For a state that was under the domain of Portuguese for 450 years, it’s difficult to root out the influence. The landscape of Goa is dotted with heritage houses, villas, mansions that are reminiscent of the Portuguese era. There are also some unique examples of clever blend of the Indian and Portuguese styles. At places glimpses of European and Italian styles are also available. And, fortunately in some of these beautiful homes are lived in by some Goans who do everything to keep their traditional food and lifestyle alive.
So one bright day we drive up to a large, elegant Indo-Gothic mansion in South Goa which my daughter would swear was haunted. We are in search of Antonio D’Cunha. An attractive lady who turns out to be Antonio’s wife, Nancy, ushers us in. A quick tour of huge rooms with high ceilings and fading walls leads us to a small, snug room where several people are sitting about, chatting – a few government officials, a judge, local district magistrate, local journalists and an American “from the Embassy”. Then there was Dona Maria, whom I am told makes the best Bebinca in Goa.
Bebinca! Now that’s a word to conjure with! Recipes for the dish begin: “take the yoke of 40 eggs ….” This rich, layered cake, which is probably Goa’s most famous dish, can take as long as a day to make. And a lady’s status is said to depend upon how well she makes bebinca. Dona Maria is evidently a lady of consequence.
Lunch is deliciously indulgent buffet laid out on several tables in a long room with many windows. Dishes include fried king prawns, pork sorpotel, cauliflower fugard, a variety of wonderful fish dishes, araz rice cooked in coconut milk, crème caramel, and, of course, bebinca. For me the bebinca, created, sliced and served on my plate by Dona Maria herself, was the crowning glory - a rich, lingering taste of fermented coconut, something to be eaten slowly and in small mouthfuls.
Lunch completed we join the tour of ancestral Goan homes, through dusty, winding rural roads, past palms and paddies, churches and shrines. Salvador Da Costa mansion, situated in Loutolim, a south Goa village, was built in nineteenth century. Mixed architecture of this Single storied mansion has come to be referred as the Goan eclectic style. It would be appropriate to say that the mansion carries the best of both worlds: what was and what is now. It has a low pitched tile roof and a wide veranda (typical of Indian style) and designs include Gothic style windows, and columns clustered.
South Goan landscape that is dotted with architectural examples like Figueredo mansion, raised on a high plinth and its balcao (porch) and Miranda mansion (1710) with internal verandas and chapel etc. Another country mansion in Margao, Sat Burnzam Ghor (1790) is a replica of Portuguese style with a grand double storied facade. Dr. Alvaro Loyola Furtado Mansion in Chinchinim displays richness unrivaled at the time it was built (1833). Near Colva beach, we take the narrow road northwards, from the Colva church crossroad towards the village of Betalbatim. We find every Christian house in this lane portraying a stone bearing cross at the front door. Right across the street is a pretty house (meio sobrado) of an ordinary citizen with handsome wooden railings. Such house is referred as half-storied house in architectural parlance, ironically, such a house is set o a plinth so high that it is almost like a double-storied house, with a wide array of steps, giving the house an illusion that it is a very important mansion!
Situated on the left bank of river Mandovi, Solar Dos Colacos Mansion has a baroque façade. First built around 1730, it continued to add features that were in vogue at that time. Evidences of the creativity of an early occupant who was artist and craftsman are visible all around the house. The floor of entire ballroom was built in wood of 16 different types. The mansion has other interesting features such as the intricately carved Goan furniture, chandeliers, mirrors, the dining hall has scenes from Ramayana. A visit to this house will liven up different prevailing trends of different times.
Braganza Mansion, situated in Chandor, is considered to be one of the grandest mansions in the state. The sheer magnificence of the mansion from outside as well as inside is beyond comprehension. Italian patterned flooring (tiles and marble mosaic), stained glass windows, china ware and vases, the mansion will itself narrate stories of its magnificent past. The Mascarenhas Mansion which lies in close proximity of Anjuna beach has rich and classic 'balcoes' (balconies). There are also some fine stained glass floral etchings. Dr. Pinto De Rosario Mansion lying between Panjim and Mapusa is in Porvorim. The mansion is filled with Indo-Portuguese furniture, European and Chinese wares.
Smaller but equally interesting Goan homes are everywhere. If you have an eye for architecture then just set on foot and you will discover numerous examples yourself. For example, The old district of Fontainhas in Panjim is the most atmospheric area to walk around, and includes many quaint homesteads.
Old Goan homes, however, suffer from insufficient funds to keep them in proper repair. However big, however beautiful they are, however rare and exotic the content, the general effect is a sort of genteel decadence. For their present occupants their upkeep is a labour of love.
The American’s verdict: “Well, they certainly look lived in.”
I wonder what he thought of the bebinca.
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