Basilica of Bom Jesus... and Old Goa



The Basilica of Bom Jesus:

At the "Basilica of Bom Jesus", constructed 400 years ago. (Bom is "good/holy". I guess, similar to "bon"- good in French). We sit on one of the wooden benches. The eyes take time to adjust to the dark interiors. It's nice and cool and a relief from the blazing afternoon sun outside. The church is imposing with a high ceiling- but not overly ornate. People mill around the shrine. At the back of the shrine, the letters IHS are inscribed. As we wonder what those letters mean, a board has the information- it corresponds to the first 3 letters of Jesus in Greek.



Basilica of Bom Jesus



My daughter is curious about a signboard which says "No guiding beyond this point"! "It just means that guides shouldn't talk to tourists loudly and disturb the devotees who want to pray," I tell her. Probably the answer is adequate. But I need to bring in a Biblical element and wander all over- "It could also mean that once you are at the place of worship, we don't want other guides misguiding us. It's better that they all stay silent! He alone is the guide, He is the path, the way!" I had already lost my daughter's attention, but continue my ramble- I guess it's just the mystique of the place!

"In the Vedas too, He's praised as namah pathyaaya- Salutations unto the One who is the path and as namah pulastyaaya- Salutations unto the One who is "the guide"- the maargabandhu."

(Sorry for the unnecessary diversion!)

As we turn to the right from the shrine, Saint Francis Xavier's body is seen in a silver casket on a raised platform. It's tough to see the body clearly from this distance. "I saw his face!" my daughter is visibly happy. People click away with their cameras.

The adjoining room has a few portraits of the Saint, a rather moving sculpture of Jesus on the cross and the original green casket in which the Saint's body was stored before it was transferred to the silver casket in 1951.

Another signboard says "Mass wedding in progress. Don't disturb".

This is just as unclear as the first one. We joke that we better stay as a group. The last thing we want is to stray from the pack and emerge from the church christened as Mr Carvalho with a lady in tow! Someone corrects us- it's not a "mass wedding" (not a collective community wedding!), rather a "mass" (church service) or  a "wedding" (at the church) may be in progress, which shouldn't be disturbed! English Grammar and our analytical skills are tested no doubt.

Evidently, these signboards fuel our fertile imagination. A third one says "Don't photograph persons"! The intent is even more blurry. My wife goes ahead and gets the kids photographed against the background of the church. Some of the kids are closer to their simian cousins when it comes to behaviour- there is definitely wriggle room should someone accost us for photographing "persons"!

The Archaeological Museum:

Time is running out and we need to cover the Museum across the street. It is housed in the convent portion of the Church of St Francis of Assisi.  The museum has mainly two sections.
The first section has Hindu sculptures found in and around Goa (Gomantak) from the 10th century to the 16th century. Sculptures of Vishnu, Uma-Maheshwara, Surya are seen- some are mutilated either by time or with intent. Sculptures which cannot be identified seem to have been classified generically as "Victory Pillars".

The second section has portraits and accomplishments of all the Portuguese Viceroys and Governors from 1500 to 1961. The full length portraits are quite amateurish in execution. Most of them look alike- with moustache and beard, head gear, robes and even stance. The names distinguish them- we find the Saldanhas, the Almeidas, the Mirandas and the Coutinhos. There are about 3 bullet points written for each of them, which make amusing reading on closer scrutiny.

Paraphrasing some from memory- "Could have done a lot better but for King of Dabhol's treachery" and "Could have accomplished a lot more but did not have able subordinates". The last one sounds more like a commentary on Sachin Tendulkar's career!
The interiors of St Francis of Assisi are more impressive than the one across the street, but does not look like a functional church at this point in time.

St Francis of Assissi Church

Old Goa:

Driving through Old Goa is an eye-opener- totally different in character from any other part of the country. Goa has been with India since 1961- about 50 years. Portuguese ruled Goa for close to 500 years and it shows- the buildings, the houses, the villas look very European and of course the names.
The Mandovi River is picturesque and eat-outs by the river are straight out of our Europe trip. The taxi-driver points to a group of villas on the other side of the river- "That's Vijay Mallya's as well as this yacht!"
"Why is he so rich pa!?  my daughter questions! "That's because he owns the Bangalore Royal Challengers Cricket team silly," her sister answers. 
"Pa! This is the real Goa! Why did we spend all our time in Canacona? Next time, we'll stay at Panjim!"
We agree.

All aboard

By 5:30 pm, we are at the bus depot and take our seats in the VRL sleeper bus. As someone told me 20 years ago- Goa is all about "aa" ("come" in Hindi) and then "go"!!