This quite unusual celebration takes place to mark the end of Diwali festival season. According to mythological legend Lord Krishna defeated and killed the Demon Tripur on the day of Kartik Purnima.
The people celebrated Krishna’s victory and the end of the demon’s tyranny by releasing lamps in the river. Since then it has been a tradition all over India to release small lamps in the river during the time of Diwali and especially Kartik Purnima.
In Sanquelim this festival tradition takes the form of a very unusual competition – that of making miniature models boats and ships made out of thermocol and other materials.
Although Sanquelim has also had the tradition of releasing lamps in the river during this festival, the ship building competition has over the years become the main highlight of the festival celebrations drawing a large number of spectators and participants from all over Goa.
The festivities take place at Vithalapur in Sanquelim, near the Pundalik Temple. The river Valvanti flows nearby making it an ideal spot for the boat competition. The celebrations start in the evening as the palanquin of Lord Vithal is brought amidst chanting and to the accompaniment of traditional music to be kept on the banks of the river where it remains until the end of the boat competition.
Besides the main boat competition, there are a host of cultural programmes including songs by well known artistes, performances of various Goan traditional folk dances such as Goff, Dhalo, Tonyamel, Veerbhadra, Samai Dance etc. As the competition progresses the competitors boats are brought and displayed near the shore.
The boats come in all shapes and sizes. Some are miniature replicas of actual ships while others are simple traditional crafts. Most are decorated with colourful papers and even have small lights fitted inside them.
The magnificent spectacle of the miniature boats all lighted up moving along the shoreline is a visual treat for the huge crowd that gathers every year to take part in the celebrations. The entire Vithalapur area has the ambience of a typical Goan Zatra celebration. As the grand finale there is a spectacular fireworks display. The Vithalapur Dipavali Utsav Samiti – the organisers of the festival award prizes to the best designed boats.
Pic Credits Naresh Fatarpekar
