Every year on the second day of the Carnival, an all male Catholic group decked in traditional attire; dhoti, jacket and pugdi ,wearing ghungroos, playing a ghumot and carrying a mussoll (pestle) gather at a small chapel in Cotta, yards away from the ruins of the ancient Chandreshwar temple at Chandor.
After they light a candle and recite a prayer before the cross, the Catholic dominated village hears a war cry and invocation to Lord Shiva and Hindu goddesses. Thereafter the group breaks into dance by pounding the pestles into the ground (mussllam khel) and moving in procession through the streets and bylanes.
In these times when India is torn apart by mandir-masjid, Hindu-Muslim and shamshaan-kabristan, this harmonious interfaith practice in Goa restores our belief in humanity; it is a shining example of our syncretic culture which should be emulated across the nation.
