Friday, March 20, 2009

Goa


After Murudeshwar, it was Goa.

The next morning, we woke up really early before dawn and left to Goa. The four of us and Melvit’s parents.

The drive was beautiful. We passed over several bridges, built over backwaters and on both sides of the bridge, there were beautiful coconut grooves. Sometimes we moved along the shores for a brief stretch and looked hungrily at the vast sea, the beaches and the horizon. There were islands here and there. As the sun rose, the picture became lovelier. But it also became warmer.

Within 5 hours, we were in Goa.

The first place we visited was St. Xavier’s church.









The thousand year old relics of St. Xavier. 10 years ago when my father took us all to Goa, the body was in the open, enclosed in a glass case and we got a good look at it… now the location has been changed … it is less accessible … and you cannot even see it… perhaps the body has degenerated further…


The exterior of the church…


Goan churches may be known for their splendor but none can beat the St. Philomena’s church in Mysore as far as the exteriors are concerned… I will post pictures of it soon…

And then we went to another church close to the Xavier’s church.


After the church and museum, we went to Mangeshi temple.



This was one of those many many temples attacked and desecrated by the missionaries. The deity was shifted to here or a new temple built …


I bought a hat, a few knit tops and we all had lunch at this place…


We then visited the Mahalasa temple…


This too was desecrated by the missionaries and had to be shifted to this new place


Another church ... think this was in Panjim...this is supposedly where the movie “Josh” was shot. Sprawling over a large square of land…and having lots of space on all its sides, painted in white, it looks so solemn...





It was past 4 in the afternoon… it was time… to go to THE BEACH…

The waterfront was beautiful




We walked to this vantage point called Vasco de Gama(below) or something… I was so busy taking pictures that I did not make note of the names of all the churches… the beaches etc…


From the vantage point, we got a 360 degree view of the sea.. water and water as far as eyes could see… ships, boats, skies and clouds…



We proceeded to another beach where I saw the most magical sunset of my life…



4 comments:

DonJose said...

Beautiful... When do you find the time to do all the travelling... I think I already know the answer :)
The photos are simply beautiful... Seriously, I think it's time you look for a carrer switch... I'm also on the verge of it :D

Satish said...

Couple of more must to do things in GOA is

a) Water sports - Host of watersports like JetSki, paragliding, Banana rides....

b) Going into the sea and watching the dolphins either at sunrise or sunset.... These rides are way to expensive in North Goa as compared to South Goa...

Sowmya Chakravarthy said...

Hey Jose,

For now, trying to do all of them together - career, hobbies, recreation and all... the day I find it difficult, I will let go of career.

Satish,

as for watersports, I prefer fresh water to sea water... There is no dearth of lakes and rivers in this country... I will have to go all the way tyo Himalayas ...but that's OK.

Anonymous said...

Loved your blog, waiting for more blogs

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