Ending 2015 on a high note - A short vacation to Goa

Some quick input on the highlights in Woodooz in 2015 before we get into the vacation mode :

• Woodooz now has an active YouTube Channel. Please subscribe.
• Woodooz is now active in Twitter. Particularly in the last 2 months we have started realizing how much we under estimated the power of the 140 words. Follow us.
• The DIY Woodworking group in Facebook was launched and it has been having a good run. Have you joined yet ?
• Somu has an author profile page in The Hindu and is making regular contributions to their DIY Section in Metroplus mélange.

And before we leave you with some insights on our short vacation,

allow us to wish you a happy, wonderful and a prosperous 2016.

Exploring South Goa

The moment one mentions travelling to Goa, the immediate thought that comes to everyone’s minds is the happening beaches. I would defer and say Goa is much more than just beaches and parties. The true beauty of Goa lies in its exclusive architecture. While I think we made good use of our two days in South Goa, here's a little something about the few places we visited.

On our way from the airport to the resort, I had a feeling we were driving on one of those roads in Kerala or Sri Lanka- Coconut trees on either sides of the road, thatched roof houses, greenery, the churches, birds and the flowers… We decided to spend less time at the beach and explore the historically prominent places in the city. Just to give a gist of the Goan history- Goa has played an influential role in the Indian history as it was one of the major trade centers in India. Due to the Portuguese rule from the 15’th century until almost mid 19’th century, the Goan architecture has heavy Portuguese influence. It also has flavors of Hindu and Muslim architecture given the fact that it was ruled by Hindu and Mughal emperors at different points in time in Indian history.

The Shanta Durga and Mangueshi temples have a fusion of Indo- Portuguese architecture. Both the temples feature pyramid shaped dome rising on the roofs of the entrance hall and the ‘sabhamandap’ or the main hall. This, I believe would have been due to the Mughal touch.

 The temples have a ‘tulasi madam’ in the courtyard, a lamp tower/ ‘deepa stambha’ and a water tank/ ‘theppakkulam’ that are typical of a Hindu architecture. 

The temples have high ceiling, curvilinear roofs that are very Portuguese, several pilasters and balustrades, Roman- arched windows with stained- glass window panes of red, yellow, blue, green colors.

While we were still awed by the elegance of these temples, we were taken to the Basilica of Bom Jesus church, a UNESCO world heritage site in Old Goa. The building is an architectural finesse. It is considered to be one of the best examples of Baroque/ Italian architecture in India.

The church is made of laterite and the front wall is molded with basalt casing giving it an impressive rustic look. The interiors have marble flooring, beautifully gilded altars with inlay work. On the Southern side is a chapel that has floral decoration in wood, where the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier are kept.

 This is probably just 20% of what is actually there in Old Goa. We wanted to visit the city market, couple of beaches, and a fort. But we ran short of time. We are definitely going back to explore rest of it.  While DIY has been the focus here, we are also getting lured into ancient architecture, design and décor in that is for now the by product of all that we are doing here. So do expect sprouts of these posts amid our DIYs too.  Please do pour in your thoughts, suggestions on potential places to explore, interesting designs etc.