Photo Blog by Rajan Parrikar » Heritage

Reis Magos

Rajan P. Parrikar — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:13:31 +0000

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The village of Reis Magos in Goa‘s Bardez taluka is exquisitely located on the waterline across the bay from Panjim, and is named after the three biblical Magi Kings. Among its treasures are the eponymous church and fort.

The beautiful Church of Reis Magos, built in 1555, is among Goa‘s oldest. Symbols in bas relief around the steps leading up reveal the existence of an earlier Hindu temple at the site. The handsome east-facing façade must be seen in the warm glow of the rising sun (first image below). The annual feast at the church in the first week of January is an important event in the Goan calendar.

The Reis Magos Fort was built by the Portuguese in 1551 soon after their conquest of Bardez and later revitalized in 1703. When the Marathas took over Bardez in 1739, the Portuguese used the redoubts of Reis Magos and Aguada to barely hold on.

The archival photo adduced below discloses the glorious setting. Too bad the barbarians are now at the door, shovels in hand and trucks of concrete in tow.

Church of Reis Magos, Goa
5D, 35L

Seen from Reis Magos fort
5D, 24-105L

Devotion
5D, 24-105L

Reis Magos Fort - first rays of the sun
5D, 24-105L

Art by Mario Miranda
Reproduced with permission of the Mario Gallery

Reis Magos Church and Fort c. 1900
© Souza & Paul (Central Library Archives)

Saptakoteshwar of Naroa

Rajan P. Parrikar — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:37:26 +0000

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Legend has it that a group of sages on the island of Divar in Goa undertook penance to propitiate Shiva. It took seven crore (sapta-kot) years for the Great Yogi to take notice of their exertions. When He finally showed up, the sages petitioned Him to take up residence in the village of Naroa (also called Narve). Thus came about the great temple of Saptakoteshwar in Naroa-Divar, one that enjoys a special place in the Goan psyche for its singular role in our land’s turbulent history.

Saptakoteshwar weathered intrusions first by the Bahmani sultans, and later by the Portuguese who destroyed it. The first mass conversion of Goan Hindus to Christianity took place here on August 15, 1560, cleverly engineered by the Portuguese on the day of Gokulashtami, traditionally the most important celebration at the temple. The provenance of one of Goa‘s popular folk tunes, Hanv Saiba poltodi vaita, can be traced to this event.

At the original temple site in Naroa-Divar today stands the Chapel of Our Lady of Candelaria, and nearby lie the remains of the temple tank. The ancient linga has its own tale of woes to tell, even serving as a pulley for a nearby well. Finally it made its way across the river to be reinstalled at a new site which came to be known as New Naroa, today’s Narve in Bicholim taluka. The temple was restored by Shivaji in 1668.

Saptakoteshwar Temple at Narve, Goa
5D, 24-105L

Saptakoteshwar
5D, 24-105L

Saptakoteshwar Temple by Mario Miranda
(Reproduced with permission of the Mario Gallery)

Temple musician Dattaram Ramkrishna Narvekar
5D, 24-105L

Ruins of Nossa Senhora de Saúde

Rajan P. Parrikar — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:31:36 +0000

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The Church of Nossa Senhora de Saúde (Our Lady of Health) in the village of Sancoale, Goa, was built in 1606 and destroyed in a fire in 1834. All that remains today is the shell of its façade. It enjoys a delightful setting by the Zuari river, and the ruins provide clues to what must have been a magnificent edifice.

I photographed the site several times over a number of years. The first image below was taken handheld on a dark monsoon morning from the bridge across the Zuari river.

Nossa Senhora de Saúde at Sancoale, Goa
5D, 300L f/4 IS

First rays of the rising sun
5D, 300L f/4 IS

The remains
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

Ruins of Nossa Senhora de Saúde
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50 f/2 MP

Frontispiece
5D, 24-105L

Safa Masjid

Rajan P. Parrikar — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:57:09 +0000

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One of the very few surviving structures of Goa‘s Muslim era, the Safa Shahouri mosque in the town of Ponda was built in 1560 during the reign of Ibrahim Adilshah, sultan of Bijapur. The photograph below was shot on a serene winter morning in 2007. Notice the Goan touch, such as the tiled roof and the laterite masonry at the base and around the tank.

Safa Shahouri Mosque (1560) in Ponda, Goa
5D, 24-105L

Although I hadn’t seen it at the time the photo was taken, I thought the marvelous sketch of the mosque made by the recently departed Mario Miranda provides an interesting point of artistic interpretation. It is taken from the book Inside Goa (1982) by Manohar Malgonkar with illustrations by Mario, and reproduced here with permission of the Mario Gallery. Mario’s work may be purchased online at http://www.mariodemiranda.com.

Illustration by Mario Miranda from 'Inside Goa'
(Reproduced with permission of the publisher)

Desai de Arabó

Rajan P. Parrikar — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 01:40:27 +0000

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Arabó is a tiny ward of the village of Dhargal on River Chapora in north Goa. The name, a Goanized form referring to “Arab,” furnishes a clue to its past. Arab merchants sailed here in their dhows in mediæval times trading goods with the locals. It is a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of place, a sleepy outlier not yet (thankfully!) listed on any map or travel brochure.

Arabó piques contemporary interest on at least two counts. One is the subject of this post – the Desai House, unique in the state. Arabó is also the birthplace of the great music composer, the late N. Datta (Datta Naik), whose collaboration with the poet Sahir Ludhianvi gave us many enduring film melodies (see the end of this post).

The Desais are among the earliest Gaud Saraswat Brahmin families of Goa, and were for some time feudatories to the Bhonsales of Sawantwadi. The Desai House presents an incongruous sight with its striking exterior of exposed laterite and turrets on either flank. The original house belonged to a Muslim merchant who sold it to the Desais. The structure seen today dates back to around 1890 when the Desais gave the house a makeover.

These photographs were taken over a span of several years. During the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi in 2007, I was invited by the Desais for a private tour of their home.

Desai House in Arabó, Goa
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L

Notice the holes punched in the laterite to accommodate gun barrels.

Facet of the laterite exterior
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50 f/2 MP

Balcony in the foyer
5D, 24-105L

The interior layout hews to a traditional Goan Hindu design with its characteristic Rajangan (quadrangle).

Rajangan - the central courtyard
5D, 24-105L

To this day the Desais accord space and reverence to the Islamic flagpole left behind by the earlier Muslim owner. Every year on the occasion of the Moharram festival, the local Muslims are guests of the Desai family.

Islamic flagpole
5D, 24-105L

Inside one of the turrets
5D, 24-105L

Top view
5D, 24-105L

This sketch, reproduced in Ethnography of Goa, Daman and Diu by A.B. de Bragança Pereira (Penguin Group, 2008), depicts the original house. The tree is still there (see first image above).

Sketch of Desai House

PS: Selections of N. Datta here and here.

Nageshi

Rajan P. Parrikar — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:16:27 +0000

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In Hindu tradition, Nagesh is a manifestation of Lord Shiva, and one of the 12 jyotirlingas. The ancient shrine of Nagesh in the village of Bandivade (also known as Bandode) in Goa probably dates as far back as the 5th C. Its interior location saved it from the depredations of the early Portuguese conquests.

Historically as well as in regards to current religious practice, the temple at Nageshi, as the campus is called, occupies a special place in the hearts of Goans. The structure first assumed its present form around 1780.

From: Socio Cultural History of Goa by V.R. Mitragotri, published by Institute Menezes Braganza, 1999.

pp. 155-156
The influence of the Naga cult in Goa and in the adjoining regions could be traced with the help of the copper plate of Siroda…[which] clearly indicates that the Hindu society by c. 400 A.D. in this region had worshipped Nagas…In Goa there are two villages bearing the name Nagoa, one in Bardez taluka and the second one in Salcete. Before the spread of the Vedic culture in Goa region the linga of Nagesh may have been consecrated by the Gavdas and worshipped in the Nageshi shrine of Ponda taluka…There are two well known shrines of Nagesh in Ponda taluka namely in Priol and Bandivade…

Note: Goans often spell Nagesh as Naguesh (same thing with Mangesh and Manguesh).

Nageshi (2011)
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

Nageshi (c. 1958)
Scanned from Postais Antigos do Estado da Índia by João Loureiro

Front view
5D, 24-105L

Nagesh-bab
5D, 24-105L

Temple tank
5D, 24-105L

Deepastambha (Tower of Lamps)
5D, 24-105L

PS: The archival image in this post is scanned from Postais Antigos do Estado da Índia by João Loureiro (Fundação Macau, 1998). In the book it is credited to Centro de Informação e Turismo – Pangim.

Panjim Promenade – Azad Maidan

Rajan P. Parrikar — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 05:25:15 +0000

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Azad Maidan is the square in the heart of Panjim, originally conceived by the Portuguese as the Largo Afonso de Albuquerque. A brass memorial to the great Goan freedom fighter Dr. Tristão de Braganza Cunha (1891-1958) now occupies its geometric centre.

This window to the sky is one of the city’s vital organs, essential to its personality. The patch also serves as a platform for democratic expression – this is where Goans gather to sound off on the issues of the day.

From: Snapshots of Indo-Portuguese History – I, Pangim by Vasco Pinho, self published, 2007.

pp. 56-58
On February 17, 1843, were laid the foundations of the monument to Afonso de Albuquerque in the square referred to at different times as Largo dos Quarteis, Largo das Sete Janelas (Square of the Seven Windows) and also as Largo Afonso de Albuquerque (present time Azad Maidan). The monument was modelled after the Temple of Glory of Ancient Rome. The granite pillars and the iron beams had come from the Convent of S. Domingos at Velha Goa. As one can see in loco, the dome of the monument is supported by eight pillars and twelve columns. Some of these came from the College of St. Thomas Aquinas, formerly located on the hillock of Conceição, close to the Pangim Church. Albuquerque’s statue was transferred to Pangim after it was moved from the frontispiece of the Recolhimento da Serra at Velha Goa…

…When the statue was transferred from Velha Goa, it had come in a mutilated condition. Then, at the intervention of Governor José Ferreira Pestana, the Goan artist Rogunata Zó, a native of Ribandar, successfully did the restoration work. Zó was an artist who worked on wood, bone and ivory without any formal training. On this occasion, the artist proved himself to be a great master of the metalwork arts as well.

The mere hint of an open space is anathema to the philistine sensibilities of today’s Indians/Goans, so it remains to be seen how long the plaza survives before it is deprived of sunshine.

These colour photographs were taken in February this year with the remarkable Canon Tilt-Shift 24mm f/3.5 II lens. With the Shift function, the vertical lines remain vertical. The black-and-white archival images are photographs of old photographs.

For earlier installments of Panjim Promenade, click here.

Azad Maidan in Panjim
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

Morning at Azad Maidan
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

Windows of Nacre

Rajan P. Parrikar — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:25:48 +0000

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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, a good deal of give and take prevailed in the region. But it required the ingenuity and skill of the old Goan craftsmen to elevate the science of house construction to the level of art. A cursory look at the butt-ugly concrete eyesores now populating Goa brings home this point. (Boo! to the RCC-addled bozo architects and engineers.) Traditionally the highly skilled masons and craftsmen of Goa have come from the Pernem taluka.

From: Ethnography of Goa, Daman and Diu (first published in Portuguese in 1923) by A.B. de Bragança Pereira (translated by Maria Aurora Couto), Penguin Group, 2008.
p 85
…Since the Hindu house is very low, daylight can only enter through the door and a few small windows supported on wooden balusters. In some houses, window panes are made of conch shells instead of glass. These conch shells are called karepa (a translucent conch shell of oyster placuna placenta which filters a soft and muted light)…

From: Living Heritage, Shared Space by Angelo Costa Silveira (translated by Maria Flavia Ribeiro), Yoda Press, 2008.
pp 96-99
Carepas are undoubtedly one of the most enigmatic elements of construction in Goa. They have been used practically from the time of the arrival of the Portuguese. Their use was motivated by the need to illuminate and at the same time preserve the interiors of the house where social events could take place during the day…Carepas came to replace the system of wooden shutters and balusters which was very common in the early period…From the early days this system impressed travellers who frequently made references to it. Pyrard de Laval says in 1616: ‘(in Goa) they have no glass windows, instead very fine and straight oyster shells are used, inserted into wooden frames, allowing the light to come in as if it was of paper, as they are not as transparent as glass.’…

The images adduced here are a few examples of the exquisite windows of nacre drawn from the Bardez and Tiswadi areas.

Window panes of Nacre
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

House in Sangolda with balcão
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

Robert Menezes' home in Saligao
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

Rebello Mansion in Anjuna
5D Mark II, 135L

In Sangolda
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

In Cortin, Panjim
5D Mark II, TS-E 24L II

In Malar, Divar
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

Weathered ruins in Piedade, Divar
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

Stained glass and nacre in Saligao
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

Hanuman of Advalpal

Rajan P. Parrikar — Tue, 11 May 2010 07:33:11 +0000

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Ensconced in an orchard in the Goan village of Advalpal, an old and precious temple of Hanuman lies in a state of criminal neglect. Physical decay of the structure has taken hold, inside and out. This corrosion of the land’s cultural soul is a corollary to the ecocide underway in Goa.

Inside the shrine an exquisite image of Maruti greets the visitor. But there is more – the entire temple is embellished with kaavi (sgraffito) and represents one of the finest examples of its kind in Goa, as seen in the photographs below.

Ravaged by destructive mining the settlement of Advalpal is under severe pressure from rapacious miners and their political enablers. The future of this temple is highly uncertain – it is located on private property and the owner has had ‘offers’.

Hanuman of Advalpal, Goa
5D, 85L II

Hanuman temple in Advalpal, Goa
5D, 24-105L

Kaavi art on temple façade
5D, 24-105L

Panjim Promenade – 3

Rajan P. Parrikar — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:51:23 +0000

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In this installment, we look at two of Panjim‘s legendary hotels.

The 19th C Hotel Republica is among the city’s earliest hotels, and is located along Afonso Mexia Road in central Panjim, near the Old Secretariat building. W. Somerset Maugham stayed here in 1938 during his visit to Goa. If I recall correctly, the hotel also had a bit role in World War II history – German spies were caught on its premises. Today, Hotel Republica has devolved into a low budget way station for ill-mannered tourist hordes.

Hotel Republica in Panjim, Goa
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L

Hotel Mandovi enjoys the same kind of cachet in the Goan mind as that accorded the Taj Mahal Hotel by the denizens of Mumbai. The hotel was erected on the Noronha family land (the family chapel still stands), and is owned by the Quenim family. Built in the Art Deco style, it first opened for business on December 1, 1952. Although some of the old world elegance has now frayed, its restaurant Riorico is known to this day for outstanding Goan cuisine, especially its signature Goan-Portuguese specialties.

Hotel Mandovi in Panjim, Goa
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L

Also see -

Panjim Promenade – 2.
Panjim Promenade – 1.