Keri: Tribal farming communities traditionally offer the season’s first harvest to local deities in thanksgiving for a successful crop across Goa.In Talaulim, Tiswadi, the annual Tavashyache feast is celebrated in honour of St Ann, where cucumbers are offered in gratitude for fertility, family harmony and marriage. People of all faiths observe the feast. This year, it was held on July 26. It is a tribal-dominated agricultural village where farmers cultivate cucumbers, lady’s finger, bitter gourd, ridge gourd and other seasonal vegetables. After the first crop is harvested, villagers visit the local shrine, invoke the deity and offer the vegetables as thanksgiving.Devidas Gaonkar, a tribal folk researcher from Badde, Cotigao, said Barcem tribals offer the first cucumber harvest to the holy spirit known as Naas in Canacona by celebrating Tavashyachi jatra on a hill during monsoon.Similar first-harvest offerings are also seen in other Goan traditions. Among many Hindus, on the second day of Ganesh Chaturthi, the first paddy pinnacles—known as Nove—are offered. Among Christians, Konnsachem fest, also called Novidade (Novem), is celebrated in Aug. During the fest, the parish priest harvests the first paddy pinnacles, which are brought in a procession to the church altar before being distributed among devotees.
