Making of the Goan Narkasur, by Kaustubh Naik
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“Narkasur should be made from everything that needs to be destroyed.”
That was the philosophy of writer Kaustubh Naik's grandmother, who helped him and his cousin build homemade Narkasurs from leftover theatre sets every Diwali. In Making of the Goan Narkasur, published in his newsletter Praça de Goa, Naik traces how the effigies grew from village bamboo, newspaper and home-cooked glue into metal-framed, hydraulic giants.
He reads that change as a mirror of Goa's own shift from farming to industry, and makes the case that Narkasur is collective, unsigned folk art made by self-taught young men. He also looks at the criticism the tradition attracts and the politics of patronage around it. It's a thoughtful, provocative read for anyone who has stood on a village road at midnight watching a demon burn.
New to the tradition? Start with our guide: Narkasur in Goa: how the effigies are made, and what they mean.
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