Window screens fashioned out of nacre are a characteristic of the traditional upper class Goan house. It is unclear where or when exactly the idea originated. Some say it came from coastal Gujarat, others point to Cape Comorin. Given the mercantile links Goa enjoyed with the rest of the west coast from the earliest times,…
Sights from our ferry on River Mandovi connecting Old Goa to Divar in the beautiful, golden moments a little before sundown today.
When Afonso de Albuquerque first tried to claim Goa in 1510, his men encountered fierce resistance from Adil Shah’s forces from their vantage point atop a hillock in Old Goa. Stunned by the intensity of the opposition Albuquerque was forced to retreat. But he was to return in a few months and dislodge Adil Shah….
We begin the New Year by invoking Ganesha. The Ganapati temple in the tiny Goan village of Khandola (also spelled Candola) is important to Goans and to Goan history. The original temple was located on the island of Divar at the site of what is today the cemetery adjoining the Church of Our Lady of…
The voyage across Goa‘s mighty River Mandovi begins late in the evening in fading light. Port of embarkation: Ribandar. Destination: the lost island of Divar. Total sailing time is expected to be 5 mins and 25 secs. Capt. Emidio Fernandes is at the helm. Midway we encounter unexpected turbulence. A barge…
