Photo Credit: Samrat Bandodkar
Photo Caption: Shri Varad Siddhi Vinayak Mandir, Parra
Famous for its watermelons, Mahadev Mandir and St Anne Church, Parra is a historic place in Goa. It was here that the birth of lord Ganesh was celebrated publicly for the first time in the state way back in 1946. “This has been a living tradition for the last seventy years. This is the 70th year of the Sarvajanik Ganesh Chaturthi at Parra,” informs Anand Naroji, the vice president of the Shri Ganesh Mandal, Parra, who has been an active member of the temple committee since 1996.
Around 80,000 devotees from all over Goa flock to this historic place every year seeking the blessings of Lord Ganesh. And over 15,000 people are present to witness the grand visarjan event on the 21st day each year.
We all know the importance of 18 June, 1946 which marks a historic day in the liberation movement of Goa wherein late Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya commenced the freedom movement against the Portuguese regime. It was during the same time that like-minded people of Parra started the freedom struggle movement in their own way. They realised that education was the way forwards if they wanted to motivate the youth and unite public opinion against Portuguese rule. So the elderly in the village began to celebrate the first ever Sarvajanik Ganeshotsava in Goa at a flour mill belonging to late Vaikunth Shirsat. Among them were late Shridhar Shirsat (who bore the entire expense of the seven-day celebrations) along with late Narayan Joshi, late Balakrishna Shirsat, late Kashiram Putke, late Datta Redkar, late Yashwant Gadekar and late Dattaram Pednekar.
Thereafter a meeting of the villagers was convened and the Shri Ganesh Mandal (Parra), an organisation to celebrate Sarvajanik Ganehsotsava in the village, was formed. The then president of this committee was late Bhagwant Prabhu Parrikar with secretary late Kashinath Sadashiv Shirsat, treasurer late Anant Pandurang Pednekar. The members were late Mahadev Nagvekar, late Balakrishna Shirsat, late Raghoba Prabhu Parrikar, late Purushottam Nilu Parrikar, late Krishna Pednekar, late Raghuvir Shirsat, late Ramchandra Nilu Parrikar and late Rama Redkar.
Some of these members were running primary school which later merged into Shri Ganesh Mandal, Parra. The objective of this school, Hanuman Vidyalaya was to instill in the youth a desire to fight for freedom and to be united for a common cause. It is noted in the log books that late Ganba Dubhashi took physical exercises and his wife taught Hindi to the students. Late Laxman Redkar’s personality development classes instilled vigour in the youth.
Then in 1953, a plot measuring about 1000 sq mts was purchased from D’Souza brothers primarily to construct the school building. Due to financial difficulty, however, the school building could not be completed, so a proposal to build the primary school was sent to the then Governor Manuel Antonio Vassalo e Silva, the last Portuguese governor in Goa. An inspection was conducted and the requisite permissions were granted.
Soon after liberation, the villagers decided to celebrate their Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav on the same premises and the first ever structure of the Shri Ganesh Mandal, Parra was constructed. It is here that the Shri Varad Siddhivinayak temple stands proudly today preserving the traditions of its ancestors and keeping the community united.
Box 1
Annual religious functions
21 days Sarvajanik Ganeshotsava during Bhadrapad Chaturthi
Shri Ganesh Chaturthi
Shri Ganesh Jayanti
Puja on every Tuesday
Padva during Diwali
Kuber Laxmipujan during Diwali
Tulsi Vivah during Diwali
Shri Satyanarayan Mahapuja (Bokyachi Asadi) on 1 May
Ganesh Jayanti
Annual Sarvajanik Shri Satyanarayan Mahapuja during Ganesh Jayanti celebrations
Pratishthapana celebrations (Vardhapan Din Sajarotsava)
Varad Siddhivinayak puja on all Tuesdays
3rd Shravani Somvar of Goddess Kelambika at Advalpal, Sal village at Bicholim
Gudhi Padva (Hindu new year)
Tulsi Vivah during Diwali
………..
Box 2
Shri Ganesh Mandal, Parra (executive committee)
Pradip Mayekar (president), Mohan Chari (secretary), Dattaram Pednekar (treasurer), Anand Naroji (vice-president), Rajan Kaisukar (vice-secretary), Vaibhav Naik (vice-treasurer), Anil Morajkar, Govind Narvekar, Premanand Redkar, Rajan Shiolkar, Ashok Parrikar, Narayan Narvekar, Rajendra Masurkar, Sanjay Korgaonkar, Anil Kaisukar, Kanta Salgaonkar, Satish Valke (all members)
