Travel Goa under Budget : Day2 (Bascilia of Bom Jesus)

NOTE : This post is a part of “Travel Goa under Budget” which is a Goa travelogue providing trip advise and travel plan to keep your expenses to the minimum so that you can enjoy the beauty of Goa in a cheap and inexpensive manner but at the same time safe and memorable.

 10 July 2011

In and around the Capital : Day 2 : Going to Old Goa

It was close to 2 in the afternoon and this time around I was all set to head towards Old Goa. I had two destinations to cover Basilica of Bom Jesus and the Archaeological Museum.

This was the first place which I was going to visit in Goa that made me excited as I have heard a lot about the former when I was in school. During those days I often used to go to Quiz competitions and one of the favorite question amongst the quizmasters over there was “Name the place where the sacred remains of St Francis Xavier is placed” and now I was going to visit the place that was the answer to that popular question.

And this was the first place on my list to visit also about which I had developed a idea about how its gonna look.

The bus headed through the now familiar spot which I could recognize by the sight of it and this time the bus took a right and entered  Panaji Circle ,once again I can’t help control but went on getting as much look of the beautiful statues depicting the cultural heritage of the land.

This time the bus took us alongside the Mandovi river and I was trying to get as much glimpse of the riverside I could get. The view was serene and the prisitine and the lack of any residential settlement added to the charm. The bus was moving a bit slowly as I found the road to be a bit narrower than the roads I have previously traveled in Goa and was taking me through scenic backdrops and it took a sharp left I guess when we had to bid farewell to the serene view which the Banks of Mandovi river offered.

The bus drove to roads which I could remember seeing in popular movies and the bus finally dropped me at a place which had a certain WOW factor about it and I couldn’t believe my luck that the two important places on my list to visit in Goa were nothing but separated by the main road. To my right was the church and two my left was the museum.

One of the most important thing I noticed here was the cleanliness of the road and the effort that would have been made by the staffs over here to maintain the place to meet international standards as for a moment I felt that I have entered a foreign land. It was just too clean.

The Statue of Mahatma Gandhi was standing tall but this was a bit different from the other statues of his which I have witnessed in my life which usually depicts Mahatma Gandhi in a marching posture with a stick in his hand.

This Unusual Statue of Mahatma Gandhi

But this statue was a bit different as in this Gandhiji was depicted as showering his care, love and concern for a child who appeared to belong to a rural background.

And this I can definitely add as a uniqueness of this place as I strongly feel there is hardly any other statue of Mahatma Gandhi depicted in a manner similar to this.

And on closer inspection I found this quote inscribed on one of its walls which says

“It Is By My Fetters That I Can Fly

It Is By My Sorrows That I Can Soar

It Is By My Reverses That I Can Fly

It Is By My Tears That I Can Travel

It Is By My Cross That I Can Climb Into The Heart Of Humanity

Let Me Magnify My Cross ,O God”

And now I headed towards the church and not so surprisingly it was fairly populated given its historical significance and the cultural heritage and over the years it has become the landmark and most visited church of Goa.

As I entered I saw a lot of tourist guides who were flocked by tourist and each of them was sharing some valuable information about the place which was further adding value to the purpose of the travel and also helping them in knowing the history and the significance of the place in the local and also in Indian culture. The first thing which I came to know about this place was the meaning of the name of the church when I stood near a guide who was explaining about to his very own flock of tourists. The church is called "Bom Jesus" meaning 'good Jesus' or 'infant Jesus' to whom it is dedicated. The facade has on it, at the top, the letters, "HIS" which are the first three letters of Jesus in Greek.

The first sight of Bascilia of Bom Jesus which I got

The imposing facade built out of black granite in an exquisite combination of the Doric, Corinthian and composite styles, is remarkable for its simplicity. It measures 183 ft in length,55 ft in breath, and 61 ft in height. The main altar is 54 ft high and 30 ft broad. The pillars and detail are carved from basalt which was brought from Bassein, some 300 kms away. The interior of the church is built in Mosaico-Corinthian style and is remarkable for its charming simplicity.

The roof was originally tiled. The church is cruciform on plan. The flying buttresses on the northern side of the church are recent additions. A single-storeyed structure adjoining the church on its southern wing connects it with the Professed House.

Another interesting snippet to be shared is that it is the only church in Old Goa, which is not plastered on the outside, the lime plaster having been stripped off by a zealous Portuguese conservationist in 1950.

Well this information is something which I couldn’t have found out by myself as I had no experience in Catholic style of architecture and to be very specific I had no experience in any form of architecture at all.

And the guide further added about the three-storeyed facade of the Church showing Ionic, Doric and Corinthian Orders, and having a main entrance flanked by two smaller ones, each having Corinthian columns supporting a pediment. There are two chapels, a main altar and a sacristy besides a choir inside the Church itself. There is a belfry is at the back and I had no idea what the belfry meant and I had no intention in asking him as I wasn’t part of that official group that had hired him to share his knowledge.

I was just acting like Rancho from 3 Idiots trying to gather knowledge from where ever possible.

Then I entered the church through the gigantic entrance and I guess this was the largest church which I have visited in my life so far.

And also the best one I am visiting as I have never visited such beautifully adorned church interior.

The others which I have visited so far were mainly used as a place for religious gathering hardly having any historical or architectural value associated with them.

The central deity of the Bascilia of Bom Jesus

As one enters, beneath the choir, to the right is an altar of St. Anthony and to the left is an exceedingly well-carved wooden statue of St. Francis Xavier. In the middle of the nave on the northern wall is the cenotaph of the benefactor of this church, Dom Jeronimo Mascarenhas, the Captain of Cochin, who died in 1593, bequeathing the resources out of which this church was built. The two columns supporting the choir bear slabs inscribed in Portuguese and Latin the dates of beginning of construction and the consecration.

Opposite the cenotaph, projecting on the southern wall is a profusely carved wooden pulpit with a canopy on top. The pulpit has on its three sides the figures of Jesus, the four evangelists and four doctors of the church. The bottom of the pulpit depicts seven figures as though supporting it.

A projecting gallery, which was intended for the use of dignitaries on solemn occasions, runs along the two longer sides of the Church.

The main altar at the end of the nave is flanked by two decorated altars in the transept, one dedicated to Our Lady of Hope and the other to St. Michael. The richly gilded main altar has the figure of infant Jesus and above it is a large statue of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the order of Jesuits, gazing with fervor at a medallion on which is inscribed "HIS". Above the medallion, the Holy trinity - the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are depicted. In the transept on the northern side is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament.

The Sacred Relics of St. Francis Xavier

By this time I was also photographing the never seen before interiors and soon a church authority came near me and inquired me whether I was shooting the video of the place as videography was totally banned there.
As with photography, the  authority was fine and walked away blessing me.
On the southern side in the transept is a chapel with gilded twisted columns and floral decorations of wood, where the sacred relics of the body of St. Francis Xavier are kept. This was what I was looking for. Finally I was standing face to face with the sacred relics which has always fascinated me ever since my childhood. This moment was also nostalgic as it has bought in memories of my childhood and that distant past to which I felt was no longer connected with but at the same time the value that those moment had added in my life which had shaped me to my present state. I somehow don’t have any words to express what I was going through and I couldn’t find a word to the strange feeling which has aroused in me , I admit I have a poor vocabulary.

The interior of this chapel is richly adorned with wooden carvings and paintings, depicting the scenes from the life of the Saint.

A beautiful silver statue is kept in front of the casket. The silver casket, which serves as a reliquary containing the sacred relics of the body of St. Francis Xavier, is exquisitely carved, and was once studded with precious stones. The casket is divided on each side into seven panels, each of which has two plates representing in relief important incidents in the life of the saint.

The premises which resembled the Forest Research Institute,Dehradun

Adjoining the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier is a corridor that leads to the sacristy, entered through an exquisitely carved wooden door. It is an oblong vaulted structure with an apse at the end. Alongside the walls are kept the portraits of various saints above delicately carved chest of drawers. In the altar at the apse in an iron chest containing a golden rose blessed by the Pope Pius XII and gifted to this city in 1953. At the foot of the altar is the grave of the founder of the vestry, Balthazar da Veiga who died in 1659. A painting giving a fair idea as to the state of the body of St. Xavier about a hundred years ago is displayed near the altar.

Inside the basilica the layout is simple but grand. A simple wooden one has now replaced the original vaulted ceiling. To the left of the door as you enter the basilica is a statue of St. Francis Xavier, but the visitor's attention is drawn to the huge and ornate gilded reredos which stretches from floor to ceiling behind the altar.

It wasn’t so long before my battery was drained and now I had to go hunting for a charging point to get it charged again.

And there was plenty of charging points with vintage switches and plug points just outside the chapel but within the premises.

The Front view of Bascilia of Bom Jesus

I noticed that this part of the church was similar to that of another unique landmark building of our country The Forest Research Institute located at Dehradun.

As the mobile was getting charged I got in to a conversation with a security guard there who was standing guard outside the theatre which showcased the history of the Church and its influence on the local culture.

Meanwhile he also narrated an interesting tale about The Professed House of the Jesuits located next door to the Basilica.

The Jesuits faced strong opposition from the Senate, the Santa Cassa da Misericordiaa and the Franciscans for their planned construction in the spacious square called Terreiro dos Gallos. However on the night preceding the day on which they were to be legally restrained from building the site, two fathers and one brother converted a small house into a temporary church and on its door inscribed the word 'JESUS'.

The next morning the Church was thrown open and a bell rang to call the surprised people from the neighbourhood to celebrate mass. After that the opponents were never able to dislodge the occupants.

The ravages of time and the raging flames of the great fire in 1663 destroyed some of its lengthy corridors and spacious apartments but it was rebuilt in 1783. One more storey on the top was demolished between 1886 and 1887.

The side view of the Bascilia of Bom Jesus

This left us with a two storey laterite building covered with lime plaster which actually predates the Basilica, having been completed in 1585 despite strong opposition to the Jesuits. Jesuit missions to the eastern regions were planed and organised from here.

I decided to leave the place when I felt that my mobile I could take sufficient snapshots of the Archaeological museum and proceeded with my trip ahead.

There was also an art Gallery within the premises that was selling artifacts and souvenirs relating to the place.

And I moved out of the church and begin photographing this imposing church. I could feel that there was a strange feeling through which I was undergoing and I couldn’t deny the bond I had developed with this place in such a short time.

And now I had to visit the adjacent building : The Archaeological Museum.