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The Exposition of the sacred remains of
St Francis Zavier evokes reverence, cutting across caste and religion.
Ervell E. Menezes reports
The Exposition of the sacred remains of St. Francis Xavier, who was also known as Goencho Saib (Lord of Goa), will be brought down from the mausoleum in the Basilica of Bom Jesus and kept at the Se Cathedral (of blessed Joseph Vaz) from November 21 to January 2, as it is done every 10 years in Old Goa when over 25 lakh pilgrims and devotees are expected to pay homage to the saint. When St. Francis Xavier died in 1552 and his body was brought to Goa and entombed in the city, Goa was under Portuguese rule where the Catholic religion received the patronage of the state. It was considered a miracle that the saint’s body never decomposed. Until a few decades ago, it was referred to as the body of St Xavier. Only recently, since it no longer conforms to the requirements of a body, it is known as the sacred relic of the saint. The saint who is venerated by all religions is the focus of great devotion in Goa and pilgrims come from all over India, and even abroad, during the 10-year Exposition. This year, massive arrangements are being made for the event, with the State doing its utmost to accommodate the pilgrims and make their stay a pleasant one. During the 40-odd day Exposition, the five cruise boats that operate from the GTDC jetty in Panjim will be pressed into service to transport pilgrims from Panjim to Old Goa where they will be dropped at the Old Goa jetty about one kilometre from the Se Cathedral. They will be then ferried to the Cathedral in KTC mini-buses. This is done in an effort to relieve the strain on road traffic. The cruise boats, Santa Monica, Paradise, Royal Cruise, Emerald and Shanta Durga will ply from 5 am to 9 am and from 2 to 3 pm at every half-hour interval. The journey will take 45 minutes and on arrival a shuttle service will ferry the pilgrims to Se Cathedral. This will be in addition to the normal road traffic plying from Panjim to Old Goa and from Margao to Old Goa via Pilar and Neura. There will be enough of parking space on private property for the vehicles of the pilgrims. There will be a new road via Merces and the Kadamba Plateaux which will be a one-way traffic to relieve the already existing road from Old Goa to Panjim. Accommodation will be made available to the common persons at six or seven schools where 5,000 persons will be housed for only Rs 5 per head. At these places, water, power and mattresses will be provided. Government buildings like the Bal Niketan in Ribandar will also be pressed into service for the pilgrims. The Konkan Railway will make Karmali station (Old Goa) a special stop for through trains during the Exposition period. An additional police service will be on duty to man the throng of pilgrims. DIG S.G. Randhwa will be given the status of Additional Commissioner of Police from November while Bosco George will be the overall in charge as Commissioner. As a schoolboy this writer first went to the Exposition in 1952, exactly 400 years after the death of St. Francis Xavier, and what an impressive event it was, orderly and circumspect. We were then acquainted with the many anecdotes associated with Goencho Saib, such as how a woman bit the saint’s toe and that it bled all the way to her home. Even then, the body looked wooden but the veneration to the saint has diminished little through the recent years. Even the 2004 Exposition is expected to be no less reverent. |
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