Dear Sir,
Kindly publish my article on Goanet.
Thanking you,
Dale Luis Menezes.
A NEW LEASE OF LIFE FOR CARAMBOLIM CHURCH
By
DALE LUIS MENEZES
Goa is dotted with churches that are lofty, beautiful and are many centuries
old. Many are well preserved while others are less fortunate and find
themselves in a state of disrepair. Some of the churches which were once unique
and timeless have been demolished to make way for a bigger or a newer (mostly
newer) church of concrete. Most of the churches that were demolished or are in
the process of being demolished were razed due to the ignorance of the lay
parishioners to the uniqueness of the structure and also due to the failure of
the higher officials of the church (along with the lay parishioners) to
recognize its heritage potential and historical value.
Quite close to Old Goa, we find an example of preservation befitting mention
wherein the church was renovated and restored and its erstwhile splendor
revived: the Church of St. John the Baptist in Carambolim. According to the
Archdiocese Directory, 1984, this church was founded in 1541. Originally a
chapel, this church was elevated to the status of a parish under the tutelage
of Dom João Afonso de Albuquerque (1539-53), the then Bishop of Goa. Fr. Moreno
de Souza in Tisvaddecheo Igorzo tells us that during the earlier days the feast
of St. John the Baptist was celebrated with much pomp and gaiety with the
Viceroy and State and military officials in full attendance. They would enter
the parade riding on horsebacks and mock-fights were staged accompanied by
music. After the High Mass, the long, regal procession would begin and
terminate at the College of St. Paul’s at Old Goa.
The architecture of the façade of the church, informs Jose Lourenço in The
Parish Churches of Goa: A Study of Façade Architecture, is in the mannerist
Neo-Romanesque style (as are most of the churches in Goa). Standing boldly
against the clear blue sky, it has 5 bays and is 3 storeys tall. The center of
the façade starting from the main arched doorway is stacked in the sequence of
Arch-Rectangle-Oculus-Relief. It has a single bell tower to the left. The main
doorway is framed by fluted Corintianized columns.
The peculiarity of the altar is that it has panels containing paintings
depicting various incidents of the life of St. John the Baptist, including his
beheading at the insistence of the daughter of Herodias. The main altar is
dedicated to the patron saint, while the side altars show a crucified Christ
and Mother Mary. The pulpit of this church is unique because the motif of the
“mermaids” can be clearly seen. These mermaids are depicted as if they are
carrying the weight of the pulpit.
This unique church was in a state of neglect until the charismatic Fr.
Conceição D’Silva took the charge as the parish priest from Fr. Lino de Sa, who
had already begun the work of restoration by plastering the walls. In his brief
tenure of three years, Fr. Conceição, recipient of the State Award for
Meritorious Services to Society, completed the whole restoration work giving
the church, in the process, a new lease of life. The whole woodwork of the main
altar, the subsidiary altars and the pulpit are now richly adorned with 24
carat gold, giving us a glimpse, perhaps, of what the church may have looked
like a few centuries ago. Experts for the gold gilding work were flown in from
Portugal. Now the church basks in pristine and clear light and the gold is
seen shimmering.
The floor was repaired as well, with the specialists, this time, coming from
Bangalore. Imported chandeliers from Portugal now adorn the church. Near the
transept of the church, an azulejos composition of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last
Supper has been installed.
The space around the church is paved with pavers and the church compound, the
church property and the adjacent football ground have been fenced in stone and
cement. The flooring of the Parochial house was also improved. All these
improvements, informs Fr. Conceição, is bringing a lot of tourists to
Carambolim, many of them genuinely interested in the history and the
architecture of the church.
Fr. Conceição is of the frank opinion that the old churches must be preserved
and protected. Perhaps, it was this line of thinking which had propelled him to
preserve and restore not only the church at Carambolim but also the one at
Mandur where he was posted prior to his appointment at St. John the Baptist
Church. Fr. Conceição along with the parishioners has spared no expense even
for procuring new pews and a state-of-the-art sound system along with the
restoration work.
In a few days’ time, the 800-plus parishioners of the St. John the Baptist
church will bid adieu to a priest who has not only attended to their spiritual
needs, but has also given a commendable facelift to their almost five-century
old church. It is time that the example set by Fr. Conceição needs to be
emulated.
END OF ARTICLE
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