GOA CITY GUIDE

GOA CITY GUIDE

Goa the most resplendent kingdom of the almighty, the people of this city are very hard working and it is the most travelled and visited city of the country. Goa is the heaven for the white people in the east and the sun, sand and the shade provides for the best of the time spent on this land of God’s own miniature kingdom. Goa is the land of the hippie’s and in the era of the sixties and early seventies the beaches of Goa was plummeted by western people in search for nirvana and salvation and looking for inner peace. Nearly about five centuries back the Portuguese Ambassador to China first visited Goa in the year 1511. Since the sixties people came to Goa in search of weed but then all it became so cosmopolitan that people od every strata comes to his land of mystic splendour and grandeurs. Goa has meant different things to varied people to the Portuguese it was Golden Goa the El Dorado and the Rome of the East ,and it is also remarked that whoever has seen Goa need not go to Lisbon because of the influence of the Portugal architecture, cuisine and culture. In the 17^th century a French visitor wrote that whoever has visited Goa will see the rarest of the entire India as this is the most festive oriented city of the country and gives rise to tourism development. Goa lives on the various goods that is being sold and encouraging trade and commerce in the smallest city of the country.

 Goa has an entire set of Council of Ministers for the proper administration and has a wonderful building for the state Assembly, the citizens are mostly educated and the per capita income is the highest in the State. Goa thrives on the tourism industry putting Goa into the itinerary of all those visiting India from abroad. The total covered land is 3,702 square kilometre and Panaji is the State capital of Goa.  Goa has a total population of which male and female are counted together of approximate 1458545 with 14.9 %growth during the 1991-2000 which was 16% lower which was recorded during 1981-1990. The ratio of the sex is determined at973 than compared to 967 which was recorded in the year of 1991. North Goa is more densely populated as compared to South Goa since the main attraction are the beaches of this land and all the famous beach lie in the Northern part of the city. 80% of the people are literate under the literacy rate and accounts for 65% for Hindu population in the city and the rest are primarily Christian and Muslims. Almost around 0.2% of the population are migrants from the rest of the country who have settled down here at Goa.

Marathi and Konkani are the two basic languages that is spoken in the entire city, Hindi being the national language of the country is well understood all over Goa and English is the most popular language that is spoken all across Goa. Portuguese was spoken till 1961 in Goa before it got liberated from the Portuguese colonisation and it was a compulsory medium of teaching during that era. Though there are still who use this language of the Portuguese. Goa is a multi-faceted state with an array of dialect spoken over the entire masses and because of the varied historical culture and ethics that is tied along down the memory lane.

Mondovi, Zuari, Terekhol, Chapora and Betul are the major rivers flowing all across Goa and the other major rivers include Tiracol, Sal and the Talpona which is the source of water in the entire Goa. Goa has a lush green forest cover as well covering almost 1,424 square kilometres which is almost one third of the total land habited area. Bamboo, Maratha barks, chiller barks and bhirand are the most important source of products from the forest these are of great value economically.

There is a dense cultivation of coconut trees which is almost present everywhere except in the upper hill region of Goa. The vegetation covers cashew nut, mango, jackfruits and pineapple. Goa is rich in mineral resources and majorly of iron ore, manganese, bauxite, silica sand, and Ferro manganese. Iron and manganese are the two basic mining industries that form the spine for the Goan economy.

Goa has the smallest airport in the country and is well connected by almost all the other cities and states o the country. It does serve the terminal for outbound international flights as well. The railway station is in the south goa which is accessible by the North Goa as well and Goa can be travelled by road from Mumbai and Bangalore. The stretch of road gives a chance to look into the Roam of the East and to savour the flavour of the Portuguese influence.

Goa is well known of its Churches and the Christian influence over the masses after the Portuguese left the land of Goa.the church of Basilica of the St. Xavier Francis, the Professed house Se cathedral, The convent and church of St. Francis of Assisi, the Reis Magos Church and Our lady of the Immaculate Conception Church at Panjim are the most frequented churches of Goa. The Annant mandir, Devaki Krishna mandir, Mahalsa temple, Avatar purush, Mahalakshmi temple and Mangueshi temple are the temples worth a watch as it serves as special attraction for the tourists. Jama Masjid is situated at Margao which is 26 kms away from city. It has a varied eco-tourism providing the necessary steps to manage and protect the lush green cover like the Bhagwan mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary Park, the Bondla Forest, Cotigao Sanctuary and there are bird sanctuaries as well.  The most famous beaches are the Anjuma, Baga, Calanguate, Vagator, Miramar, and Palolem to name a few.

Arvalem caves and rock cut caves of Khandepur are famous caves of Goa. Dudhsagar waterfall and Arvalem waterfall are two famous waterfalls. Aguadi Fort, Coba De Rama Fort, Chapora Fort, Rachol Fort, Reis Magos, Corjuem Fort. The Christian Art Museum at Old Goa is one of its kind in the whole of Asia and the Western Bronzes Gallery houses the replicas of the bronze sculptures made by European artists and it is an important place of visit for art collectors.