Feast of the three wise men in India

I remember our annual school Christmas plays; heads turned when three classmates, dressed as the three kings (in all the finery of a school-play costume), walked down the length of the school hall bearing their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, as they sang ‘We Three Kings’. At home, I would set the three wise men atop a cabinet and move them a step closer everyday until they reached our crib on the 6th of January—the feast of the Epiphany.

The significance

Also known as the feast of the Three Kings or Three Wise Men, as the story goes, three wise men from the East followed a guiding star that announced the birth of Jesus Christ over 2,000 years ago.

The star led them to where Christ lay in a manger at a stable in Bethlehem, where they offered him their gifts and worshipped him. The feast today, commemorates this visit as well as the self manifestation of Jesus to the world. “The wise men represent the whole of humanity—all those seeking God, whom the Magi found in the baby Jesus,” shares Fr. Vernon Aguiar from St. Joseph’s Church, Juhu. The three gifts that the magi bring are symbolic—“gold signifies his kingship and is offered to one who is acknowledged as king, frankincense is used in worship and symbolises the readiness to make God the centre of our lives, while myrrh is an embalming oil used for burials, which in a way foretold that Christ’s death would be special,” he adds.

Celebrating the feast in Mumbai...

There aren’t major celebrations in most parts; people go to Church and place the three wise men in their cribs at home. Gorai, however is an exception, as the parish is dedicated to the Holy Magi. In the morning, villagers welcome the bishop at the main cross in Gorai and escort him to the Holy Magi Church for the feast mass at 9.30 am. “The mass often starts with a prayer dance, followed by a performance by the East Indian choir,” shares Vanessa Henriques, a resident from Gorai. After mass, three youth (around age 18), dressed in kings’ robes and crowns arrive together and place their gifts before the statue of baby Jesus. “Then the three kings are taken around the village on a horse. Little children dance and people from the village come out to greet the kings. There’s a local fair and the ritual of gift giving. The whole event is accompanied by music, song and dance,” says Henriques.

...while in Goa

The feast is celebrated in three places—Cansaulim and Chandor in South Goa and Verem in the North. In Chandor the three kings (between 8 to 12 years) arrive from different directions and meet at Our Lady of Piety Chapel, Monte Hill, where they don their kingly attire and proceed together to Nossa Senhora De Belem Church, on horseback. “After the service, the priest carries a statue of Our Lady in a procession around the church. Behind the priest, come the three kings. Post the procession, they venerate the statue at the church and the three kings are escorted to their homes by their relatives,” says Maria Dias, from Chandor.

In Cansaulim the three boys (usually the grandsons of gaonkars, the indigenous people of Goa) playing the role of the kings come from the villages of Cansaulim, Arossim and Cuelim. “They get ready, are blessed by the elders and leave from their ancestral home on horseback,” shares Dias. After a few prayers at the ancestral home, the boys are usually crowned and cloaked. “Accompanied by gaonkars, the kings meet at the foot of the hill and proceed together to Nossa Senhora Dos Remedios chapel at the top of the hill for the feast mass at 10.30 am. They sit at a special place reserved for them at the altar,” adds Sharon Barreto, whose son was one of the kings in 2013.

The route downhill is a different one, the kings stop at 15-20 designated points, where people gather to seek blessings from the crowns, which are blessed by the priest before mass. The three then proceed to St. Thomas Church in Cansulim, where prayers are said before they depart for their homes at around 3.30 pm. “I was 10 when I was king. It takes a lot of guts and stamina, because we had to climb a hill on a horse; it’s not easy. I also had to wear the crown. It was a little scary, but I managed,” says Barreto’s 14-year-old son Aaron.

There’s a big celebration at their homes; sometimes “bigger than a wedding; almost 300 people are invited,” says 46-year-old-Barreto, who also remembers her cousin being king when she was around five years old.

With plenty of preparations, it’s not uncommon for the parents of the boys to create a handmade metal crown. “My son was the fourth from my husband’s side of the family to be king, so I borrowed the crown for Aaron from his cousin. The year Aaron was king, I took him for novenas before the feast, I still do. I also stitched new formal clothes for him. It’s a great honour for the family,” shares Barreto.