------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre Ph:2252660 Website: www.goadesc.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Press Clippings on the web: http://www.goadesc.org/mem/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- GOA DESC TOURISM WATCH for World Tourism Day on 27th September News You Can Use ------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- Tourism: Looking Beyond Sunny Beaches ------------------------------------------------------------- By Nandkumar Kamat
The dates of the 16th public exposition of the holy relics of St Francis Xavier, the patron saint of Goa have been announced. It would be the first in the 21st century and also the first after the commissioning of the Konkan railway route. This adds a new and favourable dimension to the exposition because now the pilgrims can reach Old Goa from every corner of India and beyond.
The 2004 exposition has the capacity to attract a million pilgrims. The government of Goa could use the exposition as an international attraction for pilgrimage based heritage tourism and showcase the state as a perfect model of communal harmony and a center of ecospirituality.
So far there is no official response to form a co-ordination committee at the government level for smooth organisation of the exposition 2004-05. Basically, despite the master plan for tourism, there is no policy to promote pilgrimage-based heritage tourism. Perhaps, the government could use the 2004 exposition as a launching pad to promote a pro-active pilgrimage tourism promotion policy.
The last exposition in 1994 had tremendously boosted the tourism sector of Goa. Besides generating a large number of employment opportunities, the previous exposition had also started a building boom in and around old Goa. This boom has now converted the forgotten city adorning world heritage monuments into an ugly concrete jungle. A global centre for pilgrimage is being allowed to fall into decay. That is why I am constrained to provide some details here.
A greater conspiracy than the Taj corridor would come to light if investigations are launched in the permissions granted to land conversions and constructions since 1995 within the historical limits of the old city. Many archaeological marks have been erased. Old fortifications, walls, gates, watchtowers and moats existing from the Adilshahi period have been demolished. Heritage sites close to the College of Saint Paul and along the route of Auto da Fe, have been encroached.
Expert recommendations on conservation of the old city, including those made by renowned architect, Mr Edgar Ribeiro, and young architects specialising in heritage conservation like Mr Ketan Nachinolkar, an alumni of Delhi School of Architecture, have been confined to the dustbin.
On the contrary, those who are hungrily eyeing the real estate in and around old Goa have got the blessings of the government to set up their own 'planning' committee, in blatant violation of the statutory planning procedures. Priorities of these speculators and developers are not the priorities of historians, archaeologists, conservation experts and tourism planners.
Retrievable archaeology is a totally neglected area in Goa and often precious findings made during the excavation of the foundation pits for several new buildings constructed in Old Goa have not been reported to the government.
With just two persons, the state archaeology department is hard pressed to do anything. The village panchayat does not have the faintest idea about the original settlements, topography, landmarks and the cultural layers since the 10th century. These cultural or occupational layers are prominent when one digs anywhere within the limits of the old city.
Time is running out for Old Goa and before the 2004-05 exposition, the state government has to take a policy decision on the future of this heritage asset, in consultation with experts.
With a good communication network, Goa is strategically poised to promote pilgrimage-based heritage tourism. Appropriately planned and marketed, new pilgrim tourism circuits would attract global and national attention.
The so-called 'Goa Darshan tours' are planned on a stereotyped model of mass tourism and generation of revenue. Tourists are compelled to see what our government expects them to see. Private tour operators are also not imaginative and resourceful. So naturally, the really high spending tourists find our state intellectually a very boring place.
If the government intends to attract high spending tourists then new thematic, innovative tourist circuits would have to be planned. Like Gokarna in north Kanara, one of the holiest shrines of the Hindus in Konkan existed at teertha at Narve on the island of Divar.
Sapatakoteshwar and Hatkeshwar were very popular deities of old Narve mentioned in the puranas. The Portuguese edicts indicate the tremendous importance attached to the Kashi of the Konkan, and to the holy dip in the Narve branch of the river Mandovi, for which Goan Hindus and Jains were prepared to defy the authorities.
The old Narve village area and the waterfront could be developed as a renovated centre of pilgrimage. It has a well established historical tradition but no attention was paid in the past to restore the former glory and sanctity of this teertha. Goa is truly a land of Earth mother worship.
A large number of Shakti worship or devi shrines are located in Goa, the most famous being of Shantadurga of Kavalem. It is possible for the tourism department to plan a devi shrine pilgrimage circuit on the lines of the ashtavinayak pilgrimage circuit in Maharashtra.
There is tremendous interest among the European, American and domestic tourists about the Hindu monasteries and the Roman Catholic seminaries. A composite pilgrimage heritage tourism circuit of Hindu and Christian locations, including the monasteries of Kavalem, Partagal, Tapobhumi-Kundaim and the Catholic seminaries of Rachol, Saligao and Pilar would add to the novelty of cultural, spiritual and theological experience.
The Vaishnavaite monastery of Partagal is located close to the wildlife sanctuary of Cotigao. Close to the Partagal monastery, on the banks of the Talpona river, pilgrims would have the opportunity to be blessed by the sacred canopy of a 2000-year old banyan tree.
Actually, a meditation centre could be designed near this tree to merge with the tranquil ambience. Each monastery and seminary in this circuit has its' uniqueness. The Rachol seminary had extended its hospitality to Swami Vivekananda during his brief Goa visit when the Swamiji had taken keen interest in Christian theology and philosophy.
The scenic seminary of Pilar has the chapel of Fr Agnelo and an unique museum in India. Any pilgrim to this museum would not fail to admire the display of local history without any communal or religious bias.
The new Tapobhumi complex of the charismatic Padmanabha Sampradaya is a symbol of great Hindu mass resurgence after Liberation. It is located at a breathtaking site at Kundaim which would make any pilgrim forget all mundane anxieties.
Let people from all corners of the world and this nation flock to Goa to find peace and perfect spiritual solace. Goa has the potential to be an international centre of eco-spirituality in the 21st century. So, to launch this idea, what more appropriate occasion could the government have than the event of exposition-2004? -------------------------------------------------- The Navhind Times 8/9/03 page 10 --------------------------------------------------
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