A Slow Fading Of This Tradition

Avelino Rejoice Dhakul, 81, never fails to bring tears to people's eyes when he renders the Passion of Christ from the Christa Purana, describing scenes from the crucifixion at the Good Friday service at St Francis Xavier Church, Vile Parle. Dhakul, who has been singing solo for the last 25 years, is keen that others should step up to carry on the torch, but he says sadly, "I have no luck so far.''

Singing of verses from the Christa Purana, which is written in the old Marathi script, is a looked-forward to ritual during the season of Lent in some of the old churches of suburban Mumbai, although the last three decades have seen a slow fading of this tradition. Lent, commemorates 40 days of fasting and abstinence, before the death of Christ on Good Friday.

The singing involves a mournful incantation of the verses, which detail the life and death of Christ. This is done during the Passu ceremony when the body of Christ is lowered from the cross for veneration by the congregation.

The Christa Purana is part of the religious and cultural tradition of Catholics in Mumbai, Goa and Mangalore.

Written by an English Jesuit missionary, Thomas Stevens, who studied at Oxford and settled in Goa in the 17th century, the writing follows the Hindu puranic style and is regarded as an epic.

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