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Published: January 6th 2013
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St Francis Xavier
His body is visible, although not in detail. Our guide, Cesar, is a lively, experienced guide who speaks excellent English; he obvious has Portuguese mix in his features. He says that Goans are not unhappy with their 450 years of colonial status, but they are glad to be free (since 1961 following an invasion by the Indian army). He is passionate about his Goan identity, and later in the day he waxed long about Indian politics and corruption, plus how the Russians are spoiling the tours industry by dressing and behaving inappropriately. This gravely insulted V__, who was born and lived in Russia. However, apparently some Russians do come for cheap all-inclusives, and they drink and eat too much. They have usually made their money from oil and drugs.
Our tour started with two large adjacent churches: Bom Jesus and Se Cathedral. (Bom is Portuguese for Good, thus Bombay is of Portuguese derivation and was a gift from the Portuguese to a Maharaja.) Bom Jesus church is constructed from the local laterite stone, which is bright orange-red and oxidizes to a deep red-black. So the church is dark in colour. Gold altars and pulpit speak to the adoration of St Francis Xavier, whose body is kept here. Miraculously,
Se Cathedral
In honour of St Catherine of Alexandria, who inspired the Catherine Wheel fireworks piece his body did not deteriorate from the time he died in Malaysia, where he was visiting, until now. One arm has been taking off for relics, and his body is publicly shown every ten years in Goa. It had to be encased in glass after a woman bit his toe to check that he was real! Above the ceremonial casket is a photo of the body signed by ten dignitaries, as authentication.
The altar table portrays the Last Supper, with Mary Magdalene as the twelfth apostle. Cesar says this is the true version of the story.
Across the wide street were the grounds of the Se Cathedral: Se is saint in Portuguese, and the Cathedral is dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria. The backdrop of the altar portrays her story of virtue and torture in gold leaf. The Cathedral and its buildings are whitewashed and architecturally modeled on the Vatican. The interior is also whitewashed, except for one beautiful chapel that has been restored to the original colourful décor. The font used by St Xavier is in a side chapel. Many aristocrats are buried under the floor, although the stones were impossible to read easily. Fairly recently a
Modern sculpture
Dashing from one side of a busy city street to the other, I had to stop on a narrow island to enjoy this ultra-modern artistic statement! catacomb has been discovered (when installing wiring for the church) and more excavation will be done. The tourism economy has been hard hit by the recession, and since it is Goa’s main industry the downturn in the economy affects every one.
We drove into the capital, Panjim, to walk around the old city. The entire city has been designated a heritage site, so no buildings can be substantially altered and new buildings must be in the old Portuguese style. The colourfully painted walls make the area very attractive; its main business is tourism, such as guest houses, restaurants, shops – one was a tasteful ceramic shop displaying fine dishes and lamps.
From here we were taken a few minutes away to the ordinary shopping street for half-an-hour free time. Cashews are a big product here, from orchards built up with trees imported from Madagascar. Cesar recommended a particular brand, which we all bought in quantity. 350 rupees (about $7.00) for half a kilo. I also bought some ready-mixed curry spices. Then down the street I discovered a shop that sold “salwar”, the baggy pants of Indian women. With the thought of making a “kameez” (the tunic top) from
Goa sunset
Beautiful, especially with a glass of wine or two! one of the cottons bought earlier, I purchased a teal salwar for 350 rupees.
Our final, and to me dramatic stop was the old Portuguese Fort. The heavy walls are quite intact and the layout on the hill shows its defensive nature, contoured into the height of land, concentrating its purpose on potential naval attacks. Lots of people were there, most Indians.
Our evening entertainment consisted of meeting in the bar that overlooks the beach and harbour, to watch the orange sun set. The clouds were lit up, but the sunsets out of my kitchen window at home are better and not so dependent on smog! The crashing waves were special, though.
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Peter
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Thanks for tis latest leg of our travel, Judith. I had no idea there was such a strong Portugese infulence in India. I look forward to popping in on Saturday.