Religious Architecture Blends in Goa

[By Harshad Arole in Goa, India]

  Visits to Goa are often but the short holiday that I spent in Goa last month was my first time in the city as an urban-sketcher. I could squeeze in a day and half for sketching and headed to Old Goa or ‘Velha Goa’. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which now houses the remains of what once was the capital of Portuguese India from 16-18 century.  It is  spread over an area of about 4 sq km and contains six magnificent Christian religious structures.

The Basilica of Bom Jesus impressed me the most and I spent a while capturing as much as I could of the grand structure, which I was told was build in the baroque architectural style. The building contains the body of St. Francis Xavier and attracts a large number of tourists.

Se Cathedral

Statue dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Just across the road is the Church of St. Francis of Assisi with the Se Cathedral next to it. The whole expanse of the two 

buildings bathed in white is a fascinating sight. The Se Cathedral is the seat of Archbishop of Goa. It was a cloudy afternoon and with comfortably located benches all around, I could manage a few quick sketches of the place – even one of the Statue dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus erected right in front of the Se Cathedral.

I decided to spend half a day exploring the Hindu temples of Mangeshi and ShantaDurga. Both the temples are very similar in architecture but strikingly different compared to the other Hindu temples that I had seen before. The influence of the historical rulers of Goa is evident. The ‘deepa-stambha’ or ‘deepa-maal’ or light towers are most distinctive. These octagonal towers are 5-7 storeys and are decorated with oil lamps during festivals. Another key feature common to both temples is a large water tank adjacent to the temple courtyard. These temples are an impressive blend of Portuguese, Muslim and Hindu elements in design.

Mangeshi Temple view from the water tank

Mangeshi Temple

Shanta Durga Temple

Goan houses with their vibrant yellow, orange, blue, magenta colours is an extensive subject matter in itself and is the target of my next trip. A couple of hurried sketches of a roadside chapel and a bright yellow house was all I could capture in my road journey.

A holiday in Goa always ends at the beach. The serene beach at Varca was an excellent spot to wrap up my urban sketching in Goa.