Fairs and Festivals of Goa

Travel to Goa, the 'Pearl of the East', for a captivating experience. With its breathtakingly beautiful blue beaches, sensuous silvery sands, fabulous flora and fauna, rich cultural heritage, captivating churches and terrific temples, Goa is also popular for its colorful fairs and festivals. Although, Goa is a fun place to be all round the year, a good option will be to travel to Goa during the time of fairs and festivals.

Due to the strong Roman Catholic influences, most of the festivals of Goa are Christianity-specific. Feast days, thanksgiving, monsoon celebrations, processions - all mark the Goan festival calendar.

Shigmo, the Goan version of Holi, is celebrated in the month of February/March. Shigmotsav or Shigmo is a grand five-day festival of colors, celebrated distinctively in the villages, and held for one-week up to the full-moon day in March. Shigmo is universally celebrated in Goa, but especially at Panaji, Mapusa, Vasco-da-Gama and Margao.

The Feast of Our Lady of Miracles, celebrated 16 days after Easter, is secular by nature and is celebrated with pomp and gaiety by both Hindus and Christians. Every year thousands of devotees congregate at the stone chapel of Nossa Senhora dos Reis to offer prayers of thanksgiving to Our Lady of Immaculate Conception - a lighthouse of faith and courage to its people. High mass is offered on the day of Epiphany and it is a time to rejoice and revel.

Igitun Chalne, held at Sirigao temple in Bicholim during May, is one of Goa's most distinctive festivals. The main attraction of the festival comes when devotees of Goddess Lairaya walk across burning coals to prove their devotion. The Feast of St. Anthony in the month of June is also significant as it marks the beginning of monsoon.

Mahashivratri, a celebration in honor of Lord Shiva is held at all the principal Siva temples, such as the Rudreshwar, Mangueshi, Nagueshi, Sri Mahadev - Bhumika and other temples. Ratha-Saptami festival takes place in February at the Mallikarjuna Temple. Maruti-Zatra at Sri Mahalakshmi Temple is important, as Mahalakshmi is the presiding deity of Panaji, Goa's capital city. Mahalsa Jatra or Vijayarathotsav (Chariot Festival) is celebrated at Mahalsa Temple of Mohini in Ponda.

Apart from festivals like Ram Navami, Chaitra Purnima, Mirg, Gokul Ashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Novidade and Navaratri, Goa turns out to be riot of colors and unlimited fun during the Goan Carnival time. What started as an old crude mimicry of class distinction, blossomed into social satire today. Carnival in Goa is a great leveler. From dawn to dusk and back to dawn again, its music, dance, costumes, parties, laughter, joy and romance. Those who fell in love during Carnival married after Easter.