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Goa Tourism
Capital : Panaji
Language : Konkani, Marathi, English, Hindi
Area : 3,800 sq km
Tourist season : October to March
Climate : Coastal
Population : 1.3 million
Religion : 70% Hindus, 30% Christians
Coast : 97 km
Attractions
Panaji
Most visitors treat Panaji as little more than a transport hub, but this
lovely state capital has retained its Portuguese heritage in a lived-in,
knockabout kind of way and exudes an aura more reminiscent of the Mediterranean
than of India. If it weren't for the crush at the bus depot, the unmistakable
buzz of auto-rickshaws and the fact that the bridge over the Mandovi River
has fallen down twice in the last nine years, Panaji could seem like any
siesta-ridden provincial town on the Iberian Peninsula. It contains all
the quaint Mediterranean iconography - from the cramped cobbled streets,
pastel-hued terraces and flower-bedecked balconies to the terracotta-tiled
roofs, whitewashed churches and those small bars and cafes that are the
social lifeblood of secular Portugal.
The old district of Fontainhas is the most atmospheric
area to walk around, and includes the Chapel of St Sebastian which contains
a striking crucifix that originally stood in the Palace of the Inquisition
in Old Goa. The Church of the Immaculate Conception, consecrated in 1541,
is Panaji's main place of worship, and it was here that recently arrived
sailors from Portugal gave thanks for a safe passage. It's worth taking
one of the river cruises along the Mandovi River, but try to persuade
your captain not to loiter under the bridge spans in order to admire Indian
engineering.
Old Goa
Half a dozen imposing churches and cathedrals and a fragment
of a gateway are all that remain of the second capital of the Adil Shahi
dynasty of Bijapur and the Portuguese capital that was once said to rival
Lisbon in magnificence. Wracked by cholera and malaria epidemics, eroded
by monsoon rains and choked by creepers, Old Goa has declined from a vibrant
city of over a hundred thousand souls to little more than a handful of
potent architectural relics.
Old Goa is still the spiritual heart of Christian Goa,
and its most famous building is the Basilica of Bom Jesus, which contains
the tomb and mortal remains of the peripatetic
St Francis Xavier, credited
with introducing Christianity to much of South-East Asia. Also of interest
is the Convent & Church of St Francis of Assisi, which has gilded
and carved woodwork, murals depicting scenes from the saint's life, and
a floor substantially made of carved gravestones. The largest of the churches
is the Portuguese-Gothic Se Cathedral, dating from 1562, which houses
the so-called 'Golden Bell', whose resonant peal can be heard thrice daily.
Other gems include the Church of St Cajetan which was modelled on St Peter's
in Rome and the Royal Chapel of St Anthony. Not a single secular building
remains standing, so don't say God doesn't work in mysterious ways.
Anjuna
The collection of people attracted to the beach settlement of Anjuna in
North Goa may seem eclectic at first glance, but there are common (if
loose) organic and spiritual threads woven between the hippies, artists,
mild crazies and supposed ex-materialists who congregate here.
Chapora & Vagator
This is a fascinating part of the Goan coastline and more genuinely salubrious
than Anjuna. It boasts a patchwork of coconut palms and the enigmatic
character of Ch
apora village, which is more unruly farmyard than a fishing
community doubling as a beach resort.
Calangute & Baga
Calangute was the it beach for hippies, where pujas, ganja, drug-addled
musicians and other lost artistic souls predominated, a beach of the truly
half-baked that modern Leonardo di Caprioan versions couldn't hold a psychedelic
candle to. But alas for those who still seek the 'revolution', or the
occasional naked group frolic, Calangute is no longer Hippy Central.
