The inexplicable Goan tug

Years and years of regular travel to Goa has made sense to very few people in and around my life. 'If i do not party or eat seafood or really swim (in the ocean), why do I go' is a reasonable question many ask. I really like the vibe, I say. Not knowing what it meant until recently.

The first time I went to Goa was when amma had just passed and I was choking in my grief and was so full of anger, at many many things (planing a book on these things) - it was a rebound kind of trip. The timing was off, it was too difficult to manage the incredulous looks of my family, my child was eight and I was unhinged. I went anyway. Goa welcomed me - no judgement, no fear, no worrying about anything, I sank - though just for 2 days and I ran back home (different story). Have you ever felt a place accept you? It is magical - open arms, just like Bangalore always does for me. I was hooked, I felt safe and I have gone back at least once a year since then. That is the meaning of the word 'vibe', to me.

Goa is so much more than...

This was a week long trip - longest I have ever been to Goa, so the excitement was as palpable as the first time. Friends who I can travel with, travelled with me. And it was a wonderful trip, the only casualty being a fractured ankle (she will tell you the story another day).

The Historical Slant

The last few years I have also kept a note of things that I come across in my reading about Goa - I understand it a lot more from a historical perspective. Beyond the Portuguese. Its role in maritime trade for one and the evolution of the people and their beliefs. It is a better picture not a complete one. Keeping this in mind, two things I wanted to talk about.

1. Saptakoteswara temple on Dewar Island

We took our car on a boat to get to the Island, I know you know but sometimes islands do have bridges that connect them to the mainland - was a 5 minute ride across. The island itself is quiet and has the most prettiest of Portuguese bungalows, a lovely place to wander around, they do tours too.

This was the second time I had gone there specifically to look for this temple, which was also an active archeological site. This time we found it. What was left of it was just the tank - Panchaganga Tirtha (a common feature in most temples). Beautiful carvings on the walls of the tank.

This temple was built by the Kadamba kings in and around the 10th - 14th century - an ode to Shiva. Has remnants of a Jaina matha which existed before the temple, the ruins still visible. The temple was eventually destroyed twice over and the idol was moved to a safer location across the river and reinstalled in a brand new temple with the help of Shivaji.

An innocuous temple today with a football floating in the water tank. I wonder how I deem places of worship and sacredness - do they need to be a certain way for it to deserve my attention? If it was then and not now - does it still hold its mystic? If I can decide it for myself, why do still people tell me there is a right and a wrong way?

Shiva was here once, so I said a hello and spent some time just wandering around the place.

2. Reis Margos Fort

The Goan coastline is strewn with forts - some barely holding up their walls and some very well renovated. Reis Margos is the cutest one you will ever see. Its like Goldilocks of all the forts there - just right. Not too high not too low, not too big not too small, not too scary not too friendly and very, very picturesque.

It has cannons and scary dungeons as it was sometimes used a prison and a look out point to spot enemy ships but now you just see beautiful views of the sea - thank God.

Was built in the 16th century by Adil Shah, the Portuguese took it over (nice way of saying conquered) and often used as a pitstop for dignitaries on their way to Portugal.

One of my favourite places to walk about - I have seen this fort in every season.

Couple of other fort recommendations - Cabo de Rama, down in Cancona (South) - definitely wilder and more fun to walk around. In other words, not restored. And of course Tiracol fort (North) - where you can lunch with the view of the Ocean. And Reis Margos right in the middle - the just right fort.

Adding to the post - The prehistoric sites at Goa.

The most recent visit to Goa resulted in a spectacular find. A site with pre-historic rock engravings, Usgalimal is the place. They have been attributed to the upper Palaeolithic or Mesolithic period - anywhere between 20,000 to 30,000 years ago! Let it sink in.

It was a couple of hours drive in the south easterly direction from Panaji and I was uncontainable, my first pre-historic site. Wanted to read all about it but sadly, not much written and not much interest from the governing bodies. The road was desolate and the area forested, a small walk in and we entered a different era.

The engravings seem to point to the Kushavati Shamanic culture, a hunter- gatherer community that lived around six to eight thousand years ago, so not the first migration of humans but the following - most probably Mediterranean who descended the western ghats.

Experts say that the rock shelters in the area was enough for a community of 25-30 people. Many more dotted along other parts of Goa too. The engravings were now on the banks of the above stream and the locals a shared that they disappear once the monsoons come and show up again as they recede. “For hundreds of years, the Kushavati rock art of Goa was known locally as goravarakhnyachi chitram, or pictures made by cowherds. But people did not know how ancient the works were, nor could anyone interpret them”.

Their engravings are intricate and unique, making them one of the best in India. Was my first

It was a great first historic site for me.

Rivona Buddhist Caves

As we were driving out from Usgalimal we saw a small signboard for Buddhist caves nearby. Headed in that direction, while I looked it up. The caves were said to be 6th, 7th century and had evidence of being mediation spaces of Buddhist monks. They were also known as Pandava Caves. The natural shelter of the cave gave many a monk the peace, quiet and protection from the heat to work at their Nirvana, minimal distractions was a given.

Goa never fails.