Kavlem’s Akash Naik Draws Devi Lairai in Rangoli, CM Sawant Calls It ‘Living Prayer’ at Mahalaxmi Temple
Ponda: Long before the first dhond steps on fire at Shirgao, Devi Shri Lairai appeared this week — not in the jatra, but on the ground. Rangoli artist Akash Naik, of Kavlem, Ponda, recreated the goddess in coloured powder at Mahalaxmi Temple, Panjim, hours before the start of Lairai Jatra. The work, spanning 12×10 feet , drew hundreds of devotees and a surprise visit from Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant on Monday evening.
“This isn’t decoration. This is darshan,” Dr. Sawant said after meeting Naik and offering flowers before the rangoli. “Goa’s culture doesn’t sit in museums. It lives in the fingers of artists like Akash who turn earth into altar.
Naik’s rangoli depicts Devi Lairai in her Shirgao iconography — crowned, four-armed, with the ritual kalash and pothi. He used only natural powders: rice flour, turmeric, kumkum, and crushed flower petals sourced from Ponda. No synthetic color, no stencil.
“I didn’t draw the Devi. I invited her,” Naik said hands still dusted yellow. “Lairai Jatra is fire and faith. But before fire, there must be form. This is my kaul.
While CM meetings with artists are routine ahead of festivals, this meeting gave a different out look all togather . Dr. Sawant spent hourea with Naik, asking about pigment sources, the geometry of the lotus base, and how long the work would last. Lairai Jatra, scheduled for later this week at Shirgao, is one of Goa’s most intense folk festivals, where dhonds walk across burning embers
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