Shaikh Jamaluddin | NT
BAMBOLIM
Sharing the roads with villagers, free roaming chickens and roosters are a common sight in villages. However, one can now find these roosters roaming in the most unlikely place, the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC) premises at Bambolim.
Exhibiting their faith, relatives of patients admitted to the GMC are often seen following traditional rituals and offering roosters near the Sai Baba temple located in the GMC compound with the hope of seeing their near and dear ones recover soon.
People enter the small temple carrying roosters with them, ring the bell and pay obeisance. They are seen praying to the deity for the early recovery of their dear ones admitted in the GMC wards and later release the roosters as an offering to God. As these roosters get nothing to feed on, they are seen roaming in the vicinity of the coffee shop located nearby and feed on the food items dumped by the visitors there. Of late, the number of roosters near the temple has increased and according to sources, some drunkards from the nearby areas visit the GMC to catch these roosters and sell them in the market to make some money.
It is also learnt that some people, who cannot afford a rooster to make the offering tie a bell to the banyan tree behind the temple. With many people following this practice, the tree now has hundreds of bells tied to it.