Why the church must revive the Christian Gawda mand Published on: September 21, 2013 - 23:36
More in: - Panorama <http://www.navhindtimes.in/category/stories/panorama> 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
