Shirgao is a village in the

Bicholim Bicholim (Konkani: ''Dicholi''; IPA: ), is a small town and a municipal council in North Goa district in the state of Goa, India. It is the headquarters of the ''Concelho'' (county) of Bicholim, one of seven that make up the '' Novas Conqui ...

sub-district (''taluka'') of

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

, which is popular for its annual temple festival that includes

fire-walking Firewalking is the act of walking barefoot over a bed of hot embers or stones. It has been practiced by many people and cultures in many parts of the world, with the earliest known reference dating from Iron Age India . It is often used as a rite ...

traditions.

Festival of the ''Lairai dhondachi zatra''

The festival is known as the '' Lairai dhondachi zatra'' and usually occurs around April or May each year. The village is estimated to have 350 houses, 70 wells, and 32 springs. However, the area faces a water shortage due to rampant mining nearby.

Fire walking

On the night of the ''

zatra Zatra(जात्रा) is the Konkani language term for the pilgrimage festivals celebrated at Hindu temples in Goa, India; the equivalent of ''yatra'' and ''Jatra (disambiguation), jatra''. In Maharashtra the alternative term Urs, Urus is use ...

'', an estimated 20,000 ''dhonds''—men and women from diverse parts of

and the nearby

Konkan The Konkan is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, bound by the river Daman Ganga at Damaon in the north, to Anjediva Island next to Karwar town in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau to the eas ...

region—walk through the ''homkhan'', over a burning charcoal bed. Shrigao has shrines dedicated to several deities (14, according to one count) including Santer, Mahamaya, Ravalnath, Mahadev, Grampurush, Kshetrapal, Aapevans, Kulkar, Brahman, Homkhandi, Purush, Lakhamo, Aairo and Mharingan, of whom the goddess Lairai—considered to be an incarnation of goddess

Parvati Parvati (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, pɑɾʋət̪iː/), also known as Uma (, , IPA: Sanskrit phonology, /ʊmɑː/) and Gauri (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, gə͡ʊɾiː/), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the Devi, ...

—is treated with particular reverence. The official Goa Tourism site describes the festival thus:

In the early hours of the morning when the fire has died down, the raking of the coals begins. The devotees await their turn to walk on the holy path of hot coals. Around 4 a.m., the actual ritual starts, with the devotees running through the hot coals carrying their sticks and shouting the name of Devi Lairai. As the crowd watches in stunned silence, some devotees do the 'hot run' once, others do it several times. Those who have finished their run, then remove and throw their flower garlands onto a nearby banyan tree and return home. The ''Jatra'' reaches its conclusion as the sun rises in the distant hills.

GoanFestivals.in says that "One of the most looked forward event in the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

calendar of religious festivities is the fire walking held at Shirgao, near Assanora in the

Taluka."

Mining

Shirgao is also part of the

North Goa North Goa district is one of the two districts that constitutes the state of Goa, India. The district has an area of , and is bounded by Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra state to the north and by Belgavi district of Karnatak ...

mining belt. The Vedanta-owned SRL, Goa, and its subsidiary Sesa Mining Corporation Limited extract iron ore from 11 mining leases covering in Goa in

and Surla, both together account for approximately 90% of SRL's total estimated iron ore reserves as of 31 March 2016. The Pale-Velguem-Bicholim-Shirgao iron ore belt is part of the Surla mine.

References

External links

Rites and rituals hold centrestage at ShirgaoFacebook Shirgao ''jatra'' pageGoddess in the mine, Rajan Parrikar
{{coord, 15, 36, 15, N, 73, 54, 05, E, type:city_region:IN-GA, display=title Villages in North Goa district