Portuguese Goa
As the students enjoyed the promised two restful days on the beaches, David and I headed down to explore the Portuguese footprint in India, mostly the churches. Now we have seen many churches all over Europe, and are not easily impressed. These churches are impressive, and this one the most spectacular. The Portuguese are some of the most devout Catholic Christians today and their churches constructed hundreds of years ago, suggest, they have always been religious. 
This is St Francis Xavier’s church of the Bascillica of Bom Jesus. It is one of the major Baroque churches in India and was completed in 1602. The image is from Wikipedia.
The alter image is from Britannica.com. This church is now on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
This massive tree stands guard at the entrance. I could only wonder if it had been there from the beginning….four hundred and eleven years.
On the drive to Mount Mary church, we passed this “garden of houseplants”of plants I had only seen sold in pots. 
Vasco da Gama was the explorer who first arrived in Western India in 1505. The Portuguese remained a strong presence until 1954. ( Independence from Britain was in 1947.) Da Gama was just one of the elusive explorers when I was in school as he didn’t make it to America. I was glad to see where he landed.
No exploration of ancient sites is complete without some ruins. Once, our children became so tired of ruins on a trip to Italy, they refused to budge from the car. I have to admit, sometimes I get tired, too, but not today. Off we went to the ruins of St Augustine church and convent. The story is that there was some disagreement between the Augustinians and the Jesuits which lead to the abandonment of this large complex. All that remains is the 46 meter tower and stone pillars. 
As our final stop, we headed up a very large hill to Cathedral of Mount Mary which is closed except for weddings and special holy days.
What we had come to see was not the church but the view, which was unforgettable. The dense jungle with the large white churches emerging from the darkness. Darkness of imperfect men and faith systems ….darkness of greed and colonialism ….sadly the condition of the human heart. May we have courage to move towards the light and let our light shine in the world of darkness.
This is Incredible India !
Have you visited or worshiped in any large cathedrals ? How do you think these cathedrals of Goa compare? Were you surprised? Do you visit churches on your travels whether or not you are a believer? If so, what do you learn?
TalesAlongTheWay 
Beautiful post! Thanks for sharing…
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My pleasure. So glad to hear from you !
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Fantastic capture, really its more than the beaches 🙂
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So glad you liked it! Next time I want to see the spice plantations!
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You need to get to the neighbouring state of goa called Karnataka. There you need to head towards a place called Chikamagaluru to see spice plantations 🙂
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Oh, interesting. The cab we hired to use to get to the churches offered to take us to a spice plantation that day. We assumed there was one nearby. We only went to Goa and to Kerala. India is one huge subcontinent ! 😎
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Myself have not able to explore India.. Its too huge to do that even in a month’s trip 😛
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We traveled for 14 days in the north and then 10 days in the south. We were headquartered in Ahmedabad. THis gave us a great taste of your wonderful country , but there is so much more. Some of the students went to the Himalayas after the semester. Husband is an architect so his interests lay there. Do you mind me asking where you live?
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absolutely not! I live in the silicon city of India, Bangalore, south India 🙂
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Is Bangalore the garden city? We didn’t go there. Mostly saw smaller cities…..loved, loved, loved Pondicherry. . . Have you seen it? Big focus on the temples and architecture. . . .
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I haven’t been there yet. I am planning soon to visit there. Travelling is in my blood now :p
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Be sure to go to the Ganesha Temple, give the elephant a coin, and be patted on the head with her trunk. Wonderful photo ops, too!
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yeah will surely go there.. thanks 🙂
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Gorgeous post! The Bascillica of Bom Jesus blew me away when I visited. Old Goa is so darn beautiful.
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Reblogged this on The Glen House and commented:
A beautiful post about a place very dear to my heart….
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Thanks for re-blogging…..this is very dear to my heart too 🙂
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You are welcome. So glad you enjoyed it!
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This post makes me so, so so happy!! Glad you’ve discovered the other side of Goa!
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It was a great experience! Do you live there or are you from Goa?
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I’m from Mumbai in India, but have been to Goa a bunch of times and love it 🙂
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It is both a great vacation area as well as lovely place in which to live !
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Great post, it is a real pity when folks associate Goa with just their beaches is it not? You’ve showed another side of Goa which very few are aware of. Great post!
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There was a lovely boulevard street in the city that we only rode on . Husband is professor of architecture and that is a driving force in our destinations! Once we were in Spain with our children and he gave us 15 minutes on the beach! The students don’t know how lucky they were to get two days off from touring to enjoy the beach!
Well, I told them but it is not the same as experience it!
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We’ve had similar experiences with our children, now adults. Castles and cathedrals whenever we traveled. They did not appreciate it then, but have become seasoned travelers and have an appreciation for the arts and culture now :). So it did pay off :).
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My husband says education is wasted on the young! He sees it with his college students , as well. But I must say, the 11 students who came with us to India, fell in love with it all. And the amazing part was that most had NEVER traveled even to Canada. The developing world can be a shock, but they went with the flow quite well. Only problem is that they insisted to eat street food and were continually sick. I was the official transportation to the doctor! I was careful to a fault as I have had food poisoning before and didn’t want it again !
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Where were your students from? My folks hail from Goa, so it has a special place in my heart for me. I’ve probably visited Goa 4 times in my lifetime – it’s changed so much now though. I kind of agree with your husband, especially in this country, “Study Abroad” is commonplace, but what do they really absorb when they are in a different country and exposed to different cultures. It is a bit of a shock, one of my daughters went on a work trip to India for the very first time…..not sure she’ll go back again :). She was in Ahmedabad, Delhi and Goa.
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I had a friend from there who sadly died too young. I never realised how beautiful Goa is.
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The cathedral looks magnificent!!
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Indeed it is!
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Ahhh…home sweet home 🙂
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Wow. . .what a wonderful place to call home!!!
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Awesome! Thanks for sharing. What group of students are you taking?
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Architecture students from Rensselaer Polytechnic institute students where husband teaches. Where is doctor ‘s family from in India?
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