Saturday, October 9, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

Karnataka crisis: 13 rebel BJP MLAs leave Goa with JD(S) men

Posted: 09 Oct 2010 04:29 AM PDT

13 of the 14 rebel BJP MLAs, who were engaged in negotiations with BJP leader Manohar Parikkar in Goa, have now left Goa. They are reportedly headed to Bangalore with an associate of former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader H  Kumaraswamy. BJP MP from Karnataka Ramesh Katti has however alleged that JD(S) men forced  the MLAs to come with them.

One of the rebels, Renukacharya, has meanwhile alleged that the 13 rebels have got Rs. 20 to 25 crores each from Kumaraswamy to topple Yeddyurappa government. “I have been isolated  because unlike the other MLA’s who have made deals involving bribes of around Rs. 20-25 crore and I refused to accept this,” Renukacharya said. But Kumaraswamy, who has now returned to Bangalore from Goa, has denied that he has the support of the dissident MLAs. “I only came here to take rest…I am 100% confident they will fail the floor test,” said Kumaraswamy in Goa.

Earlier,  11 rebels were given notices under the anti-defection law to confirm their support to the government by Sunday evening …. or be disqualified and not allowed to take part in Monday’s trust vote. Meanwhile, Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa maintained that he’ll prove majority on the floor of the house.

Courtesy: ndtv

Makhars—a unique celebration of Goan Navraatri

Posted: 09 Oct 2010 12:25 AM PDT

Though the name of the festival of Navraatri reminds every one of Gujarati 'Garbhaa' and 'Daandiaa' many Goans are oblivious of the grand Navraatri celebrations which take place in the Goan temples. This festival is also celebrated with great pomp and gaiety all over Goa.  As the name suggests Navraatri means "Nine Nights". The festival culminates on the 10th day which is called as the Dasro or Dasraa.

Navraatri festival in Goa

Each of this night is unique for the temples of Ponda, Kepem and Bicholim taluka. A traditional mega wooden swing called the 'Makhar' is suspended by fat chains of iron from the roof in the temple 'Sabhaamandap'. This swing is made to look like a small shrine. The colours used to paint this swing are very striking. It is decorated very attractively with coloured paper, flowers and lights. The central position of the swing is occupied by the Goddess. After the traditional 'Kirtans' or 'Bhajans' in the night the huge mega swing is swayed, turned and rotated on the heart throbbing beats of 'Dhol', 'Taaso', 'cymbals', 'gong', 'Shehnai' etc.

The nine forms of Goddess Durga or the female divine power are venerated on these days. Though Durga is a fierce form of the goddess; in Goa we also have her calm and serene form called the Shaant-Durga. The temples of Shri Navdurga in Bori, Shri Mahalsa at Mardol, Shri Navdurga at  Madkai, Shri Chamundeshwari in Vargao, Shri Mahalakshmi at Bandoda, Shri Kamakshi in Shiroda, Shri Devki Krishn and Shri Shantadurga Kumbharjuvekarin in Mashel, Shri Shantadurga of Kavlem and Veling  are some of the important temples in which this Makhar is a must-see.

Apart from the temples of goddesses the temples dedicated to various gods like Shri Mangesh at Mangeshi, Shri Nagesh at Nageshi, Shri Shivnath at Shivnathi, Shri Lakshmi Narsinh at Veling, Shri Ramnath at Ramnathi also celebrate the Makhars in a grand way. Each night of this Navraatri the deities are positioned in different manners and styles in the Makhars. In the temple of Shri Devki Krishn at Mashel the mother of Krishn; Devki is shown seated with baby Krishna on her lap. The images of Shri Devki and the baby Krishna are decorated with ornaments and rare beads. In this temple along with the pulsating beats of the traditional instruments one can also hear the conch blown.

Normally, during the initial nights the goddess is shown in a calm and serene form. On the first night the goddess Navdurga of Bori is shown seated in Makhar wearing a traditional Nav-waari Saari. Her one hand is in the Abhay Mudraa while the other hand is in Varad Mudraa. During the last few nights of the festival the goddess changes her form from calm to the fierce one in which she killing the demon Mahishaasur. In the temple of Shri Shantadurga a colossal figure of a Goddess in a fierce form killing the demon Mahishaasur is depicted in the Makhar. While on the last night a bright golden image of goddess killing the demons is shown in the Makhar of Shri Kamakshi temple of Shiroda.

In the temple of Shri Nagesh at Nageshi, Shri Nagesh, the form of Shiva is depicted like sage with blonde hair and a beard. Ganga the river is shown flowing through his matted hair. He has hooded snakes around his neck and a crescent moon in his hair. Normally the 'Makhars' are celebrated only on the nine nights of Navraatri. But in case you have missed a Makhar celebration then you can still witness it on the tenth night. At Veling in the temples of Shri Lakshmi Narsinh and Shri Shantadurga Shankhvaleshwari after the celebration of Dasro the last Makhar of the year is celebrated. On this day the image of Shri Shantadurga is shown seated on a silver horse at Veling.

By Rohit R Phalgaonkar

Courtesy: Navhind Times

Goa: 300 entries for Short Film Centre contest

Posted: 09 Oct 2010 12:04 AM PDT

Around 300 entries have been received for the Short Film Centre contest, including 10 entries from Goa, the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) said Friday. Addressing a press conference, ESG chief executive officer (CEO) Manoj Srivastava introduced the jury who had spent the day screening the movies.”They will complete the selection by October 14. The winners in the international film category will receive 5 lakh, 3 lakh and 2 lakh respectively. The Vasudha award for enviornmental films will also include 3 lakh,” Srivastava said. He also added that the memorandum of understanding with the directorate of fim festivals will be signed next week.

Goa IFFI 2010

Although the jury couldn’t inform how many of the entries from Goan film-makers were in Konkani language, they said it was an encouraging sign that locals were showing interest in the contest. Meanwhile, the Federation of Film Fraternity of Goa, a newly formed body of various film associations in Goa have demanded the scrapping of the short film centre and T-20 of Indian cinema from IFFI. A delegation of the core committee on Thursday met chief minister Digambar Kamat and submitted to him a memorandum with various issues concerning the federation.

The federation has alleged that the Short Film Centre is of no benefit to local filmmakers, film lovers or to the state. When asked about this at the press conference, Srivastava countered: ” The Short Film Festival has a budget of only 18 lakh, from which 13 lakh alone will be the prize money. Why didn’t people make an issue when IFFI expenditure was 18 crore, but are making noise now when the budget has been reduced to 7 crore,” he said.

Courtesy: TOI

Deadlock in Karnataka BJP as rebels stay put in Goa (Roundup)

Posted: 08 Oct 2010 10:59 AM PDT

The crisis in Karnataka's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued Friday as 11 rebel legislators refuse to budge from their defiant stand and stayed put at a resort in Goa even as beleaguered Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa claimed he would win the confidence vote Monday. Claims and counter-claims about the crisis continued to be made by BJP and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leaders, adding to the confusion.

Though the faction-ridden BJP prevailed upon assembly Speaker K.G. Bapaiah to issue a show-cause notice to the dissident lawmakers for indulging in anti-party activities, Yeddyurappa remained confident of proving his majority to save the 29-month-old first BJP government in the southern state. "I am hopeful of getting full support. I have prayed to goddess Chamundeshwari to help me in the development of the state without any impediment during the next three years," Yeddyurappa told reporters after praying at a temple to goddess Chamundeshwari at Mysore, about 150km from here, on the first day of the popular 10-day Dussehra fest.

Asserting that the clouds hovering over the political climate in the state have started clearing, the chief minister said he had prayed to the goddess to give wisdom to the rebels and make them return to the party fold.

In Panaji, BJP leader Manohar Parrikar, the party's chief interlocutor for the Karnataka crisis who has been holding discussions with dissident legislators camping at a Goa resort, has said the dispute would be resolved by Saturday. Addressing reporters outside a five-star resort, where the 14 dissidents are staying, Parikkar also accused JD-S leader and former Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy of horse-trading. "It's a dispute within the party and it will be resolved by tomorrow," he claimed.

Even as the mining magnate and state Infrastructure Minister G. Janardhan Reddy, who rushed to Goa late Thursday to win over the rebels, continued to stay back with them in the resort, Kumaraswamy returned to Bangalore after meeting the rebels, including some independents who were sacked from the ministry for expressing lack of faith in Yeddyurappa's leadership. "All the rebel legislators are united in their stand and cause. They will take a collective decision as they are not under pressure either from our party or the BJP," Kumaraswamy told reporters in Goa before leaving for Bangalore.

Denying that he had gone to Goa to indulge in horse-trading and persuade the rebels to vote against the confidence motion, he said their (rebels') decision would be known Monday in the assembly. "Wait for another three days … up to Oct 11. You will know their decision. I came here to take full rest. Having done it, I am going back. The rebels will take their own decisions," said Kumaraswamy, who is the working president of the JD-S.

Meanwhile, all the 73 Congress legislators in Karnataka were brought to a resort in Maharashtra's Lonavala town Friday to prevent poaching by the BJP.

Courtesy: thaindian
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