There is an old saying in Goa that 'a Goan is said to be born with music in his blood and music accompanies him from his cradle to grave'. But the ghumat must never be lost. It is the symbol of the Goan essence.The Ghumat is played differently at the Shigmo, festivals, marriages, mandos, Ganesh aarti etc.
Ghumat is a percussion instrument of earthen vessel having both sides open; on the bigger opening a leather of monitor lizard is mounted secured with cotton string. The ghumat is suspended from the neck or tied to the waist of the musician. It is the most common folk percussion instrument in use. Generally ghumat is accompanied by 'samel', another traditional instrument with wooden drum and goat leather mount. This instrument is still very popular amongst by the Konkani diaspora. Ghumat forms an integral part of Goan folk, religious and temple music. It serves as an accompaniment to the folk songs and to the 'mando' music. But most importantly it plays a vital role in the muic played in Goa during the Ganesh festival. It also used in most of the Goan temples during the spring season in an orchestra called as Suvari Vadan.
For
the Goan traditional folk music, the ghumat is the most popular musical
instrument used since the hoary past. While defining the border of Goa,
the folk artists proudly says that wherever one hears the beats of
ghumat is the land of Goa. However, today, as the trade in monitor
lizard skin reaches its height a month before Ganesh Chaturthi, the poor
reptile is on the verge of extinction.
Every year more than
thousand ghumats made with the skin of monitor lizard are sold in the
various parts of Goa. But, whenever, Goa's forest department with the
pressure from the wild lifers has raided shops or centres where the
sales of these ghumats are taking place, they have seized more than
50-60 ghumats with the monitor lizard skins, mainly in Bardez and
Phonda.
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