Monday in Goa

February 4  Monday in Goa
Of all the places I am going on this trip, India has proved the most difficult to gain entrance. Even the ship’s captain has remarked on this several times. Yesterday we had to go through a face-to-face Immigration process….much stamping involved.  ;-)

I called my trip today the “Catholic” tour, although the official title is “Basilicas of Goa.” In the 16 ^th century Portuguese colonists chose to base their operations in this part of India. They brought Christianity and elements of European culture to India. Goa was not made an Indian state until 1961. We visited the Basilica of Bom Jesus (literally, Good Jesus). It houses the tomb of St. Francis Xavier, Goa’s patron saint. (Pictured is the altar with his tomb on the top…small windows) He is one of the saints whose body has remained intact beyond death. One of his arms is missing since it was sent to Rome as proof that it was intact.

From there we walked to one of the largest churches in Asia, Se Cathedral. Constructed began in 1562 and was completed in 1619, with funds from the royal treasury. It is a mix of Portuguese-Gothic, Tuscan and Corinthian styles. The main altar is dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria.
Our final stop was at the Church of St. Cajetan, modelled after St. Peter’s in Rome. Hidden beneath the church is a crypt where embalmed bodies of Portuguese governors were kept before they were shipped back to Lisbon.

On the way back to the ship we stopped to visit a vegetable and fruit market.

The differences between Goa and our first 2 stops (Doha and Muscat) were striking and visual. While the first two places were clean, almost modern cities that evidenced the wealth of the nations, India is crowded and dirty. The tour guide said the tourist industry is becoming its highest income producer. Since this is our only stop in India I have no way of knowing what it is like in the rest of the country

After 4 ½ hours in the hot sun I was happy to return to the ship to cool off and get a shower.

Tomorrow is a day at sea.