VASCO
The port town is all set to usher in the 125th Damodar Saptah festival on Saturday, with all arrangements in place to welcome throngs of people at the historic milestone of the festival.
A huge number of devotees from across the State and other parts of the country are expected to participate in the Saptah festivities that will commence after the Shreefal is anointed at the feet of Lord Damodar by the Joshi family.
The streets of Swatantra Path and F L Gomes Road have been illuminated with decorative lighting and a huge stage has been set up outside the temple with a waterproof pandal for the musical programmes of acclaimed artistes from the Marathi music industry. A special attraction includes renowned singers Rahul Deshpande and Devaki Pandit.
A huge arch has been erected at the entrance of the Swatantra Path with a logo of the 125th Saptah festival and two more arches have been installed along the Swatantra Path near the Damodar temple and the Railway station junction.
Several stalls are being erected for the seven-day fair that follows the Saptah festival and people visiting the fair are likely to find various items including traditional sweets, clothes, bags, decorative items, toys and other items in these stalls. Outside the venue, an amusement park is also readied which will have several games and entertainment activities like the Ferris wheel, train rides, etc, for the children and adults as well.
Speaking to reporters, Damodar Saptah Utsav Samiti President Paresh Joshi said this year-round, there will be a few changes to mark the milestone of the 125th anniversary.
"We usually used to have musical programmes on the Saptah eve, but this time around, we began the musical functions from August 7 and the musical shows have been running every day and will continue till the Saptah festival,” said Joshi.
“We would earlier go house to house to collect donations but this time we have introduced a QR code system to collect donations and it has benefited us far more because we have got funds from other places as well.”
“We have produced a special logo for the 125th Saptah festival that will be available for the people in the form of car stickers, stamps and fridge magnets. We have also made special photo frames with the Lord Damodar photo and the 125th year logo so that people can buy it as the remembrance of the 125th year celebration.”
“We have musical programmes at different locations by different groups on the Saptah day but this time, we have decided to provide the stage for the different community groups that organise these programmes.”
Appreciating the abundance of young local talent, Joshi said they need to be given a chance and a platform to showcase their talent. “We have decided that all the musical programmes across all different locations during Saptah will have local artistes showcasing their talent during some part of the musical programmes," said Joshi.
Traffic police issue advisory for festival
The Vasco Traffic Cell has issued an advisory for the 125th Saptah festival in the port town.
"The Swatantra Path road will be closed for all types of vehicular traffic from St Andrew’s Church junction to IOC junction starting from August 10 at 1 pm to August 16. Similarly, the road from Bombay Auto Parts up to Old Electricity Office near Vasco court will be barricaded and closed for all vehicular traffic," stated the advisory which was issued in a press release.
"All traffic coming to/from in Vasco/ Mormugao will be diverted on FL Gomes Road. No parking will be allowed on the road from the New KTC bus stand to Church Junction. Parking will be allowed on the KTC Bus stand, Near Tanya Hotel (open space parking) and by the sides of other internal roads near State Bank of India and Tilak Maidan.”
“No movement of heavy vehicles will be allowed on August 10 from 10 am hours to 12 am on August 11 and from August 12 to August 16 from 4.30 pm to 10 pm,” stated the advisory.
"Portions of both lanes of FL Gomes Road from IOC junction to Maharaja Hotel are temporarily opened for vehicular traffic during Saptah, which were closed in the view of the construction of ramps. Parking arrangments for four-wheelers and two-wheelers are made near Tanya Hotel open ground, Vasco. The public is requested to cooperate with traffic police to ensure a smooth flow of traffic," the advisory added.
