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GOA INDIA TOURISM --» Goa Cities --» Panaji
Panaji
Near the end of the road from Mumbai to Goa lies a golden city, fought over
for centuries by kings of many colours. Today it has lost a little of its
shine, but this Rome of the East continues to draw admirers from across
the world. And why so? Because Panjim is Emerging! The old giving way to
the new, art deco structures next to charming vivendas, a bustling market
place and suddenly an old church. And all these add to the beauty. No Doubt,
every angle in Panjim affords a different view.The moment you migrate off NH 17 and emerge onto a stone-paved bridge, Panjim-on-Mandovi will rise up to greet you. Twin bridges carry you across the silver river and you could swear you feel a physical embrace as you enter this city which, as the late city planner David Menezes once wistfully remarked, is "a gift from God'. Old villas and church spires peek out between the tourist resorts, jostling for attention, against the curtain of a serene waterfront. As you drive into the city, even the newer uproars can't erase the elegance of this old colonial town adorned with shaded avenues and heritage mansions. Adding a dab of Portugal to its shapely temples, and a touch of local repartee into the haughty customs of the Iberians, Panjim's combined heritage is neither perfectly Portuguese nor incredibly Indian, but gorgeously Goan.
Walking The Bygone Paths of History
The graceful Mandovi, which flows like a gift from God, before it empties into the blue waters of the Arabian Sea, holds the history of Goa in its shimmering waters. Along the Mandovi the Portuguese sailed into what is now Old Goa, expatriating the Adilshah of Bijapur and scattering the terrified local populace out of their dictatorial passageway. They stayed over for four centuries, in the bargain changing the landscape of Goa forever.
The advent of an epidemic in the 18th century, made the Portuguese shift their capital to Panaji, 'the land that never gets flooded'. They pulled down the magnificent structures of Old Goa, built in Portugal's hey-day, and carried the stones to Panjim, where they copied the same elegance while building a new capital. Later on 22nd March 1843, it was bestowed with the status of 'city' and renamed as Nova Goa (New Goa).
Experience The Magic of Discovery At Ponjje (Panjim)You will need a full morning for a tour of Old Goa, an afternoon for a tour of Panjim or of the islands in the Mandovi river, and many, many weekends for the famous beaches of Bardez. Any resident will tell you that Panjim is a walker's paradise. So take out a good pair of walking legs even before you plan a holiday trip to Panaji. All roads lead to Church Square, dominated by the towering Lady of Immaculate Conception Church at the heart of Panjim, so this is a good place to begin. Rising up out of Altinho (pronounced Aal-teenyu) hill like a delicately iced, massive, multi-tiered cake, the IC Church is indeed a place to be visited for Midnight Mass on both Christmas and New Year's Eve. Its characteristic feature is the majestic flight of stairs made in Gothic style. Remember to look for two things this church is famous for - the central pediment topped with the second largest bell in Goa and the Baroque main altar, that stands apart inside. Spend a pleasant hour at George Restaurant at the corner below the church, munching on fried 'bombil' to go with beer, and soak in the laid-back atmosphere.
Turn your back to the church and face the Municipal Garden. Walk along the Ourem Creek and cross over into Panjim on the footbridge. At the other side, turn left for the heritage ward of Fontainhas. Fontainhas got its name from 'fonte' (spring) and a single glance will tell you that it's very appropriately named indeed. The cultural centre of Old Panjim in the 1800s, Fontainhas was indeed like a spring out of flowed eminent doctors, pharmacists, engineers, historians, actors, journalists and missionaries. Fontainhas Ward today, with its labyrinthine streets and quaint houses has lost the moment but not its glory. Do take a stroll through the quarter; where the air is irrefutably Old World, the lingo Portuguese and residents sitting in their balconies are fed up of snoopy tourists peering into their living rooms.
Don't forget to visit the concrete memory of the times gone at the Chapel of St. Sebastian, nestling nearby. The most impressive part is the historic crucifix of the Palace of Inquisition, which still sends a shrudder down the Catholic spine. Christ on the cross is always depicted with its head drooping onto his chest. Here, he is life-size and looks straight ahead with eyes wide open, as open as at the times these eyes witnessed unspeakable horrors suffered by Goans at the hands of invaders. Walk up the stone flagged steps to the palace, which has 12 crosses commemorating the Stations of the Cross, tracing Christ's walk up Calvary to his crucifixion. Drive north on Corte de Oiteriro Road to reach the oldest surviving building Adil Shah's Palace, built by the Sultan of Bijapur. Often referred to as Idalcao in Portuguese, this princely palace was remodeled in 1759 for the use of Viceroy. Today, it is morphed into Goa's Secretariat, legislative offices and other government offices.
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