Anant Chaturdashi celebrated with traditional fervour at Surla

Keri: A joint family of Padhye Brahmin Natekar from Surla in Bicholim taluka on Sunday celebrated the Anant Chaturdashi festival with traditional fervour at their ancestral house nestled amidst a horticultural field.
Anant is one of the forms of Lord Vishnu worshipped in Goa. In Savoi Verem, there is a temple of Anant on the left bank of the Mandovi river and on the right bank in Surla, families of Natekar, Sadhale and Dhond celebrate every year Anant Chaturdashi on the 14th day of Bhadrapad, the sixth month of the Hindu calendar.
Before worshipping, the Natekar family members bring a sacred silk thread from Rahimatullah in Sakhali with 14 knots which is worshipped along with a symbolic seven hooded cobra made from dried grass in a decorative rectangular frame prepared from the pseudo-stem of a banana tree. Leaves of zai, tulsi, maka, aghada, bel, kanher, shami, arjun, dotna, vishnukant, dalimb, mhavaling, durva and rui are used for the puja.
“We have a century old tradition of bringing the sacred thread with 14 knots from a Muslim family of Sakhali. We have maintained it still,” said Uday Natekar.
Vishnu Natekar, 48, who is involved in the ritualistic worship of Anant, speaking to ToI, said, “Each person is allowed to take part in the ritualistic worship for 14 years. Now, for the last 3 years, this responsibility has been given to my younger brother Arvind Natekar.”
Many devotees from Surla and surrounding areas visited the house of Natekar family during the celebration of Anant Chaturdashi. Laddu and Anarase are the special sweets served and families and relatives relished on 14 food items cooked on the occasion.
Before worshipping, the Natekar family members bring a sacred silk thread from Rahimatullah in Sakhali with 14 knots which is worshipped along with a symbolic seven hooded cobra made from dried grass in a decorative rectangular frame prepared from the pseudo-stem of a banana tree