The Origin of Roce: A Blend of Saraswat Konkan and Portuguese Influences

  •   Sun, Aug 24 2025
  •   By Wilson Alex Saldanha, Dubai

August 24, 2025

The Roce ceremony is a colourful pre-wedding ritual among Mangalorean and Goan Catholics. Since childhood, I always thought Roce came from the Portuguese. After all, no other Catholic community in India celebrates it. I had always heard people say it started in Portuguese Goa, and that it was their tradition.

But something happened last November that changed the way I looked at it. I was in Barcelona, Spain, where there is a large Portuguese diaspora. One of my colleagues there, a Portuguese national, had the same surname as mine — Saldanha. We started talking, and out of curiosity, I asked him about Roce. To my surprise, he looked confused. He told me he had never heard of it. But he did know about the Konkani language.

That conversation kept ringing in my head. So later, I began reading more. I came across the book Sarasvati's children : a history of the Mangalorean Christians by Alan Machado. That’s when I discovered something very interesting. Many Mangaloreans actually come from the Saraswat Brahmin community. During Portuguese rule in Goa, a lot of them migrated from a taluk called Bardez to Mangalore.

Even though they converted to Catholicism in the 16th century, they didn’t completely let go of their old customs. The Catholic Bamonn (Brahmin) and Chardo (Kshatriya) groups blended their traditions with Catholic practices. In fact, the Portuguese encouraged this mixing. That’s why many families still carry double surnames, like D’Souza-Kamath, Menezes-Pai , Lobo-Prabhu , Albuquerque-Pai, or Saldanha-Prabhu.

The word Roce itself comes from the Portuguese word Roca. But the soul of the ceremony — applying oil, singing songs, and giving blessings — comes from Saraswat customs. The Catholic side can be seen in the prayers and in the way it prepares the couple for marriage as a sacrament.

Later on, the Portuguese also tried to tighten their control. They even banned Konkani in schools and public life. Because of this, many families moved out of Goa and settled in Mangalore, carrying their language and customs with them.

Today, Roce is still celebrated, but it has changed. Some people now include eggs, beer, or other things which were not part of the original custom. Elders often feel these spoil the purity of the ceremony. Many community groups are working hard to bring back the traditional way — with coconut milk and vovyos (songs). They want to keep the Roce as close to its roots as possible.

 

 
By Wilson Alex Saldanha, Dubai
Wilson Alex Saldanha hails from Jeppu parish in Mangaluru. He works as an accountant for a semi-government company in Dubai.he holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from St Aloysius and also a certified management accountant.
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Comment on this article

  • M.Mathias, Mangalore

    Sun, Aug 24 2025

    Nice article.


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Title: The Origin of Roce: A Blend of Saraswat Konkan and Portuguese Influences



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