The government had notified the earthen instrument ‘ghumot’ as a heritage Goan folk musical instrument. Ghumot is an age-old folk instrument of Goan aboriginal tribes used in their Zagor folk performances.
The ghumot is also an accompanying instrument to the folk forms of Goa. Earlier, the pot-shaped instrument required a covering of the skin of a monitor lizard at its mouth.
Protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the poaching and killing of the reptile is therefore illegal. The heritage status is only for those ghumots that are made without making use of monitor lizard skin.
The other day when I visited several music shops in the state in order to buy the musical instrument, I was told that for some reason this instrument is not allowed to be sold in music shops.
If the ghumot is to be made popular among the masses, the musical instrument should be easily available in shops selling musical instruments in the state.
