Sao Joao fest keeps tradition alive, brings community together in Goan hinterland

Keri: At Sonarbag in Usgao, at the confluence of the Dudhsagar and Mhadei rivers, the Catholic community displays communal harmony through the Sao Joao fest. Every year, on the occasion of the Sao Joao fest, the Catholic community nestled in Sonarbag, a hamlet of Usgao, assembles at the Adle (old) Chapel dedicated to St Sebastao to pray for a bountiful yield.

As per the tradition, they visit the ancestral houses of Gaude community in a procession where the Catholic community is offered Patoleo by the Gaude family which is stuffed and steamed rice rolls wrapped in the leaves of turmeric with a mixture of jaggery and grated coconut.

The participants, wearing a copel (headgear) made with colourful seasonal flowers, dance joyfully to the tune of percussion instruments, including the Ghumat and trumpet, and melodious folk songs praising Mother Mary and Lord Jesus.

A variety of sweet dishes is served to all the people at every household.

Taramati Gaude, 75, offered Patoleo and pineapple slices to everybody who visited her. “Our family is happy to offer Patoleo to the procession every year as it reaches the sacred pedestal of Tulshi. We have maintained the tradition through the decades, she told TOI.

Both rivers, Khandepar and Mhadei, merge and flow down. Since the area displays three banks, it is called Tiskato, where we jump into the confluence of three rivers before concluding the fest, said Salvador Fernandes, a local.

Sonarbag has 60 houses of Christian families.

In the past, it was known for coconut palm jaggery and alcoholic beverages.