One of the most discerning assets of Goa is it’ rich cultural heritage Goan folklore comprises folk songs, dances, music, visual arts and folk tales rich in content & variety.
Music flows in Goan blood and most Goans can pluck at a guitar or pick out a tune on the piano. Old time taverns in Panaji will invariably have background music traditional or otherwise. Much Goan music is derived from haunting &lyrical Portuguese love songs, but young musicians have also taken to hard rock and many work the nightclub circuit of India ’s big cities.
It is the Iberian aura, the cultural alloy of Latin and Oriental, the coexistence of Hinduism and Christianity that epitomizes the distinct identity of Goa. The Portuguese invested a hitherto predominantly Hindu society with their religion, attitudes and lifestyles, and Goa’s ethos and élan are the consequences of this encounter. Like the stained-glass windows on the churches, Goa’s fabric is a mosaic of bright and variegated colors - the flamboyant designs of Latin exuberance set against the russet hues of traditional Indian attitudes and lifestyles.
This Portuguese territory was liberated on 19th December 1961. Since Goa’s absorption into the Indian Union in1961, there have been many changes. Yet, sleepy villages and myriads of white churches still characterize this lotus-eaters paradise, where the romance of the past lingers on & the mood is as gentle and unhurried as the undulating countryside. Villas, stop at a small taverna (bar) for a drink of feni - a locally brewed drink made from cashew or coconut, listen to the sounds of a mando (love song) and the strains of a guitar mingling with the sensuous lapping of the waves, or the warm golden sands of lonely, idyllic beaches. |
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