Dan and I spent about eight days in Goa and really loved it. It is a chilled out coastal region which was inundated with hippies in the 60s, many of whom never left. Strangely the remaining hippies did not look very relaxed, with tense body language and facial expressions that reminded me of Easter Island statues. The indigenous people were polar opposites – smiling, friendly and hospitable.
We did a lot of western tourist stuff which would probably not be very exciting to read about – food, beach, restaurants, scootering, markets (we are getting better at haggling – now I am starting at 1/3 of the originally stated price. This may still be too high.)
The most beautiful building that we saw was the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa. The Basilica is famous for containing the body of St Francis Xavier, Goa’s patron saint. He achieved sainthood posthumously when his body failed to decompose, despite having four sacks of quicklime emptied into his coffin. Just over a year later his body was returned to Goa, medically examined and found to be ‘untainted’. He was reburied, but his coffin was opened frequently to show visiting religious persons, and parts were removed as keepsakes, which seems to have been the style of the time. Now it is brought out every 10 years for display (next screening 2014 for anyone who is keen!). I tried to find out how long it took the body to start decomposing but it was difficult to find anything concrete. He died in 1552, and from what I found online, in the 1680s the body started drying up and orders were issued that the coffin remain closed henceforth. It was opened later that decade and the body was likely to have been in a more advanced state of decay as the church feared that the devotion of the general population would pall if the body was to be seen in that condition.
We did a lot of western tourist stuff which would probably not be very exciting to read about – food, beach, restaurants, scootering, markets (we are getting better at haggling – now I am starting at 1/3 of the originally stated price. This may still be too high.)
The most beautiful building that we saw was the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa. The Basilica is famous for containing the body of St Francis Xavier, Goa’s patron saint. He achieved sainthood posthumously when his body failed to decompose, despite having four sacks of quicklime emptied into his coffin. Just over a year later his body was returned to Goa, medically examined and found to be ‘untainted’. He was reburied, but his coffin was opened frequently to show visiting religious persons, and parts were removed as keepsakes, which seems to have been the style of the time. Now it is brought out every 10 years for display (next screening 2014 for anyone who is keen!). I tried to find out how long it took the body to start decomposing but it was difficult to find anything concrete. He died in 1552, and from what I found online, in the 1680s the body started drying up and orders were issued that the coffin remain closed henceforth. It was opened later that decade and the body was likely to have been in a more advanced state of decay as the church feared that the devotion of the general population would pall if the body was to be seen in that condition.
A pretty classic street in Anjuna | Our awesome hostel, the Orange House
In the middle is a lightbox showing Xavier's mortal remains, everybody was clamoring to get a shot of that
one! | This classic 'buddy christ' style was everywhere in Goa, I kept expecting the statues to be giving a
thumbs up...
interesting hippie/indian mixes of styles
very insistent that we give them rupees... they were a little disappointed when I gave them a NZ coin each
I am yet to get my hands on one.
and these are seriously just a tiny sample.
Sunset restaurant, our favorite. Right on the edge of Anjuna beach. We spent many a night watching the
sun set here | And finally, a bizarre cloud formation that took our fancy
