The Cribs of Goa

Text by Cedric & Tami.

Compared to the U.S., Christmas celebrations start very late in Goa. If you were to drive around in the days leading up to Christmas, you'd think that the Goans had forgotten about Christmas and that the holidays were going to be quite a somber affair. But on the 24th of December all the decorations come out, the evening lights turn on, and there is quite a contagious mood of celebration throughout the area.

It was this way when we were growing up too...the mad dash on the 24th to put up the decorations before leaving for midnight mass. The decorations remain in place for the full 12 days of Christmas, then are put away on January 6th.  During this festive Christmas period the focus is on visiting with friends and family, as well as feasting on of a variety of special dishes like the famed Goan sorpotel, and on delicious, labor-intensive homemade sweets like dodol and cul-culs.  There is also a New Years Eve mass to help everyone start the year of on the right foot.

The Christmas decorations in Goa have a strong religious theme, consisting primarily of stars, cribs (nativity scenes), and more recently, LED lights.  And while you can see the occasional Santa and snowman, these types of decorations are still few and far between...at least for now in South Goa.

Another Goan tradition, which I had been unaware of, is the cribs that are made for public display by local church congregations and neighborhood groups.  These cribs range from a simple Joseph, Mary, and Jesus-in-the-manager nativity scenes to large displays that included shepherds, wise men, palaces, etc. from familiar bible stories, and other elements from the local Goan village (huts, farms of live grass, forests, waterfalls, and even ponds with live fish!).   For many of the more elaborate cribs that we saw, there were long lines of people eagerly waiting just to view them each night.  Thank you Noel for driving us to see so many of these beautiful and creative Christmas displays!

And apologies to those who were expecting this post to be about the homes of the rich and notorious.

This simple crib was by our apartment

A scene from a more elaborate crib

This big display had real grass growing in the fields and catfish in the pond

A traditional Indian village is often included in the crib

A crib in a star.

An example of the primary outside house decoration -- lighted stars!