The best way to absorb the local culture of Goa is being part of the dance and drama festivals. The folk dramas of Goa are colorful with a lot of song and dance involved. The themes include contemporary social issues and stories from epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata. Jagar & Tiatr are two notable folk drama forms of Goa.
Though both Jagar & Tiatr are categorized as dramas, the latter is a six to eight act performance. Songs are often weaved onto the performance to make it more entertaining.
Jagar:
This is the earliest form of drama in Goa. In fact, Marathi theater is a contemporary form of Jagar. There are two different forms of Jagar that is performed by two communities. The Perina Jagar is performed by the Hindu Perani community. The other form, Gawda Jagar is performed by Christian Gawda community.
The Perani Jagar involves performances based on the concepts of origin. Mythology plays an important part in many of the performances. This is exclusively performed by the Hindu community of Goa. You will learn much about the beliefs of the people.The mythological aspects makes it more colorful.
The Gawda Jagar in contrast to Perani portrays the rural lifestyle in Goan villages. If you interested in knowing about the people of Goa, you should watch one of the Jagar Gawda performances. This is strictly performed by the Christian community of Gawda in Goa.
Tiatr:
This is an interesting traditional Goan performance. There are 6 or 7 acts, of short duration, about 15 minutes. The acts are called Podd'dde. To drive away the monotony, song performances are included in between the acts. There are group as well as individual performances. The songs are not directly related to the play, but are based on social, religious and political themes. Tiatr mainly tackles socially relevant topics like alcoholism, drug addiction, and inter - caste marriages.
Khell Tiatr is a form of Tiatr, the only difference being in the songs which, unlike those in the Tiatr are related to the play that is being performed.
Know more about the folk culture of Goa like - Jagar & Tiatr and tourism in Goa at goatrips.com.
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