Shigmo, a spring festival celebrated with colourful float parades, belongs to which state?

Shigmo (also called Shigmotsav) is the spring festival of Goa, celebrated by the Hindu community in the month of Phalguna (March), around the time of Holi. It is one of the biggest and most colourful festivals of Goa.

Shigmo is a festival of spring and harvest, celebrating the end of winter and the return of farmers after the harvest. It is also linked with the tradition of welcoming home the warriors who had left their families to fight at the end of the Dussehra festival. There are two kinds of Shigmo: the "Dhakto Shigmo" (small Shigmo), celebrated mainly by farmers and rural people, and the "Vhadlo Shigmo" (big Shigmo), celebrated by everyone.

The celebrations include traditional folk dances and music. Groups of men perform folk dances such as the Ghode Modni (a dance with dummy horses, recalling the warriors), the Fugdi, the Romat (a procession with flags, drums and dancers) and the Morulem (a peacock dance). The music is provided by drums such as the dhol and the tasha, and by the shehnai and the flute. In recent decades, the Goa Tourism Department has organised grand Shigmo parades in towns such as Panaji, Mapusa, Margao, Ponda and Vasco, with colourful floats showing scenes from Hindu mythology and Goan history and culture, and performances by folk troupes. These parades attract large numbers of tourists.

Goa also celebrates the Goa Carnival, a Christian festival held in February before Lent, with parades and music, introduced during Portuguese rule. Shigmo is sometimes described as the Hindu counterpart of the Carnival.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Kerala celebrates Onam and Vishu.
• ✗Maharashtra celebrates Holi as Shimga in the Konkan region, but Shigmo is the Goan festival.
• ✗Karnataka celebrates Holi and festivals such as Ugadi.