Balli Shidiyotsav: Goa’s Ancient Ritual of Faith and Surrender In the quiet village of Balli in South Goa, faith occasionally reveals itself in striking and unforgettable ways. Amid temple bells, incense and murmured prayers, a devotee is bound face-down to a tall pole and gently swung in sweeping arcs above the gathered crowd […]
Three Heads and a Flame: The Mystery of Shisharanni
Three Heads and a Flame: The Mystery of Shisharanni Deep within the forested folds of Canacona, where the Western Ghats soften into quiet clearings and ancient pathways, stands the Mallikarjun Temple—a place where ritual, memory, and belief converge with striking intensity. Every third year, during the vibrant season of Shigmo, this otherwise serene […]
Sanquelim’s Tripurari Poornima: Goa’s Festival of Floating Lamps
Sanquelim’s Tripurari Poornima: Goa’s Festival of Floating Lamps at Vithalapur, Sankhali (Sanquelim) On a still November night in Sanquelim, the quiet waters of the Valvanti River begin to shimmer with hundreds of tiny flames. Lamps drift slowly across the current like constellations carried downstream, their reflections trembling in the dark water. Along the […]