Goa is a world all its own, located
halfway down India's west coast. More appropriately,
this small state is a transfiguration of Portugal in
India.
Portugal may have ceded Goa to India in 1961,
but Goa hasn’t quite fully surrendered to the
penetration of Indian culture.
Not when it is geographically
cut off from the rest of the nation by a wall of mountains
and vast alluvial plains.
Today the whole world esteems Goa for its beaches
like Anjuna, Calangute, Baga, Colvo and Palolem.
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Hundreds and thousands of foreign and domestic tourists
flock here each year, many even fresh out of India Taj Mahal
Tours, Taj Mahal Agra Tours and Golden triangle Tours India.
By
and large, hippy backpackers always had a fondness for Goa
and its liberal atmosphere, but the elite are gradually taking
notice of the place. Hippies must also love Taj Mahal
India, as they are frequent clienteles in Taj Mahal Tours and
Agra Tours India.
Aside from internationally renowned beaches and sumptuous
endemic cuisine, a Taj Mahal Tour Package prizes the
state for its UNESCO world heritage architecture.
Many
of such structures converge at Old Goa, the erstwhile
capital of the state.
Located in this India Taj Mahal Tour Package spot is
the largest church in India, the Tuscan St Catherine's
Cathedral, which was completed in 1640 after eighty years.
Other sights worth seeing in Old Goa include the Arch
of the Viceroys and Church of St Cajetan. |
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More than anything, Old Goa is at the confluence of Christian
pilgrimages due to the presence of the Basilica of Bom Jesus,
where the remains of St Francis Xavier, the renowned sixteenth-century
missionary Jesuit, are enshrined.
At present, Goa's capital is Panaji. Resting on the southern
banks of the Mandovi River, Panaji has a resilient Portuguese
legacy - so much so that old cobbled alleyways, colonial
villas, red-roofed houses, taverns and cafes are still in
town.
The hippy heritage in Goa is as vigorous. Selling omnipresent products like kaftans and chillums, Anjuna Flea Market is a convergence point for hippy backpackers.
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