Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Goa
A Day Spent Sightseeing! Re-discovering Old Goa’s Treasures
Namaste from Goa!
There is only so many papers to which you can listen and after two days of discussion, I was intellectually satiated and ready to take on some colonial history about which we had been talking for two days.
So, I awoke to blog and then read my Twitterfeed, shower and get out of my room to make my way to the dining room for some breakfast. I had planned to eat French Toast today, but they had none. The menu changes daily and the egg man custom makes your order. I had a mushroom and cheese omelette, scrambled paneer, chili flaked potato hash and chicken in gravy (which was just delicious) with toast and coffee. You can just imagine how full I felt by the time I got up from the table where I had been chatting with an Indian Goan woman named Anna who invited me to join her at her table.
Off to Find the Hop On, Hop Off Bus:
Having equipped myself with all the information yesterday, I walked briskly to the church to the Hop On Hop Off bus stop where I arrived at 9.10 for my 9.20 bus. But even at 9.40, there was no sign of the bus. Knowing these buses as well as I do, I am aware how prompt they are in every part of the world. Trust that something would go wrong in Goa! Of course! I called the local number and was informed that the bus does not really stop at Panjim Church (although there is a bus stop with a sign announcing its schedule there) but that I would need to go to the Old Secretariat Building to find it. Good job it was less than five minutes away! A shop keeper told me how to find the building and in a few minutes, I was at the spot, trying to find the bus stop. But, of course, at this point, where the bus does actually stop, there was no bus-stop! God give me strength!
The bus did come along at 10.00 am, as promised, and I was able to pay the conductor Rs. 400 on board in exchange for a ticket that I would need to show each time I hopped on or off! It was not a double decker and it had part of it covered and air-conditioned, the other half open at the top.
My Hop On Hop Off Tour Begins:
If I expected to find a guide who would give me a running commentary to tell me what building I was passing or even a recording that I could listen to with personal ear-phones (as one finds on such buses in all other cities of the world), I could perish the thought. The conductor (and that was all he was—a conductor) hadn’t a clue. He did not even know about prominent buildings in Panjim!
I soon learned that all this bus would provide would be transportation to the far-flung reaches of the tourist sites of interest—that was all! Oh well, as a solo traveler, I was grateful for that amenity at least.
So, first stop, as we flew down the road along the river front, was Mira Mar Beach. There were two other guys on the bus but none of us got off. Next stop, The Goa Science Center and Planetarium. I bought a Rs. 20 ticket to get in and spent the half hour I was given there to take a look around. Essentially designed for kids, it is a lovely place and were I a kid, I am sure I would have been fascinated by the clarity with which the exhibits were arranged and explained. I spent most of my time in the Hall of Mirrors which was a lot of fun. I could easily have spent another half hour in this place but I did not want to miss my bus that was headed to Old Goa and that was really my main interest.
The ride to Old Goa took about twenty minutes along really wonderful roads. We stayed in what the bus calls ‘South Goa’—although technically speaking, we were already in North Goa because the Zuari River (not the Mandovi) divides Goa into North and South. For this tour company, however, it is the Mandovi that does the dividing; so if I cross the Mandovi river in this bus, I would be in North Goa, according to them. North Goa includes all of the beaches (Calangute, Baga, Vagator, Anjuna) and the Portuguese-built Fort Aguada complex. To do both sectors, the cost to me would have been Rs. 700 or Rs. 800 per sector. But I have chosen to skip the beaches altogether on this trip as I have spent enough time at all of them on past visits.
Exploring OId Goa:
In the years gone by (and I was looking back...this is my sixth time in Goa), I have spent no more than an hour in Old Goa taking in the two most important monuments: The Basilica of Bom Jesu and the Se Cathedral. This time, I decided to give it two hours and to hop back on the bus that would arrive two hours later. It was a very wise decision because I could take my time, see everything at leisure and get all the pictures in the world. Before we alighted, the conductor told us that there were four places we ought to see: Bom Jesu, Se Cathedral, the Museum and the Church of St. Catherine. In fact, he left out the Church of St. Francis of Assisi which is right behind Se Cathedral and which Lonely Planet (rightly) informed me is of tremendous historical interest and antiquity.
A Visit to the Basilica of Bom Jesu:
Construction on this church began in 1594 and was completed in 1605. It was built by the first Jesuits from Spain who made Goa their base. It is known throughout the Christian world as the final resting place of the miraculous remains of the man who became St. Francis Xavier. He was an ardent disciple of a man who found the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit order of religious men) and later became canonized as St. Ignacius of Loyola.
Xavier had travelled to the Indies as a missionary and was instrumental in achieving thousands of conversions to Christianity in India before he sailed off to China where he died at Sancien Island. It was soon discovery that his body defied normal processes of corruption. The miracle was hailed by the Vatican as his mortal remains were transported back to Goa. A silver casket set atop a gorgeous marble monument was deigned in Italy and paid for by the Duke of Tuscany and executed by Florentine sculptor Giovanni Batista Foggini in 1698. The body is placed today in a glass casket which is then placed in this ornate silver casket—you cannot see anything of it today even if you stand directly below the casket. However, once every ten years, an ‘exposition’ is held (I had been to the one in 1964–when, funnily enough, Llew had traveled to Goa from Pakistan to participate as well!) at which the body is exposed for the benefit of devotees that number in the thousands. I particularly loved the fat cherubs (putti) who encircle the monument.
Apart from this miraculous phenomenon, for which the basilica (still Jesuit-run) is justifiably famous, the reredos (altar) is gorgeous. Entirely covered in gilding, it features a life-size gilded sculpture of St. Francis Xavier with his eyes gazing up the sunburst and the IHS (symbol of the Jesuits) and then to the Trinity above—all portrayed in stylized medieval iconography and statuary that is simply fantastic. Such examples are seen in the European Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages in places such as Poland (where I saw some stunning work by my favorite medievalist wood carver Veit Stoss) and England (where I adore the work of the Tudor carver Grindling Gibbons). I could not stop taking pictures (after I was permitted to enter the enclosed area at the very front of the church to pray).
So praying, taking pictures, carefully noting the wooden carvings (all gilded), the medieval paintings on the wall and on wood panels (now fast fading—they are urgently in need of conservation before they are lost to us forever), plaster of Paris statuary, etc. took about an hour but I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this visit.
Outside, I admired the laterite walls of the basilica with their flying buttresses—once all covered in white wash but today stripped down to the red composed sand and iron bricks that were used (and are still used) for all major construction in Goa.
Visiting Se Cathedral:
Next item on my agenda was crossing the street to get to Se Cathedral on the opposite side. I have to say that the entire space is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (and they do a great job!) but they follow the medieval design of the landscaped gardens that surround the complex of churches in this part of Old Goa—which, by the way, was the capital of the colonial Portuguese government in the days of the first Viceroy who took charge of the new colony of Goa, Ferdinand de Almeida (no relative of our’s!) who was followed by Alfonso de Albuquerque who consolidated Portuguese power in the Indian Ocean. However, although it is good that they have kept to the original plan of the gardens, some shade-giving trees would not be out of place. Every time I have been to this place, I have felt overwhelmed by the heat—and, mind you, this is the gentle winter sun of the tropics. I have also been here at the height of summer and, believe me, it is simply brutal.
Anyway...this is the largest of the churches in Old Goa and it was begun prior to the construction of Bom Jesu in 1562—it just took longer to complete—in 1652–like all Gothic cathedrals, it took a full hundred years to complete! It is entirely whitewashed, inside and out, and is dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria (not Sienna) who is depicted on the main altar with the instrument of her martyrdom, the torture wheel. The side chapels were particularly interesting to me as they feature some really brilliant examples of medieval wooden altars—there was St. Lawrence the Martyr in one, Our Lady surrounded by the angels and saints in the next, etc. They are all beautifully maintained and lovingly painted so that they look as they might have on the day they were created—stirring. The gilding of the main altar is not as striking as at Bom Jesu, but it is still noteworthy. This cathedral is known for its bell, called the Golden Bell because it has a resonant sound that can be heard for miles.
I finished my visit to this cathedral and walked out of the main entrance to take pictures of its front facade built in the Portuguese Gothic style with a Tuscan exterior.
The Church of St. Francis of Assisi:
This church is right behind Se Cathedral—sadly, not many people go inside as it is lesser known and if you are on a guided tour, two churches are perhaps all you can fit in. This was my first visit ever to this church and it was fabulous. The best part is that there are no pews at all—they have been removed and the main floor space cordoned off as they contain the original authentic grave stones of past Portuguese officials many of which sport, in addition to lettered engravings of their names, their family crests and coats of arms, many of which feature helmeted knights! I was simply fascinated by them!
As for the altar, it is also fully carved in wood, but the gilding in now non-existent (not sure if it was ever gilded or has simply faded away). The altar is distinctive because this sides (as in the case of all churches in Italy) are covered with painted frescoes (most of which have faded clean away). Those that remain are worth examining although visitors are not allowed to ascend the altar steps. The side chapels also feature medieval frescoes in a bad state of repair.
The Archeological Museum and its Treasures:
Attached to the Church of St. Francis is the Museum which so few tourists have no time to examine—I too was seeing it for the first time. At the entrance is a towering bronze sculpture of Alfonso de Albuquerque, second Viceroy of Goa, clad in ceremonial robes, that had once stood on the waterfront of the beach at Mira Mar. Today, for very good reason as wind and sand erosion have already started to mar its features, it has been moved inside. The ground floor contains fine examples of Hindu sculpture recovered from around Goa that date back to the Hoysala and Chalukyan periods as well as another fantastic find—another towering bronze sculpture of Luis de Camoes, Portuguese poet of the 1500s, who is dressed in doublet and hose holding on to a huge symbolic scroll. This is his composition—a poetic epic called O Lusidas in which his gigantic love for Goa is expressed as he was one of the first Renaissance men to actually arrive in Goa to sing its natural praises.
Upstairs, there are oil portraits of all the worthies that made the Portuguese colony (Estados) of Goa so famous around the world. There is also a huge board that provides historical information of every Viceroy who held the post from the early 1500s till 1961 when the colony was liberated. It’s beautifully timbered ceiling was what caught my eye more than anything else.
The Chapel of St. Catherine:
Finally, I made my way to the back of the Museum where I saw the remains of what was marked as a Gun Powder factory in Goa--there were a few canons sprinkled around and vast grinding stones. But I went down the laterite steps to a small church building entirely of red laterite stone with no white wash. This is the Chapel of St. Catherine that was built to commemorate the safe return to Goa (from a voyage to Portugal) of one of the early viceroys. It is a fine example of medieval religious architecture on a small scale. There is no altar and statues inside, but there were bats on the ceiling above where the altar would have been—ugh!
It was about two hours since I had arrived in Old Goa and I was ready to get back on the bus again after I found a refreshing ice-cream as it was really quite uncomfortably hot.
Next Stop: The Manguesh Temple
I have never been to the Manguesh Temple which is one of the most famous ones in Goa. It is far away from Panjim and involved another good twenty minute ride away from Old Goa. It turned out to be a confection of lovely temple architecture that was freshly painted in striking pastel colors. It’s most interestingly feature is a white washed tower outside the main temple which is dedicated to Shamomahadev. We went inside and found a cool space covered with marble flooring, a ceiling covered with chandeliers and a sanctum sanctorum at which a priest was dispensing prasad—inside we could see the holy deity.
By this time, I had made friends on the bus with a British man from London named Lawrence and we fell in stride with each other. People came up and asked if he would pose with them and he obliged! As we had a 55 minute stop at this point (30 minutes would have been plenty), we had a drink (Mango Lassie for me, Sprite for him) to refresh ourselves before boarding the bus again for our return journey.
Back to Base:
I basically did not get off the bus from this point on as I was quite tired by the heat and the walking I had done—I had covered so much ground. Lawrence got off again to see the Science Museum but I stayed on the bus until it looped around Mira Mar Bech again and dropped us off at the river near the Panjim Church and what they called the ‘Market’—this is basically a series of shops selling things like cashew nuts.
Lawrence and I then walked back to our hotel as he too happened to stay at the Panjim Inn. I happily sank on to my bed and thought I would take a nap but instead I made a few calls to my Dad and Russel and then to some local friends (Debbie, Joaqui, Timmy) to finalize my plans for tomorrow as I will be crossing the Mandovi River and going to Porvorim to see them.
Dinner with Ashley at Viva Panjim:
Ashley had attended the last day of the conference and was making his way back from Dona Paula to Panjim where we intended to have dinner together at Viva Panjim, a Goan restaurant that he recommended. I had a shower as I badly needed a pick-me-up and walked about 20 meters to the restaurant where we ran into Lawrence who was already in the middle of his dinner—Anna from our hotel was also there. This seems to be a popular place for those who stay at the Panjim Inn. After introductions were carried out, we chose Goan items from the menu—I wanted to eat a genuine Mutton Xacuti in Goa and although the gravy was delicious, I wish I had chosen chicken as you get nothing but blobs of fat and bones whenever you order mutton (I keep forgetting this!). We also ordered the Goa Sausage Chilli Fry which was grand. With Pao, it made a superb meal.
Conversation was free wheeling across our table as I discovered an art gallery and an exhibition on the work of F.N. Souza that Lawrence had seen the previous day. As I am a fan of the work of Souza, I will make it a point to see it either tomorrow or the day after.
Lawrence is also a movie buff and we ended up chatting about Roma (which we have both seen on Netflix) as well as the many Bollywood classics he has seen--one of his favorite movies is Three Idiots (what is it about this movie and the British? My friend Edward from London tells that it is his favorite movie of all time! I saw it and I was not half as impressed!) Anyway, we sat chatting there till 10.30 when we finally decided to call it a day.
We walked back to our hotel (just a few feet away) and I fell straight to sleep after another incredibly informative day in Goa. Tomorrow, I shall devote to visiting and taking it fairly easy.
Until tomorrow...
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