Chapora Fort

After visiting Aguada Fort, one tends to be slightly disappointed by the vast expanse of literally nothing inside the fortress.  The crumbling boundary walls of the fortress serves as a great panaromic view point for photography particularly of the vagator beach front.  This can be visited for those who admire sunset scenary.  The fort became famous after the Amir Khan film Dil Chahta hai was shot on this locale in 2001 directed by Farhan Akthar after extensive research and his diary jottings of the life style prevailing at that time in Goa.

Location :  Chapora Fort is situated on the coastal route towards Vagator beach from Calangute.  It is approximately 25 kms away from Panjim.   One can approach it from Mapusa too, it is just 12 kms from the main market.  One needs to trek a small hillock which is steep and filled with slippery pebbles of laterite stones.  Even though it is not dangerous one can have a nasty fall if one has a tendency to loose balance.  One needs to park their vehicle in the basement of the fortress and begin the ascent.

The original fortress belonged to the Maharaja of Sawantwadi who was a feudatory of the Vijaynagar empire till 1565.  The Moghul prince Akbar ( Aurangazeb’s son ) seems to have taken shelter in this fortress with the help of Marathas ( Sambaji ) in 1683.  From here he fled to Persia never to return.

In 1717, Chapora fortress was rebuilt in keeping with their architecture.  The fortress contained a Chapel dedicated to St Anthony which has collapsed due to extreme humidity and windy conditions prevailing on the hillock.  The fortress again fell into the hands of Marathas in 1739, for two years once again Portuguese regained it after defeating the them.  Currently only the enterance and side boundary walls remain in shape and few barracks are remnants of once magnificent fortress.  There is a graveyard located by the side of the fortress, which has served as burial ground for soldiers who lost their lives in the battle.  The fort seems to have lost importance, primarily due to lack of water source unlike fort Aguada and Reis Magos.

The fort is ideally suited for married couples to spend a few private moments and youngsters and college students who are interested in trekking and group photography.  If one has visited Goa multiple times, this is one destination one can explore leisurely otherwise it can be ticked off the itinerary.

World Class ASI Museum at Old Goa

Prologue : We were hunting for the Goa state Museum, we were mislead to Science Museum situated besides Miramar beach, than we were directed towards Pattao, ultimately we gave up and proceeded to discover the ASI museum at Old Goa.  Vehicle can be parked just by the side road and one can enter the complex of Churches starting with ASI museum.

An Archaeological Museum was established in 1964, which was later re-organised in 1981-82.  This was undertaken for the CHOGM Retreat in Goa in 1982.  Currently it is renovated into a world class museum with air conditioned inside, and pleasing lighting effects.  A slew of surveillance cameras are fitted so that no damage is caused by vandalism covering all angles of the museum.

The highlight of this museum is the huge life size portraits of the governors and viceroys during the reign of Portuguese in a huge hall situated on the first floor.  The widened staircase was newly laid for visitors to avoid a melee. 

A new annexe building was constructed to provide additional space to house all the artefacts and collections.  The flooring was relaid with teakwood to match with the original building and bring in uniformity.  ASI has done tremendous amount of work, which is on going to maintain all the monuments in Old Goa. 

Afonso de Albuquerque’s 3.6 meter bronze statue greets the visitors at the museum entrance, unfortunately photography is not allowed inside the museum.  The entrance fee for Indian visitors is Rs 10/ per head and foreigners is $ 5.  The Museum is open on all days except Friday it is closed and timings are 10 am to 5 pm.  It takes at least 2 hours to properly have a look at various exhibits in an AC environs.  The attendant told us to keep in mind 4.30, 5.00, 5.30 & 6.00 pm in mind in order of closure of monuments for visitors. 

There maps of sea routes used by Portuguese merchants, St Xaviers travel path and drawings of Old Goa in 1509.  Another statue of Afonso De Albuquerque adorns the museum.  The plan of the museum is also displayed.

The first gallery consists of Palaeolithic stones tools and Neolithic celts and short history on pre historic sites are displayed in the map of goa.  The second showcase contains artefacts from Chandor with copper nails, rings etc from 3 BC onwards.  The Hindu sculptures were collected from surroundings of Old Goa Church area which suggests the presence of temples prior to Portuguese occupation, whether they were razed to ground by Adil Shah dynasty or Portuguese is a matter of conjecture.

The most important statue discovered is the statue of Vishnu, with an arched hallow containing 10 avataars of Vishnu.  He is accompanied by consorts in the form Garuda and Lakshmi.  Other objects on display are the Hero stones, Sati stones and a slab containing inscriptions of Devaraya’s grant to Jain Basadis.  Arabic and Portuguese Inscriptions  too are displayed.  The tombstone of Diogo De Noronha who was captain of Daman is displayed.  The hero stone exhibits reveals a Kadamba king seated on his throne surrounded by queen and attendants.  The bottom panel displays his skills on naval battle with ships.

Themain attraction is the basement hall is the towering statue Luiz De Camoes ( 1524-1580) who was the national poet of Portugal.  He is shown majestically holding scrolls of his poem.  The one eyed poet is literally dressed in battle armour minus the sword.  This statue was originally installed in the centre of garden in 1960, which was vandalised in 1980 or during emergency times i presume looking for hidden gems and jewellery.  In 1982 it was re located into the museum premises, now it is the star attraction.  

In the third gallery Mahishasuramardini of the seventh century AD dating back to Chalukyan reign.  There are other statues of seated Ganesha, Uma Maheswari, Vetala images, Kala Bhairava, Torso of a warrior and Shiv Lingas.  The show case also displays head of Bramha, Nandi and Kula Devata.

A Model of 16^th century Portuguese Ship and Iron anchors are on display in the adjoining room.  In 4^th Gallery mideval hero stones and sati stones are displayed.  The 5^th gallery traces inscriptions of Adil Shah, Marathas and records of grants to Hindu temples.  A masjid was probably located next to the Adil Shah Palace.   

A life sized statue of St Catherina is displayed under a goan pillared shed.  The courtyard has been landscaped with lawns and pathways with grills. 

 

Once we reach the first floor the portraits of most governors and viceroys of Goa are on display.  A comprehensive list is displayed on a board on hung on the western hall.  1505 TO 1961.  We find familiar names such as Menzes, Naronha, De Silva, Almieda, etc which are currently adopted as family surnames by Goans.  Viceroy Dom Joao De Castro ( 1545 – 1548 ) initiated the legacy of painting his own portrait along with twelve of his predecessors.  This practise became a precedent for all others to follow till liberation of Goa in 1961.  These paintings were originally decorating the walls of mansions in which viceroys resided, which were later shifted to Secretariat in Panjim and ultimately in 1962 it was thrown open for public viewing.  These portraits reveal the evolution of style, costumes, hairstyle prevailing in Europe. 

One can find display of Postal stamps, Court fee stamps, Maps of Goa, along with imported tiles used to decorate the facade of churches and floors of the alter.  There is one showcase displaying various currencies coins in silver, copper, lead and brass.  Afonso Albuquerque ordered the minting of coins in 1510.  The major denominations were Portuguese Manoel, Leal and Pardav, Tanga, Xerafins and lastly Rupia.  Most of the coins contained cross and figure of queen and year of minting on the reverse.   The currencies valued at 10, 20, 30, 50, 60, 100, 300, 500, 600 & 1000 in Escudos and Rupias are displayed.  There is a portrait of Dr Salazar, PM of Portugal during liberation of Goa on 19^th Dec 1961, are also on display.  A model of fort Diu with six cannons are displayed outside the museum. 

The museum has a stall selling publications by ASI which are reasonably priced and sold on discounts too for want of takers.  A video show is also organised on world heritage sites and some space is provided for children to play around.  Overall the visit to this museum one discovers the rich collection of artefacts, statues, paintings and inscriptions taking us down the memory lane of Goan Heritage.

Fort Aguada Bem Vindo, Goa

Bem Vindo in Portuguese means Welcome to Fort Aguada !

Aguada means spring in Portuguese, which is source of pure drinking water.  The landscape on the northern most mouth of the river Mondovi formed a strategic point to build a fortress which is partitioned into a double decker.  The upper deck consisted of water tank which contained a large reserve of 23,76,000 gallons of water and a light house.  The potable water was source of livelihood for the soldiers and traders visiting Goa from foreign lands.  They used to refill their tankers with water and proceed further down south towards Calicut and Kochi. 

The lighthouse was built in such a fashion that it used to emit signal to the ships every 7 minutes, which was later timed to 30 seconds.  It is four storied conical shaped building which happened to be largest in Asia in Olden times. 

The lower deck consisted of a fortress with berthing facility for ships and a Watch tower stretching upto to the Arabian Sea.  Currently the beach and the lower deck belongs to Taj group of hotels which has built a heritage property with a swimming pool and luxurious rooms for tourists to stay comfortably.

The fort consisted of a moat surrounded with water to protect from invasion by the enemies, it was filled with crocs to scare away the invaders from attempting to scale the fortress.  The Marathas were known for their guerilla warfare against which the Portuguese had to take plenty of precautions.

The primary reason for building Fort Aguada was to enhance the security of Goa against the frequent naval strikes by Marathas, Dutch and Ottomon empire.  Everybody were keen to extract their piece of cake from the trading opportunities of spices, gems & diamonds, muslin and other forest produce in the konkan belt.  The Arabs used to earlier import horses, perfumes, etc into India to be sold to local kings and Vijaynagar empire.  This demand was being fulfilled by the Portuguese.  The Portuguese traders were clever to switch and sell diamonds to the world referring it to as Indian Diamond.  The diamonds mined from the Vijayanagar empire were the best in its grade which is unmatched probably even today. 

The fortress was constructed during the Viceroy Rui Lourenco De Tavaro ( 1609 – 1612 )  and inaugurated during rule of D Jeronimo De Azevedo ( 1612 – 1617 ) as a reinforcement to the already existing fortress inside the Mandovi river bed.  This fortress is almost built in square shaped formation with turrets and watch tower manning the fortress.  The firepower unleashed from this fortress would have caused unimaginable damage to the enemy lines on the sea front as well as land.

Aguada too seems to have been chiselled out of a hillock and built with laterite stones which was naturally occurring on the landscaped.  The local masonaries were used who were adapt at construction, with the architecture planned by the Portuguese.

Just a few meters away from the Aguada fortress exists a Church with statue of Jesus in a redeemer fashion beckoning the disciples to come into his fold.  This Church has an excellent view point to give a panoramic view of the Aguada fortress and its hillock.  Below one can find the prisoners barracks, which is used even today as a Central prison.  The prison is heavily guarded, and tourists are not permitted to enter the premise.  Many a tourist are carried away by the notice board which mentions only Tuesday and Friday entry is allowed outside the prison gate. 

Enroute if one finds time one can visit the Dolphin Jetty, which is advisable than the Coco Bridge because the traffic snarl and parking will be time consuming.  On this jetty one can find parking by the sides and quick getaway.  Also one can spot Kingfisher pvt. Jetty, Kashmir Emporium and plenty of food joints catering to tourists across the world enroute to Calangute beach. 

The legacy of Fort Aguada is far reaching considering its strategic location, there is even a helipad located for the VIPs and Navy personnel to land and survey the area.  One can see some lovely private properties located in vantage points.  Overall Aguada is a must in every tourist Iterneary for Goa, but care should be taken so as to overspeed the roads are narrow and cows crossing the road can cause accident, better to visit in the early mornings, since it opens at 8.30 am, carry an umbrella which can give better protection, even during winter times, it is hot as oven.  Apply Sun screen is advisable and carrying plenty of water, one can get dehydrated.

Thank you Portuguese ( Obrigado )for leaving behind a wonderful legacy to be enjoyed free of entry cost, we forgive you for over staying beyond the mandated period of Aug 1947.  Adeus ( Goodbye in portuguese )

Fort Reis Magos Restored Bardez Goa

Ries Magos Means three wise men in Portuguese, maybe it was designed and executed by three wise men, originally signifying the architect, viceroy and the King.  The credit should obviously go to Adil Shah, Almeida and Albuquerque too.  Originally there may have been an ancient hindu temple from the era of Kadamba dynasty...........

Prologue :  Fortune favours the brave how true this statement is we realised on hindsight.  We were guided to an extent by Francis of Angel Resort, but we almost were misguided and met with a major accident.  But after visiting Reis Magos we realised it was worth the trouble of hunting it down literally after 2 hours........

 

Portuguese were in fact lucky to establish their empire in Goa due to the patronage of Vijaynagar feudatory Timayya.   Adil Shahs was literally driven out of Goa after reign of nearly 2 decades.  Krishnadevaraya too had just ascended the throne ( 1509 ) when Albuquerque with his Armada attacked and drove out the Adil Shahs of Bijapur on Dec 1510.  Initially they sought the support of the local Hindu populace,  Timayya’s ambition to control the territory fell on his face when Afonso Albuquerque stayed put by occupying the queens palace ( now old secretariat ) on the banks of river Mandovi. 

Albuquerque occupied Adil Shah’s Fortress on the south Bank of river Mandovi.  It was a strategic decision to have Fortress on the northern Banks of the river Mandovi probably due to constant attacks by Dutch, Moors and Arabs with changing style of  Warfare.  Reis Magos was built during the Viceroyalty of Afonso Noronha ( 1551-1554 ).  The Fort was constructed with a perennial source of water  with a spring providing the required quantity for sustaining the entire garrison of the Portuguese armada. 

Fort Reis Magos was literally chiselled into a Hillock with laterite stones providing the building material.  This fort was an extension of an outpost created Adil Shah in 1493 and later expanded by Albuquerque ( 1509 – 1515 ).  The Fort consists of  6 Gunloops located inside the basement of the Fortress.  It has a strategic Dual Cannon firing watch towers facing the South and East.  There are literally 6 firing spots covering 180 degrees into the backwaters of the Mandovi River. 

Barracks were constructed along the river beds for the soldiers and their families.  Slowly the extension was built in the form of a church for the Portuguese army for retaining their religious identity.  Two steep stair connected the Fortress in its original Format along with a side railing towards the church leading to the Fortress.   This was used by the horse astride higher ranking officials of the Portuguese.  A strategic view point was created for the generals to guide their soldiers in case of vicious attacks on the fortress. Probably once in a while the viceroys used it as their residence during extreme summer months due to cool breeze providing relief at the peak.

There are literally two main buildings housing the soldiers and their officers on the Fortress premises along with a small barracks.  The fortress has Watch towers facing all directions literally. Cannons were placed at cylindrical vantage turrets to fire their salvos against the invaders. The Portuguese flag donned the Fortress precincts.

There are graveyards on both the sides of the fortress which seems to be have largely vanished in due course of time. During Viceroy De Mello Castro (1707) extensive changes were incorporated to Reis Magos which was enabled the fortress to fire from 33 cylinders literally on the enemies.  This enabled the fortress to withstand the guerrilla type of warfare by the Marathas in 1739.  However they made dent in the defence of the Portuguese by occupying some portion of Goa.  In 1741 Marquis De Lourical was able to repulse the Bhonsle threat who retreated to Pernem and borders of Sawantwadi. 

Location :The Fortress is located is Verem, Bardez, which has two approaches from the Mondovi bridge from Panjim towards Calangute . Take the immediate left turn and keep going till you reach a left turning towards cocoa bridge.  One has to keep checking the route till one approaches the Francis Asissi Church which has a small cross as a landmark.  Keep towards the left till 2 kms further down and cross the Kings Resort leading towards the Ries Magos.  One can be easily mislead or misguided by locals when you ask for a Fort they will guide you Fort Aguada, some may guide you towards Cocoa Bridge which is actually Dolphin view point. This has a narrow road and it is jam packed one can end up wasting precious 2 hours in parking and finding way back.  Note : Fort Reis Magos is Closed on Mondays Open 11 am to Sunset.

Reis Magos was converted to a mini jail after the naval attacks from Dutch and Ottoman empire decreased.  In 1798 the British occupied the fortress along with a treaty with Portuguese after defeating them at Sadshivghad.  After India gained Independence in 1947, rebellion started cropping up various forms in Goa.  Freedom fighters were jailed in this fortress.  Finally Goa was liberated in Dec 1961, whereas Fort Reis Magos continued to function as jail till 1993.  A number of modification seems to have been undertaken keeping the prison requirements till nature took its toll due to the ageing of the building.  Once it was abandoned as a prison the entire structure fell into a state of ruins. 

Reis Magos was converted to a mini jail after the naval attacks from Dutch and Ottoman empire decreased.  In 1798 the British occupied the fortress along with a treaty with Portuguese after defeating them at Sadshivghad.  After India gained Independence in 1947, rebellion started cropping up various forms in Goa.  Freedom fighters were jailed in this fortress.  Finally Goa was liberated in Dec 1961, whereas Fort Reis Magos continued to function as jail till 1993.  A number of modification seems to have been undertaken keeping the prison requirements till nature took its toll due to the ageing of the building.  Once it was abandoned as a prison the entire structure fell into a state of ruins. 

Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQLytMDchwQ

Sketches from the famous goan artist Mario Mirado

Freak Baniyan tree on the ramparts of the Fort was basically a parasite to coconut tree

Ack :  Literature from Reis Magos exhibits, Pamplet, Website, Wiki and some original linkage of events