Goa. The word evokes images of sun-drenched sandy beaches and narrow roads lined with coconut trees, pristine churches and one or two-storeyed houses, lively music and night-long beach parties. It is a place where the weary souls can unwind and find a smile in their hearts.
There are hidden gems in Goa for the discerning traveller to seek out. One of them is Fontainhas, which is in the capital city of Panaji.
In the words of historian William Dalrymple, it is a “small chunk of Portugal washed up on the shores of the Indian Ocean”.
The Portuguese colonists established Fontainhas, inspired by Lisbon’s Bairro Alto. Bairro das Fontainhas, or the “quarter of Fontainhas”, sits at the foot of Altinho, an affluent hilltop area. The name “Fontainhas” comes from a local fountain, the “Fountain of Phoenix” or “Fonte Phoenix”. “Fonte” means “fountain” in Portuguese.
Goa was a Portuguese territory for about 450 years. It became part of India in December 1961. Old Goa, or Velha Goa was the port city of the Bijapur Sultanate, established in the 15th century. The Portuguese conquerors of Goa made it their capital. This beautiful city was called “Rome of the Orient”. It had a thriving population of 2 lakh people. However, by the end of 18th century, the city was devastated by cholera, plague and malaria, and economic decline and the population dwindled to a mere 20 thousand. It was necessary to shift the capital.
Before it became Goa’s capital in 1843, most of Panaji was low-lying marshlands along the flood plains of the river Mandovi, with only a few fishing settlements scattered along its banks. From the latter half of the nineteenth century, these marshlands were reclaimed to expand the city.
The Indo-Portuguese fusion of the architecture of the residential houses in Fontainhas is fascinating.
The houses are attuned to the climatic condition of the region. All houses have sloping roofs covered with layers of tiles. Two layers were usually sufficient, but the rich used a third layer, to announce their position in society.
As Goans adopted a Western lifestyle, the balcão or a sit-out became a social device that opened the house to the world. While the traditional Hindu house was arranged around a central courtyard, the Catholic house faced outward. There are a few houses with balcão in the Fontainhas area. Most houses have the owner’s name on a handmade Azulejo tile.
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The windows have a semicircular upper extension with radiating spokes; these denote the rising sun. The white squares in the windowpanes are oyster shells. It throws a beautiful, diffused light on the interior of the house. Alas, some people decided to replace them with glass, which was more expensive at that time. In 1984, Fontainhas was declared a World Heritage site, and the government banned the use of oyster shells! So, these window-panes cannot be recreated any longer.
The Portuguese government had mandated a compulsory painting of the house each year after the monsoon. This practice continues as a tradition. The usual colors used to paint the walls were yellow, green and blue. The vegetable dyes were mostly acquired locally. The color blue came from indigo and was the most expensive. A house owner who wanted to proclaim himself wealthy and a cut above the rest would paint his house blue.
In 1984 Fontainhas was recognized as a World Heritage site by UNESCO for its colourful heritage homes influenced by Portuguese architecture. Fontainhas is also known as Asia’s largest Latin Quarters, and several agencies offer a walking tour package.
The walking tour starts from the Panaji Post office. Its postal code is 403001. The Indian research center in the ice-covered continent of Antarctica and the warm, tropical Goa share the same Postal code, 403001. In 1983, Dakshin Gangotri, India’s first scientific base station in Antarctica was established. A Post office was set up which received thousands of letters. Research Centers Maitri and Bharati came up after Dakshin Gangotri had to be abandoned. The pin code 403001 is still used for both Panaji and Maitri because the two share postal services. Bharati is also under the Goa Postal Service with a different PIN Code.
The building that houses the post office was originally known as Tobacco House, and it was a warehouse of tobacco. The place was known as Tobacco Square. In the 18th century, the Portuguese had tried to revive the sinking economy through the tobacco trade.
The Portuguese had come to India not only for trade but also for spreading the Roman Catholic religion. We came across the Saint Thomas Chapel. Saint Thomas, the patron saint of carpenters, earned the nickname Doubting Thomas when his logical mind could not accept the idea of the Resurrection of Jesus. The Saint Sebastian Chapel stood at the other end of the neighborhood. There the statue of Jesus has his eyes open, looking straight at the visitor as if to instill fear in them so that they do not dream of leaving their newly adopted religion. The churches are painted white.
Right beside the St Thomas chapel stood a blue-colored house. It had tiny balconies. While in the rest of Europe these balconies are called Juliet balconies (referring to William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet), the Portuguese men used them as a smoking area.
As we walked through the labyrinth of lanes crossing each other at odd angles and lined with houses with common walls, separated from each other only by their deep and vibrant colours, the history of Goa came alive.
The brightly painted walls, the windows with their typical semicircular rising sun design, the churches with white walls and the grottos here and there, the tiny bakeries tucked away in the narrow lanes, the roosters and Soldado sitting on top of the houses — all have their own stories to tell.
Trancy took us to a well-known bakery as well as part of the tour. We sampled Bebinca from Confetaria 31 De Janeiro and a refreshing kokum juice in a resident’s house. 31 De Janeiro translates to the 31st Day of January. On this day the first Republican revolt took place in Portugal in 1891, and people were killed. This day was set forth as the Martyrs’ Day and a street in Portugal as well as one in Panaji was named Rua de 31 de Janeiro.
The climax of the tour was a visit to the house of Fransisco, who treated us to a musical evening.
O traveler, if you ever visit Goa, do not miss this vibrant and beautiful place steeped in history.
Image Courtesy: Author, Pinterest, TripAdvisor, Shutterstock
