Return of the three kings

It’s a

festival

that draws crowds from far and wide. On January 6, as the world celebrated the

feast

of the Epiphany, sleepy Cansaulim woke up to a day of rejoicing at the

Three Kings

Feast to mark the occasion. The feast is also celebrated in the villages of Chandor in South Goa and Verem in the North, but what makes the feast special in Cansaulim is the grand and elaborate enactment of the journey of the three kings by the three villages of Cansaulim, Arossim and Cuelim. These were the wise men from the East mentioned in The Bible, who followed the guiding star that proclaimed the birth of Jesus.
ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY
The high point is the festivities that take place at the chapel of Nossa Senhora dos Remedios atop the hill in Cuelim. “In Cansaulim, we have three kids who have received the sacrament of communion and must be descendants of the ‘gaoncars’ (indigenous Goans). They are chosen by the

communidade

of Cansaulim, Arossim and Cuelim. These kids travel on horseback through three different paths and join at the chapel,” says Fr Jean de Cruz Fernandes, of St Thomas

Church

, Cansaulim. This is the re-enactment of the journey of the three kings. “Every child gets the opportunity once in a lifetime, and no one wants to ever miss it. The celebration of the feast is the biggest event in the village. Last year, I had to give a letter to the parents of a child who was crowned a king so that he could be excused from school for a few days,” he adds.
The feast was special for Pravin and his wife Olinda Fernandes from Arossim, whose son got to be one of the kings this year. Pravin never got this opportunity. “The boy has to be in the eight to 12 age bracket, should not have crossed puberty and must have received communion. There are many kids in line to be the king and I never got the chance. So when my son was born in 2010, I informed the communidade within two years about my wish of letting my son get the opportunity. The preparations have started since I got the confirmation. The old routes are still being used for the procession of the feast.”
Sherif and Carrie Jaques from Cuelim, whose son Liam was selected to be the king this year, had a lovely celebration. “We got this opportunity after 25 years. The feast is celebrated as grandly as a wedding in the family. The preparations last for a year before the big day. We had made everything new for my son — from getting a new crown and even new vestments for the day. A horse has to be brought for each king and this time we got the horse from Kolhapur and we paid around `15,000 per horse. There is a woman who made the crown for us, and is in her 80s. This was a special day, and we didn’t make any compromises.”
“We are from Cansaulim and our son is one of the kings this year. We also have three different flags which are carried by each village to symbolise the village the king comes from,” say Lany and Jesssica Braganza, whose son was the king this year.
Celebration in the
ancestral home
A feast brings families to their ancestral homes, where they cook together and share the joy of the experience. Those who work abroad find it the most difficult to manage leave, but they often go out of their way to attend the feast. Martha Fernandes, who lives in Dubai, managed to take a longer vacation this time round. “It’s been six years since I left for Dubai and I haven’t attended the feast in a long time. Getting leave during Christmas is the toughest. I had to work on days off to accumulate them and got leave for two weeks.” Mario Fernandes, who works on a ship, was very happy as he could be home for Christmas and the feast. “My contract got over at the end of November and I’ll be in Goa till around end of January. So I’m getting to celebrate the feast at home. I take my kids along with me for the novenas and tell them about the feast and the tradition.”
On the occasion of the feast, a fair is also held, with over 50 stalls selling traditional sweets like kadio-bodios, roasted gram, laddoos, and halva along others that sell trinkets, clothes and accessories. There is also an area allotted for local handicrafts made out of clay.