A community harvest festival to unite villagers

Sadbhav Mahotsav 2023, a community harvest festival will be celebrated on October 7 from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm at the Neura Village Panchayat Hall, Pilar. This is the second edition of the festival and is organised by ‘Sadbhav’ - an endeavour of the Society of Pilar for fostering interfaith dialogue, harmony, solidarity and fellowship. “One of the objectives of Sadbhav is to celebrate together the shared humanity through the celebration of common cultural festivals, like the harvest festival, and move forward in building peace-loving people in solidarity,” says Fr Elvis Fernandes, coordinator of Sadbhav Mahotsav.

The Society of Pilar was founded in Goa on September 26, 1887, and has been engaging in the promotion of peace and harmony through its institutions in Goa and beyond. Sadbhav Mahotsav is a community harvest festival for people of different faiths, specifically, those living in the seven village panchayats of the San Andre constituency. The seven villages include Agassaim, Azossim-Mandur, Batim, Curca-Bambolim-Talaulim, Goa-Velha, Siridao-Palem and the host village of Neura. “It is a celebration to acknowledge the sower, the seed, the soil and the sustainer. It wishes to strengthen our bonds as one Human Family (Vasudaiva Kuttumbakam). It also aims to infuse in the students the universal values of harmony, peace, brotherhood, especially the urgency of protecting and caring for mother earth,” adds Fr Elvis.

Around 150 high school students from ten schools will be taking part in the celebration. Goa college of Agriculture will be doing an input session on cultivation of paddy and vegetables in Khazans. Later, they will go through a guided walk through the Khazans of Neura by noted environmentalist and architect Tallulah D’Silva.

In the afternoon, by 2 pm, there will be screening on the documentary film, ‘Khanvte’ by Kabir Naik. This will be followed by a panel discussion on the theme, ‘Khazans – Goa’s over 3500 years old Heritage ecosystem’. The panellists will include Tallulah D’Silva, architect and environmentalist, who will talk on the topic, ‘Architectural features of Khazan System’ and Nestor Rangel, engineer and farmer will speak on ‘Reviving paddy cultivation, and economics of Khazan farming’. Prof Ramrao Wagh, associate professor, Goa University will speak on ‘Reforms to protect Khazan farming’. Yeshwant Gawas, assistant Agriculture Officer will speak on ‘Adopting scientific approach for paddy cultivation in Khazan’. Farmers and villagers from the San Andre Constituency will be joining the programme. Interested individuals can also join the programme.

Sadbhav Mahotsav is an activity of ‘Sadbhav’ – an effort of the Society of Pilar to foster interfaith relations and communal harmony. “This festival is for people of different faiths living in the neighbouring villages around the Pilar Hillock. The festival also has a place for students from schools, higher secondary’s and colleges, located in these villages within the San Andre Constituency,” concludes Fr Elvis