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.

Casa Dempo also has an uplifting past. For several decades, the Dempos have thrown open its premises to thousands during lunchtime and served free vegetarian food – annachhatra, as this old Hindu practice is called. In particular, generations of needy students of all religions and castes have benefited from this largesse of the Dempo family.

Beyond Casa Dempo in the photograph below, the old building with the yellow facade houses the government printing press. (Aside: the first printing press in India was set up in Goa in 1556.)

Casa Dempo in Panjim, Goa
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L

Take a look at the next item – a photograph of an old photograph (c. 1880) from the Central Library archives. Seen are the homes on what used to be the Afonso de Albuquerque Road (now the Mahatma Gandhi Road). The red arrow points to Casa Dempo. I took my shot above standing only a few feet right of the man seen in the middle of the street.

Casa Dempo around 1880 (from the Central Library Archives)

Also see: Panjim Promenade – 1.

Panjim attained prominence in 1827 when the Portuguese transferred their capital from Old Goa. In 1843, it was elevated to a city, awarded upgrades befitting the capital of Estado da Ìndia, and renamed Nova Goa. A description of that time cuts a smart picture: It is a very beautiful city, modern, with broad and spacious roads drawn in grid pattern (tiradas a cordel), large squares, excellent footpaths, six beautiful bridges and a fine dock. That quote and its source are found in the monograph Snapshots of Indo-Portuguese History – Part I – Pangim, by Vasco Pinho.

I was born and raised in Panjim. It remained essentially the same idyll through my young adult years. All the ingredients of a world-class town were in place beginning with its picture-postcard setting. It was clean, quiet, the pace was languid, and an old world collegial ambience prevailed. Violent crime was unheard of. It had fine educational institutions, an outstanding medical school & hospital – said to be the oldest in Asia, a superb Central Library, a clutch of cultural institutions, lovely jardims, and wide open spaces for outdoor activities. Above all, it was a pedestrian’s delight with all neighbourhoods within the ambit of a leisurely stroll.

Where in India – or even in Silicon Valley for that matter – could a young fellow sit through a music class, then go out and shoot soccer balls, then polish off a plate of bhaji-puri at the legendary Cafe Tato, then traipse across the jardim to the reading room at Central Library, and finally pedal to Miramar beach for sundown? All in the space on an afternoon, immersed in delightful surroundings, without jostling crowds and honking traffic. Panjim was our cosy nest for what the Italians call dolce far niente. This is not a tall tale of “the good old days” – I am talking Panjim of as recent as the mid-1990s.

Sad to say, since 2002 or so this exquisite city of ours – amchi Ponje – is on a downward spiral like much of Goa. Soon it will devolve into another noisy, squalid, jumbled mass of urban chaos that is characteristic of all Indian cities and towns. By and by I shall have more to say on this.

In this extended series to be run over the next several months, I will focus on remnants of Panjim‘s past. The photographs will strive to convey a sense of the city’s surviving heritage assets and its (fast-fading) character.

One final note before we head to the gallery – the book, Walking In and Around Panaji (2005), put together by Heta Pandit and her colleagues at Goa Heritage Action Group is a good starting point for an exploration of Panjim and surrounds.

This first photograph was taken from the Reis Magos fort across River Mandovi.

Panjim on the River Mandovi
5D, 24-105L

The next photograph was shot late evening from the upper maintenance deck of the Doordarshan tower (notice the long shadow), looking towards Patto, Mandovi bridge, and the island of Chorão across the river. I had to obtain special permission for access to the tower. The climb up the dark, dank space was quite hairy given the heavily corroded iron railings & stairs.

A bird's eye view of Panjim
5D, 35L

By way of comparison, this is a photograph I took of an old (c. 1900) photograph from the Central Library archives. The bridge leading into Ponte de Liñhares (1632) that joins Panjim with Ribandar is seen, as are the salt pans to the right, and Chorão across the river.

Panjim circa 1900 (© Souza & Paul)

The final photograph was taken in Corte do Oiteiro (colloquially called Cortim). Houses of this type, featuring windows laced with nacre, characterize Panjim‘s old quarter.

Old house in Panjim's Cortin quarter
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L

* RCC = Reinforced Cement Concrete

Panjim Inn in the Fontainhas area of Panjim, Goa
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L

Photographing the Azulejos in Panjim presents two challenges. One is the lighting – the only opening for natural light is through the main door in a direction parallel to the walls, and this results in highly uneven illumination across their length. The interior lighting is not helpful, since it consists of a tubelight which does nothing more than reflect blobs of specular highlights from the walls. Without an elaborate secondary lighting set-up, the only recourse is to correct for and balance the illumination in post-processing.

The second difficulty is the narrow width of the passageway itself, which leaves little room for backing out. A standard ultra-wide angle lens will take in the entire scene but render the vertical lines convergent. This issue was presently addressed through the use of the magnificent TS-E 17L lens.

A quick rendering of a couple of Azulejos is presented below. The tonal and colour balance shows variation across the two frames, which a more careful processing would mitigate.

Azulejo at Institute Menezes Braganza building in Panjim, Goa
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L

Azulejo at Institute Menezes Braganza building in Panjim, Goa
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L

Old building housing the Institute Menezes Braganza
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L

This lady – she said she was from the village of Uccasaim – hovered in the background and after I was done shooting, insisted that I take her portrait.

Maria Fernandes, outside the Institute Menezes Braganza building
5D Mark II, 24-105L

The following photograph of Panjim‘s signature landmark was taken at daybreak a couple of days back. A cluster of unseasonal clouds adds character to the backdrop.

The Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception began as a shrine in the mid-16th C in what was to much later become Goa’s capital city. It was rebuilt in the early 17th C and elevated to a church.

Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception in Panjim, Goa
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L

A few selections from the 2007 festivities at our place in Panjim follow.

Ganesha
5D, 24-105L

My nephew Yash and niece Saraswati doing aarti
5D, 24-105L

Traditional meal served on banana leaf
5D, 24-105L

Traditional sweets
5D, 24-105L

Ganapati Bappa prepares to leave
5D, 24-105L

Visarjan: Farewell to Mr. G at the Panjim docks by River Mandovi
5D, 24-105L