vasco amidst tight security and elaborate traffic arrangements devotees from different walks of life thronged vasco town for a darshan of lord damodar at the annual shree damodar bhajani saptah celebrationsamidst continuous bhajans within the precincts of the temple the 24hour long saptah commenced at 12 noon with the offering of shrifal at the lotus feet of lord damodar by the head of the joshi family vasantrao joshi the entire area was cordoned off by police personnel while traffic police controlled the flow of vehicles from st andrews church to the old bus stand till late evening the young and old continued to pour in and queues of devotees carrying a coconut and flowers for the deity were witnessed on either side of the damodar temple the entire port town wore a festive look with surrounding trees and gardens lit up as part of the festivities along swatantra path and interior narrow roads vendors and hawkers erecting stalls selling a variety of items only added colour to the festivalshree damodar bhajani saptah utsav samiti members were constantly moving in and around the premises helping devotees follow a demarcated system to ensure the smooth functioning of the religious ceremonythe committee president arun bhole said that this is the 111th year that the traditional saptah is being celebrated since the past 15 years the celebration has seen numerous changes and various developments besides the 24hour bhajans the strength of the stalls has also increased earlier there were only fourfive stalls selling traditional sweets but today there are over a 100 stalls participating in the annual saptah he addedstating that previously stalls selling eatables and traditional sweets were set up only by goans bhole said today several nongoan vendors have joined the race and erected stalls selling toys dress materials utensils and furnitureexplaining how the saptah revellers are not restricted to the border anymore bole said that the popularity of the festival has increased and it now witnesses the participation of thousands of devotees from karnataka and maharashtra as well funds in the form of donations too were meagre earlier and amounted to just about rs 80000 or rs 90000 said bhole while adding that the saptah festival today generates an income annually touching rs 89 lakh vasant subrai joshi at whose residence the religious ceremony is held once a year said that the idol of lord damodar sculpted by vamant tari from vaddy durbhat was installed on august 4 1970 later through word of mouth people started flocking the venue for veneration joshi also mentioned that as there were hardly any temples in the port town previously people would visit his home for a darshan of the deity now after the 24hour religious ceremony around seven trade communities or the bhajani troupes from vasco continue the celebration by organizing musical programmes at different places he addedvaishali naik 45 from curchorem said that she has been participating in the saptah celebrations for several years during my childhood i would come along with my