The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
Two women and a child, at Goa, in the monsoons – quite an
unusual combination, right? That was me, my mom, and my son, making the most of
our unexpected monsoon break to take some time off. It was the first time in
Goa for my mom, the second for my son, and my third trip to the state….
Expectations were mixed, especially when we were greeted by heavy rains, which
continued through our stay there. What did we expect? It was the monsoon after
all!! As it turned out, the rains showed us a different side of Goa, which none
of us had expected to find.
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| Samhith with my mom on Varca Beach, Goa |
We visited all the normal tourist places, but the rain
seemed to add another dimension to each of them. Come along with me, and let me
show you Goa, as we saw her, in the monsoons!
Creatures of the sea
The monsoon seemed to bring out the best and the worst in
the beaches. The tides were higher, and it wasn’t really safe to swim, or to
try our hand at some adventure. However, the rough tides brought along with
them, creatures from far, far away… from hermit crabs to starfish, Goa’s
beaches abounded in them, during our visit. We spent hours marvelling over the
many types of shells, and all the colours they came in… and of course, brought
many of them back with us. What my son remembers the most, though, is the sight
of starfish brought in by the tide, burying themselves in the sand….
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| Starfish |
Creatures in the wild
We tend to associate Goa with beaches, not with forests, but
the state has not one, but three wildlife sanctuaries. During our trip, we
drove through two of them… the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary, and theBondla wildlife sanctuary, and both were big surprises for us. While the
Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary is the largest one in the region, and
appears to be a dense jungle, with massive efforts on to protect and conserve
the ecosystem, the Bondla Sanctuary is the smallest, and is an effort to bring
the forest closer, to the people, especially kids. Its biggest attraction is a
small zoo. While we are not big fans of zoos, and were sceptical at the idea of
visiting a zoo, even within a sanctuary, I have to admit that the zoo here is
well maintained, and the animals seem to be well cared for. Even as we were
admiring the Royal Bengal Tiger in its enclosure, my son spotted a Giant Wood
Spider on a tree nearby. You never know what you will find, if only you look!
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| Giant Wood Spider, at Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary |
Rain soaked Heritage
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| Chapel of St. Catherine |
The churches of Old Goa are among the most popular among
tourists. The rain, however, managed to keep many of them at bay. Not us,
though! We made the most of the rain by staying inside and exploring them at
length, from the beautiful paintings inside the Church of St. Francis of Assisi
, to the less known and lesser visited Chapel of St. Catherine.
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| The back side of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi |
The popular temples of Goa, like the Shantadurga temple and
Mangeshi temple, were on our list too, and we sat for a while by the rain water
filled temple tanks, breathing in the peace and quiet.
However, what we relished most was visiting ancient temple located within the dense forest – the Tambdi Surla temple. I have written in detail about this temple before, so I will try not to repeat myself, but this temple, in the pouring rain, surrounded by the jungle, is an experience which makes Goa in the rains unforgettable!
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| Temple tank of the Shantadurga Temple |
However, what we relished most was visiting ancient temple located within the dense forest – the Tambdi Surla temple. I have written in detail about this temple before, so I will try not to repeat myself, but this temple, in the pouring rain, surrounded by the jungle, is an experience which makes Goa in the rains unforgettable!
The rain, it is said, rejuvenates. It clears out the old and
brings forth new life. That’s just what we needed, and exactly what we found,
in Goa, in the monsoon.
This post was originally published on the Club Mahindra Blog. You can read it here.
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Nice little account!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful read Anu Akka..hope that you remember me :)
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff Anu, really enjoyed this. We have a place in Goa but can only open during season (otherwise we're flooded!), what a shame!
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures!! I have just been there this July in monsoon. It was awesome :)
ReplyDeleteWow, have gottu explore the wildlife sanctuaries!
ReplyDeleteLoved the temple here. Got to explore Goa other than the usual tourist circuit.
ReplyDeleteyou are good storyteller anu.. keep on writing good stuff..
ReplyDelete