her birthday today, and when TellyBuzz called Gurmeet to know of his plans he confided in us, “I have got Debina to Goa a day prior to her birthday along with some friends basically. We are here to judge the Miss Goa contest; we will also be performing a romantic number for the event. Then we plan to celebrate the night in the beaches of Goa”.

When asked about the plans for the D-Day he exclaimed, “Plans always depend upon the place of execution and as we are in Goa, we are surely going to have a wild, adventurous day. Apart from that we have organized a party at the hotel we are residing in, and the arrangements are still in process. Hope all turns out good.”

With party and friends, gifts from loved ones add on to the charm of the evening. “I believe women shouldn’t be gifted anything because they are very choosy. Instead shop with them and get them things of their choice, and that’s what I do. So no such material gift as such”, smiled Gurmeet.

Courtesy:India Forum

Goa: Witness the Shirgaon jatra

Posted: 18 Apr 2010 02:49 AM PDT

In Goa almost in every village jatrotsav is held, but all the jatras are not famous all over Goa. Most of them are known in the surrounding areas, but few like the Ajobachi jatra of Keri- Pernem, Bodgeshwar jatra of Mapusa and Lairaidevi jatra of Shirgaon are famous all over the state.

Goa: Shirgaon jatra

The Shirgaon jatra which will be celebrated on April 19 is also famous as Dhonanchi jatra or Homkhanachi jatra. The jatra celebrations begin with the invocation of Lord Ganesh on Chaitra Shudha Amavashay. On the eve of jatra in the afternoon koul (blessing) is taken from the Goddess Lairai, after that the people proceed to a place called Muddi on the boundary of Shirgao village and clean that place.

On the day of 'jatra' (Vaisha Shudha Panchami) in the morning the main 'pujari' Joshi takes out the 'kalash' (sacred pot) early in the morning at around 7.30 a.m. and distribute the 'tirth' (holy water) to the villagers. The golden idol of Goddess Lairai which is kept in the Joshi's house is taken in a 'peth' (box) by the 22 Chowgules (people in the village having important position in the 'jatra' celebrations) to the temple and the idol is removed from the 'peth' and placed in the 'patlo' (basket made from bamboo) and the idol is covered with cloth.

After praying to the goddess the idol is taken to Muddi by the Joshi 'pujari'. The musicians, Chowgules and the Dhonds (devotees of the goddess) accompany him. At Muddi the new Dhonds take blessing from the Goddess and this programme of taking blessing goes from around 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Once the blessing programme is over the idol is taken back to the main temple and the Chowgules along with 'pujari' go to the Sateri temple to offer raw food stuff to Aaba Brahman (it is believed he is the first Brahman) so that he does not bring any obstruction during the 'jatra' celebrations.

Once they are back to the temple other rituals are performed and then the 'kalash' is decorated with 'patkoli' and 'kudo' flowers and the Chowgules bring it to the 'mandap' (courtyard) and the pujari takes it on his head to 'Vadakade' and lights the 'homkhand'. The devi (goddess) proceeds from there to 'Dhonachi Tali' (tank) and pours water three times using 'kalash' cap into the tank and then takes rest at Moddi.  During the resting period that is around 2 a.m. to 5.30 a.m. the Dhonds numbering thousands have bath in the 'Dhonachi Tali' and seek blessing from the Goddess and walk through the sacred fire barefoot, which is the main attraction of the 'jatra'. Thousands of people throng to Shirgao to witness the walking of Dhonds through the fire.

If a Dhond is hurt while going through the fire, he has to take blessing from the Goddess and it is believed that he will be cured within few days. The Devi is the last to go through the fire. The preparations of the 'jatra' begin several days before the 'jatra' day. The 'koul' is given to the villagers by the Goddess in the next four days of the 'jatra'. The raw food stuff which was given to the Aaba Brahman is cooked and eaten on the fourth day of the 'koul' and the 'kalash' is kept back in the temple. With this the 'jatra' which is celebrated with traditional fervour comes to an end.

Courtesy: Navhind Times, Goa Daily

Goa wildlife census: Tiger-like pug marks found

Posted: 17 Apr 2010 10:41 AM PDT

The findings of pug marks similar to that of tiger has added vigour to state forest department's wildlife census scheduled to begin at the end of this month.

“We found certain pugmarks in the wildlife which can be that of tiger, leopard, panther or even wild cat,” Dr Gautam Talukdar, an expert from wildlife Institute of India (WII), told this morning. He said that the pugmarks samples are subjective as detailed analyzing of the sample would yield proper assessment of about the animal.

WII official was part of the two member team that trained Goa forest department officers for the census for three days. Talukdar has said that qualitative analysis of these pug marks needs to be done before confirming any animal. The state is readying to host wildlife animal census in all its six wildlife sanctuaries and government owned forest areas. The survey will begin on April 26 and conclude on May 4, 2010.

A team of 330 people including forest department staff will search every inch of forest for the clues or signs to know the movement or existence of animals. A forest department officer said that spread over three phases, the survey will also have a camera trapping method in its third leg.

Courtesy: Zee News
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