Churches temples and people... Goa Part 3

Part 1 and Part 2 .. here's what else i was upto~!! :)

Goa's symbol.. emblem!!

After a long day going about North Goa, i got back to the hotel, freshen up, go for a walk to Candolim beach and chill out the rest of the day... It sure was good to wander about on my own.. Kinda rejuvenating~!! and sort of a "I could get used to this" feel...

 

 My orange bus made an entry and it was full.. i had to go all the way to the last row... with nearly 10  pairs of eyes piercing into me, it sure was an experience..!! At the nextstop, 3elderly men hopped in... during travels, what fascinates me the most is people and how initially they are on guard, but slowly warm up and start talking once they realise you are no threat nor are you an alien... these guys did just that!! as the day wore on, we started chit chatting to a point where one of them gave into temptation, borrowed my camera and was oggling at all the pics..

A conversation we had towards end of the day.

Him: He then went on to ask "how can i get a copy of these pics ,madam?"

Me: Sir, i could email them to you

Him: Oh, but we dont know all that... our office has one.. wait, let me call

Madam, you speak to the person, and ask for the email address

Me: *I did that.... *

Him: Err.. would there be any cost involved in sending the pics? i'll pay you for it

Me - had a *totally surprised and "wow, such innocent ppl do exist"* moment. 

No no, no worries.. it will take few mins amidst my work time.. no cost

Him: Thank you so much

 

 Anyways... back to my trip... 2nd day tour was South Goa with an interesting Guide- Digambar [looked very hippyish, and said he was portugese, spending half the year in Portugal and remaining in Goa] ... Started with Miramar beach- quite a nice one... neat, clean, and long stretch of sand....

 

 From there, we moved on to check out the 2 famous churches in Goa , there is one on either side of the road - Basilica of Bom Jesus and St Catherine's Cathedral ...  beautiful, amazing architecture and huge are words that come to my mind as i recollect them.....

1st was Basilica of Bom Jesus- a church without a cross on top.. Apparently in its place was a Hindu temple which the portugese demolished to erect the church on.. And the cross they installed kept falling off due to natural calamities, till finally they realised something bigger was in power there and so the church stands tall without a Cross... The interiors are overwhelming, huge ceilings, beautiful art work.. its absolutely breathtaking...

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The Preserved body of St Francis....

The St Catherine's Cathedral across the road is long and supposed to be among the largest Cathedral's in the world.. Quite a walk from the gate to the church and inside as well ..

one can get lost in its beauty and calmness... as we walk out, there are rows of vendors waiting to treat you with cold water, drinks, fruits and hawkers selling bags, postcards and other knick knacks!!

From churches, we moved to Temples... South Goa has quite a few... but we saw only 2 popular ones... Mangueshi Temple and then Shantadurga temple...

The Mangueshi Temple is dedicated to Lord Mangueshi, an incarnation of Shiva. He is a kuldevta of many Hindus in Goa including the Saraswat Brahmins. He is also referred to as Saib (The Lord of Goa) by Hindus.. Had to walk in the blazing sun for quite a bit, and then a few steps to reach the temple... This is where i gave in to tempation and got myself a Goa tattoo.. ;-) ...

It was time to stop for lunch, and the eatery was close to Shantadurga temple.. Some had lunch and then visited the temple, while others did the opposite..

 The Shantadurga temple has an impressive idol of Goddess Shree Durga who mediated between Shree Vishnu and Shree Shiva and stopped the fiercefull war going on between the two. She is flanked by Vishnu and Shiva on both the sides.

One common thing in these temples is the style of architecture.. if you see one, you've seen them all!! notice the pillar?

Sitting and waiting for our driver ...

Ok.. time to go catch some zzz now.. more in a while.....