Nearly 1,500 pilgrims expected to walk to Old Goa
A file photo of walking pilgrims from the Upper Ghats on their way to Old Goa.
PANAJI
For close to four decades, hundreds of Christians from villages in dioceses of neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka walked to Old Goa on a pilgrimage every year to reach in time for the December 3 feast of St Francis Xavier. This year, however, it will be different, bigger and they will be joined by their Hindu and Muslim brethren.
In deference to the Exposition of the sixteenth century saint's sacred relics this year nearly 1,500 men and women including Catholics, Protestants, Hindus and Muslims will walk nearly 200 kilometres to get to Old Goa from villages in Maharashtra and dioceses around Belgaum as part of the 'Old Goa Padyatra' according to Guru Santaji, a lay Catholic who co-founded this 'padyatra' back in 1980 along with Jesuit priest Fr Prabhudar.
Normally, they time their pilgrimage each year so as to reach Old Goa in time for the feast on December 3 and this year they are expected to begin their journey on November 28. They will also be joined by at least a dozen Catholic priests from their dioceses besides another 15 Protestant pastors.
Santaji (73), who started this 'walking pilgrimage' in 1981, says the four nights along the way are spent in Hindu temples and Catholic parishes.
In an interview to the Union of Catholic Asia News, Santaji said these nights are spent singing 'bhajans', praying and mingling with local people who welcome them by washing their feet.
In 2023, the strength of the pilgrims who walked to Old Goa was around 700 and they came from Sindhudurg and Pune dioceses in Maharashtra and also Belgaum in Karnataka. This year, owing to the Exposition of St Xavier's relics, the number will cross 1,500, he said, adding that it is their faith in the Spanish Saint's "intercession" that draws them to embark on the tedious walk.
Meanwhile, pilgrims walking to Old Goa is a feature not restricted to the devotees from Maharashtra and Karnataka. There are hundreds of faithful from Goa too who walk all the way from parishes across Goa.
According to Fr Henry Falcao, who is convenor of the Exposition Committee, the walking pilgrimage is undertaken by these devotees out of deep faith.
"The practice (pilgrimage on foot) is as old as the Exposition itself," Fr Falcao said, adding that it (exposition) began in the late 18th century and groups from various parishes in Goa also have been following this tradition.
The pilgrims begin filing in to Old Goa on December 2 and rest at night in the garden spaces around the Basilica of Bom Jesus so they can attend the first 3.45 am mass on the feast day (December 3).
This tradition has passed on through the centuries, from one generation to the next, Falcao said.
