My urge to explore off beat and historical places took me to the first capital of present-day Goa, to Chandrapur or as it is presently called Chandor.
Chandor is a small but beautiful village in Salcette area of South Goa with its peaceful surroundings. The area is full of old remnants and history all around. Situated on the banks of river Zuari on one side and river Kushavati on another, it was once a trading hub and the old heritage houses, and their artefacts is a remnant of the rich history and trading relations they had with outside world.
In April 2022 when the pandemic slowly was cooling down, we decided to travel to Goa with my family of three and was unknown to the other side of Goa as we all think of Goa for its beaches, Cashew Fenni and Night Parties. Thanks to Soul Travelling, a homegrown Goa exploring agency who helped us to explore the offbeat places not known much to the tourists.
We Drove down from North Goa in a cab which took almost around one hour to reach to the central part of Chandor which is having a famous church of the Portuguese era called Church of our Lady of Bethlehem or Nossa Senhora De Belem. We were told that the Church plays a central role in the Village of Chandor and was constructed during the Portuguese era on the same place where once a Hindu temple used to be which was built during Kadamba rule who were Hindus and Chandor was their Capital prior to the Portuguese till 1327 with a break in between as the Kadambas shifted their capital from Chandor to Govapuri or Old Goa as named by the Portuguese for few years because of the invasion of Adil Shah.
Since it was Sunday and locals were busy with their prayers inside and hence could not get an entry inside but whatever we could see from outside, the church signifies the culture and the beautiful architecture of the bygone days. The nearest to this church we observed two four pillared heritage monuments which we were told are of the Braganza family monuments who later separated into two families and both the famous families of the place which signifies the status of theirs in the then society and since they were important both socially and economically to the Portuguese thus they had these remembrance extraordinaire.
Later we visited two of the oldest palaces like houses of the Braganza’s and Fernandes though the Fernandes house is almost 500 years old and oldest of all the houses in Chandor. Both the houses are having touch of history in nooks and corners and the artefacts inside the house show cases the lifestyle of the rich and important citizens of the society. The present generation still resides in a part of the house and allowed us to have a look of their interior and also one of their family members gave us a guided tour of the house. Thankful to them for showing the heritage side of their family.
After spending almost and hour exploring the Houses, we went to a village nearby in Chandor area itself hardly fifteen minutes’ drive from the Braganza house. The village is famous as a Cursed Village and none of the villagers dare to marry in the village and go out of the area to get married till today as it is believed that the Queen of Kabamba’s cursed the villagers as she lost her king in a war with the Muslim invaders because of backstabbing by the locals who were Hindus at that time. ASI is working on the ruins of a Siva temple in the village and the temple was known as the heart of the village before the invasion of the Adil Shah army whose forces destroyed the temple and later the village almost converted to Christianity after the advent of Portuguese.
At the entrance of the village, we found a lovely restaurant famous for Goan Delicacies and had a nice lunch of Sorpotels and Vindaloos and was delicious. Later our driver took us to the banks of Zuari river nearby and the place was serene and full of Greenery which gave us a lovely view of the natural assets surrounding the place.
We spend almost Four to Five hours in the village and was too happy to enjoy the historical side of Goa which many of us hardly know about. Lots of facts and stories related to the history of Goa became a part of our knowledge bank. Our Guide from Soul Travelling showed us a Chapel and some other artefacts and through him we came to know the difference between a Chapel and a Church which cleared our doubt too.
My offbeat visits in Goa continued for some more days though we could not explore all and still hungry to visit the beautiful Goa again in future.
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