It is gratifying to note that some Catholic Goans in far away Canada are trying to keep a purely Goan rite alive among their brethren settled there. This at a time when the recitation of the Rosary in Konbkani has all but disappeared in Mumbai. There was a time when the Rosary was a regular activity in Catholic homes there every evening, especially in the clubs or kudds where it was not only compulsory for the residents but also began at 8 pm sharp. Later, in Goan Catholic families it became a bilingual affair with the children reciting in English while the elders said their prayers in Konkani. Today, everyone says the prayers in English, the grannies who never went to any school saying, "Ah father, fourteen heaven ...." The Toronto Goans seem to attempt a reversal of this trend. My congratulations and all luck to them!
However, it would be a fallacy to say that Ladainha which is familiar to Goan Catholics was brought by the Portuguese. They could not have brought it because it was not available anywhere; it is entirely home-cooked using ingredients that were at hand! Even today, it is found only in Goa and wherever Goan Catholics have taken it along. Ithink it is not found in any other language or culture, anywhere in the world. How come? Like the Intruz and KristaPuranna, the Ladainha too was a device to replace something that the converts were habituated to, before their conversion to Christianity. [Christmas came to be celebrated post-Winter solstice, for an analogous reason.] The Goan Hindus have a rite called Satyanarayana Puja which is performed for almost all the reasons that the Catholics celebrate the Ladainha. In this puja too the prayers are sung. Therefore, as a substitute, we have a conglomeration of the Litany of Our Lady in Latin, Salve Rainha and Virgem Mae de Deus in Portuguese all set to music. (Are the different music scores for these prevalent anywhere else? I doubt it.) This is followed by the singing the hymns or 'orasanvam' in honour of the saints of the family (whose images are present in the oratory). I would be happy to learn of any parallels elsewhere. Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 14:46:59 -0700 (PDT) From: Mervyn Lobo <[email protected]> To: GOANET <[email protected]> Subject: [Goanet] Fw: Rosary in Konkani and Ladainha - Toronto Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 One of the age old traditions in Goa is the celebration of the ladainha, which was brought to Goa by the Portuguese. The ladainha is a form of worship that includes singing and recitation of hymns and prayers in both Konkani and Latin. Ladainhas take place all year round to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, christening or a devotion to a particular saint. At the end of the ladainha, boiled grams and snacks are served to the participating devotees. Michael Pinto of Winnipeg is heading an initiative to video tape the ladainha and the reciting of the Rosary in Konkani. It will be available on the internet on May 1st, 2010, the beginning of the month of Our Lady of the Rosary. The idea is to preserve and promote our language and culture so that the younger generations can continue this tradition. This event will take place on Sunday, April 11th 2010 at Our Lady of the Rosary Church at 2950 Midland Avenue (Midland and Finch) in Scarborough from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served in the church hall immediately following the rosary and the ladainha. For this event to be a success, Michael is looking for members of the Goan community who can recite the Rosary in Konkani, for singers to join the choir, any donations to help defray the cost of this project and for volunteers. Everybody is welcome, hymn and prayer sheets will be provided. Please see flyer (PDF) on this event. More details can be found at www.konkanirosary.org. If you have any questions, please contact Michael Pinto directly at [email protected]. Marcelina Dias Cultural Secretary Your Mail works best with the New Yahoo Optimized IE8. Get it NOW! http://downloads.yahoo.com/in/internetexplorer/
