Why the church must revive the Christian Gawda mand
Published on: September 21, 2013 - 23:36

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 The concept of “mand” may be alien to the other communities of Goa, but it
is cherished and valued by the Gawda community. Mand was and still remains
one of the best somudai (community) of Gawdas



By Joao Fernandes



Significance of the mand

Mand is a centrally located, open meeting ground of the gawda community and
every ward or settlement has its own mand. Most cultural activities such as
dhalo, fugdi, intruz, intrumez, zagor, etc, were performed here. In ancient
times, the mand acted as a meeting place where important decisions
pertaining to the ward were taken and made effective. It also served the
purpose of strengthening social and cultural unity amongst gawdas of the
ward as they would all gather at the mand, irrespective of their
inter-personal differences, during festivals and for other cultural
activities.

Cultural activities such as dhalo, fugdi, intruz, intrumez and zagor
flourished because of the mand. Even the art of mastering different
indigenous cultural instruments such as dholl, taxem, kasali, ghumot and
madhali used to be passed from generation to generation at the mand.

It was a place of frequent meeting and decision-taking and was symbolic of
the Gawda unity. If any case was taken up here then it was sure to have an
effective result. For instance, in case of theft, the thief would speak the
truth and return the stolen article.



Mand activities

If one studies the history of the Gawda community, one realises that Gawdas
are basically agriculturists. Most agricultural land developed in Goa is
probably by Gawdas; other communities may take credit today. The Gawdas
used to carry out cultivation at two places - on village plains and on
hillocks in forest areas. In villages they mostly cultivated rice.
Cultivation would start by May end or early June and harvesting would be
done by September end or early October.

In forest areas they practiced shifting cultivation which is locally termed
as “kamat” or “savod”. As per the practice of shifting cultivation (cumeri)
they would cultivate a place for a maximum of two to three years after
which cultivation would be shifted to another site.

For Savod cultivation nutrient rich crops that required less water such as
pakol, nachni, voroi, kulid, ulid, etc, were grown. Sadly, for the new
generation these crops are now alien. Cultivation commenced in July while
harvesting was done either in November or late December. Apart from this,
they cultivated sugarcane. Jaggery was made from this sugarcane. Harvesting
of this crop was done in the month of January.

When paddy was harvested, Gawda women would gather at their respective
mands where they would perform the dhalo, fugdi, kannar khell, moraile,
etc. Dhalos used to be performed for five, seven or nine days and on such
nights one would hear the women singing beautiful Dhalo and Fugdi songs.
 Most songs sung during the Dhalo festival are based on nature or inspired
from past incidents. Through the Dhalo, Gawdas celebrated nature and
thanked the Almighty for the harvest. Women would perform holding each
other’s hand or by standing in a circle, which was a symbol of unity. This
was a time all differences were put aside.

Post Savod and the sugarcane harvest, somewhere during February or March,
Gawda men celebrated Intruz on the mand, preparations for which would begin
a week in advance. During that week it was customary to hear the beautiful
sounds of the dholl, taxem, kasali, madhali and ghumot. During the Intruz
performance, at least while singing the Choren in glory of the Almighty,
the men stood in a circle.



How the Mand was destroyed

In any civilization, the elite section of society always tries to impose
its culture on everyone. So also is the case with organised religious
institutions. They try to impose their religious practices on less powerful
religious institutions. The elite assert superior status for their culture
and religion with the claim that their culture and religion come from God
while that of the tribal and downtrodden come from the devil. And with this
belief the former attack and destroy the later. However, in reality, the
tribal culture is far superior as it is in close association with nature.
 When an alien culture is amalgamated with the local culture without
disturbing the local culture people accept the alien culture easily. But
when an alien culture is imposed upon the local culture and an attempt is
made to destroy the local culture people then resist from accepting the
alien culture.

This is exactly what happened with the mand. The gawdas have a tradition of
singing Choren on the mand. When the gawdas were converted to Christianity
some 150 to 200 years ago, the Church introduced songs in glory of Jesus in
the Choren, which the Gawdas wholeheartedly accepted.



The destruction

In Quepem, Sanguem and parts of Salcete the mand culture reached its peak
in 1990. However, since then the cultural heritage of the mand has been
attacked by priests. Today, only a few mands function. In 1990 there were
around nine mands within the jurisdiction of the Ambaulim parish, around
half-a-dozen within the jurisdiction of the Holy Cross Church, Quepem,
another half-a-dozen within the jurisdiction of Our Lady of Poor Church,
Tilamol and three within the jurisdiction of the Church of Fatorpa. There
were mands in the Gawda wards in Sanguem taluka and in the villages of
Ambelim and Velim in the Salcete taluka.  The mand which was and is the
best somudai of the Gawdas were destroyed after 1990.



Who is responsible?

The Church or rather some priests then appointed in the Ambaulim, Tilamol,
Quepem and Ambelim parishes were responsible. In my book ‘Goycho Mull Awaz”
I have named those responsible for the destruction of the mand in Ambaulim.



The then parish priest of Ambaulim criticised the Mand, and called it a
place of the Devil. It was preached that performing cultural folk art at
the mand was like worshipping a blind god (‘kudea devachi pujea korop’). I
have not seen any God, blind or otherwise. Belief in God and the
consequential worship is rooted in faith.

Village elders responsible for performing ceremonies at the mand were
threatened. The concerned priest criticised the mand without studying the
concept of the mand or trying to understand activities that took place
there. But in the quest for name and fame the Mand, a cultural heritage of
the Gawdas, was destroyed.



Small Christian Community

Today, in place of this somudai of the Gawdas, the Church has introduced
the concept of Small Christian Community and has thus divided a particular
ward into clusters of houses. Meetings of the Small Christian Communities
take place at houses of respective members, which means that if inter
personal relations between some members in not cordial then the meeting is
not attended. This division of the ward into clusters has lead to the
destruction of the unity of the ward, which the Mand had maintained for
generations.

Not only that, Gawda traditions that were passed down the generations at
the Mand were also consequentially destroyed. Presently there are no
cultural activities taking place in Gawda community and who is responsible
for this?

The Somudai concept that the Church introduced destroyed the existing
culture. An alien culture can work when amalgamated with the local culture.
If fusion instead of fission had been resorted to wonders could have been
achieved.

Whether the Somudai culture as propagated by the Church is working or not
is for the Church to look into. At my village at least this Somudai culture
of the Church has not worked since inception and this has not done my
village any good.
Considering that the mand served the purpose of preserving and maintaining
a culture of an indigenous tribe it is imperative that it be revived. And
the initiative for this, I believe, should be taken up by the forces that
lead to it destruction.
-- 


Augusto Pinto
40, Novo Portugal
Moira, Bardez
Goa, India
E pinto...@gmail.com
P 0832-2470336
M 9881126350

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