Walking hundreds of kilometers for a glimpse of their saint, the 250-odd pilgrims could be easily mistaken for varkaris from Maharashtra, who conduct colourful annual pilgrimages on foot to Pandharpur, to worship Vithoba, an avatar of Lord Krishna.
But this group from Ajra, in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district, do not travel towards dry, arid east where Vithoba rests by the Bhima river. Instead, they head for the lush green Western Ghats and beyond for a glimpse of Spanish saint Francis Xavier, the man who brought Catholicism to this part of the world.
“We carry along a change of clothes, toilet articles, other basic necessities,” 30-year-old Aaron D’Souza from Ajra, who has completed two such pilgrimages told Scroll. "But the most difficult is the walking. It is for four continuous days. There are many who do not make it and return by bus."
D’Souza made it to the Basilica of Bom Jesus, in Old Goa near Panaji on Friday, along with the millions of pilgrims, tourists and curious onlookers from around the world, who have begun to visit the shrine to see the sometimes haphazardly managed, exposition of the sacred relics of the 16th- century Basque saint, which are opened to public viewing once every 10 years.
Devotional experience
But for these pilgrims the 150-odd km walk to Old Goa is a prayerful, penitential and devotional experience and not restricted to just the decennial exposition. Some of them travel every year to the pay their homage to the Basicila.
Often walking barefeet, these groups of pilgrims (a couple of thousand pilgrims in all) make their way off the beaten tracks and across traditional footpaths into Goa, entering the state on the third day of their trek.
“There are some who pray for better job prospects, there are childless couples who make the pilgrimage and many others for various devout reasons,” said Fr Joseph Monteiro, the parish priest of Ajra parish.
Bardeskars, as the Catholics living in villages in these areas in and around Ajra call themselves, are descendants of Goans from the region of Bardez (now a sub-district in North Goa) who left the territory in the 17th and 18th centuries, to escape religious and cultural persecution, epidemics and the Portuguese-Maratha wars to settle in the hilly and thickly forested upper reaches of the Western Ghats today divided between in north western Karnataka and south western Maharashtra.
Many of these pilgrims owe their faith to Francis Xavier or his compatriots from Western Europe, who they say converted their ancestors. They are well-versed in Marathi or Kannada, but continue to speak Konkani at home and visit regularly their churches in Goa and even collect their dividends from their village community properties in Goa, which are also known as comunidades.
New tradition
While the faith maybe centuries old, the tradition of undertaking a walking pilgrimage only dates back to the late 20th century and was begun by Jesuit priests.
While people from the region have been known to walk to Goa since the 17th century, recorded history of walking from the St Francis Xavier feast dates back only to 1983, according to Fr. Joseph Nazareth who hails from Bidi, a village in Khanapur taluka on the border of Goa
“A group of Jesuit priests decided to adopt the lifestyle of and Indian priest or Swami," Fr Nazareth told Scroll. "They wore saffron robes, abstained from meat and lived like ascetics in churches that were architecturally built to look like mutths. Also in keeping with the popular tradition of the varkaris, who hold walking pilgrimages to Pandharpur, the swamis with a few disciples began walking to Old Goa.”
Varkaris in Maharashtra follow the Bhakti sect of Hinduism and worship Vithoba. The followers of the sect draw inspiration from saints like Dyaneshwar, Tukaram, Eknath, who triggered Bhakti movement, which has similarities with Islam’s Sufi sect.
“The pilgrimage is a very community affair," said Fr Joseph Monteiro of Ajra parish. "The whole village comes together. Enrolments for the pilgrimage begin weeks in advance and many who take part are either fulfilling a vow or doing so in the hope of favours being granted.”
It’s not just the Bardeskar Catholics alone, who make the pilgrimage, though they comprise a huge chunk, but Hindus and Muslims from the region as well to pray for the intercession of St. Francis Xavier in return for granting of favours and that their prayers may be heard.
Several groups
The pilgrimages take place in four to five groups, each leaving from a different location. By far the biggest groups leave from Ajra sub district in Kolhapur district with more than 250 people coming in with smaller groups coming from Chandgad, Gadhinglaj, Ichalkaranji, Khanapur and Kolhapur town itself.
While today the pilgrimages are more organised with a pickup carrying the people’s pots pans and rice and other supplies, it wasn’t always so.
“Today we have to carry around 200 kilos of rice, dal, almost 50 kilos of beaten rice just to feed ourselves," Monteiro said. "This despite there being families who continue to regularly feed and shelter us, despite this group getting bigger and bigger by the day.”
The pilgrims have six fixed stops along the four day journey where they rest for the night as well as in the afternoons and seek shelter either in government schools, village open spaces, temples and even people’s homes.
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But this group from Ajra, in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district, do not travel towards dry, arid east where Vithoba rests by the Bhima river. Instead, they head for the lush green Western Ghats and beyond for a glimpse of Spanish saint Francis Xavier, the man who brought Catholicism to this part of the world.
“We carry along a change of clothes, toilet articles, other basic necessities,” 30-year-old Aaron D’Souza from Ajra, who has completed two such pilgrimages told Scroll. "But the most difficult is the walking. It is for four continuous days. There are many who do not make it and return by bus."
D’Souza made it to the Basilica of Bom Jesus, in Old Goa near Panaji on Friday, along with the millions of pilgrims, tourists and curious onlookers from around the world, who have begun to visit the shrine to see the sometimes haphazardly managed, exposition of the sacred relics of the 16th- century Basque saint, which are opened to public viewing once every 10 years.
Devotional experience
But for these pilgrims the 150-odd km walk to Old Goa is a prayerful, penitential and devotional experience and not restricted to just the decennial exposition. Some of them travel every year to the pay their homage to the Basicila.
Often walking barefeet, these groups of pilgrims (a couple of thousand pilgrims in all) make their way off the beaten tracks and across traditional footpaths into Goa, entering the state on the third day of their trek.
“There are some who pray for better job prospects, there are childless couples who make the pilgrimage and many others for various devout reasons,” said Fr Joseph Monteiro, the parish priest of Ajra parish.
Bardeskars, as the Catholics living in villages in these areas in and around Ajra call themselves, are descendants of Goans from the region of Bardez (now a sub-district in North Goa) who left the territory in the 17th and 18th centuries, to escape religious and cultural persecution, epidemics and the Portuguese-Maratha wars to settle in the hilly and thickly forested upper reaches of the Western Ghats today divided between in north western Karnataka and south western Maharashtra.
Many of these pilgrims owe their faith to Francis Xavier or his compatriots from Western Europe, who they say converted their ancestors. They are well-versed in Marathi or Kannada, but continue to speak Konkani at home and visit regularly their churches in Goa and even collect their dividends from their village community properties in Goa, which are also known as comunidades.
New tradition
While the faith maybe centuries old, the tradition of undertaking a walking pilgrimage only dates back to the late 20th century and was begun by Jesuit priests.
While people from the region have been known to walk to Goa since the 17th century, recorded history of walking from the St Francis Xavier feast dates back only to 1983, according to Fr. Joseph Nazareth who hails from Bidi, a village in Khanapur taluka on the border of Goa
“A group of Jesuit priests decided to adopt the lifestyle of and Indian priest or Swami," Fr Nazareth told Scroll. "They wore saffron robes, abstained from meat and lived like ascetics in churches that were architecturally built to look like mutths. Also in keeping with the popular tradition of the varkaris, who hold walking pilgrimages to Pandharpur, the swamis with a few disciples began walking to Old Goa.”
Varkaris in Maharashtra follow the Bhakti sect of Hinduism and worship Vithoba. The followers of the sect draw inspiration from saints like Dyaneshwar, Tukaram, Eknath, who triggered Bhakti movement, which has similarities with Islam’s Sufi sect.
“The pilgrimage is a very community affair," said Fr Joseph Monteiro of Ajra parish. "The whole village comes together. Enrolments for the pilgrimage begin weeks in advance and many who take part are either fulfilling a vow or doing so in the hope of favours being granted.”
It’s not just the Bardeskar Catholics alone, who make the pilgrimage, though they comprise a huge chunk, but Hindus and Muslims from the region as well to pray for the intercession of St. Francis Xavier in return for granting of favours and that their prayers may be heard.
Several groups
The pilgrimages take place in four to five groups, each leaving from a different location. By far the biggest groups leave from Ajra sub district in Kolhapur district with more than 250 people coming in with smaller groups coming from Chandgad, Gadhinglaj, Ichalkaranji, Khanapur and Kolhapur town itself.
While today the pilgrimages are more organised with a pickup carrying the people’s pots pans and rice and other supplies, it wasn’t always so.
“Today we have to carry around 200 kilos of rice, dal, almost 50 kilos of beaten rice just to feed ourselves," Monteiro said. "This despite there being families who continue to regularly feed and shelter us, despite this group getting bigger and bigger by the day.”
The pilgrims have six fixed stops along the four day journey where they rest for the night as well as in the afternoons and seek shelter either in government schools, village open spaces, temples and even people’s homes.
