colonial church architecture of goa

8/9/2019 Colonial Church Architecture of Goa

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To those who are labouring hard to bringabout a paradigm shift from ‘Indo-Por-tuguese art’ to ‘Goan Catholic Art’, always

or predominantly with Hindu artisans at work, I wish to recall that it was ‘Christianotopia romana’(not ‘ Lusotopia’) which prevailed in Portuguesecontrolled (?) Asia. Probably nationalistic arro-gance, vocally denied but seen in practice, doesnot permit some Portuguese art historians toadmit an obvious historical reality.

The Portuguese Church ‘ padroado’ was mannedlargely by missionaries of various European na-tionalities, and so were the producers of the mil-itary and church architecture. Prominent amongthe missionaries and architects were Italians.

 Among the missionaries, A Valignano, R de Nobiliand M Ricci are more known. The better knownarchitect Julio Simão was himself preceded by Giovanni Battista Cairati.

I am not in the least surprised with the re-action of Dr Paulo Varela Gomes in the Heraldof 7 July to my two recent columns. He lamentsthat I failed to identify him by name, and herdedhim among some Portuguese art historians. Iam sorry for that, because I admit he is u nique.But what should interest us are i deas, not per-sons or names! Not dragging persons into dis-cussions is generally helpful for a more criticaldiscussion.

I have no patience or interest in engaging inquixotic battles for Goan church architecture.Goan heritage lovers would hardly care for thehair-splitting differences in ‘Indo-Portuguese art’.By sheer dint of ‘boa educação’, I do not wish toqualify the response of Dr Gomes as outright hysterical. I shall limit to point out that his so-called research methodology is based upon alogic of adolescents, who usually tend to say ordo exactly the opposite of what the adults requirefrom them.

Dr Gomes tells us that he confirmed the orig-inality of his idea of the uniqueness of ‘GoanCatholic Architecture’ after I stated that he brought no novelty. If I would now choose to call his viewsprofoundly original, he may conclude that he isbattling with windmills. With that logic Dr. Paulo

 Varela Gomes is hardly qualified to judge what others have to say about Portuguese colonialismand its heritage.

 As for the rigour of his research, a little pricking was sufficient for him to downgrade an earliertreatise of Matheus de Castro to “initial stages”(whatever that means). But he still insists that “there is one version in Portuguese”. Could weknow where? Is it a translation made by the Por-

tuguese authorities or Jesuits who hated his guts?I am aware of such a translation and its originalin Latin, in the Jesuit archives in Rome. Did Castro

flee (‘ fugiu’) from Goa, as Dr Gomes claims [‘ Ler  História’, n. 58(2010), p. 56] or did he obey reluc-tantly the insistent calls from Rome that sought to avoid more frictions with the ‘ Padroado’ andPortuguese authorities in India? His linguistic twists reveal his biases.

More interesting and relevant is the researchof Dr Maria Manuela Tenreiro, a Portugueseart historian trained in the UK. She recently produced an MPhil dissertation, later developedinto a full-fledged PhD thesis. She focuses uponCarlos Julião, an Italian who worked for thePortuguese as military engineer in the 18thcentury. Julião was involved in the manufactureof the oversized statue of King José installedby the Marquis of Pombal in the ‘Terreiro do

 Paço’, following the reconstruction of Lisbonafter the earthquake of 1755. He rose to thepost of Deputy Inspector of the Army Arsenal,

 joined the royal court in exile to Brazil duringthe Napoleonic invasion of Portugal, anddied there in 1811.

 A recent televised program chose the best seven Portuguese historical architectural monu-ments overseas. Two of them turned out to befrom India. It looked like a post-colonial versionof a military exhibition organised by the Salazarregime in 1960, titled ‘  A Engenharia Militar no

 Brasil e no Ultramar Português Antigo e Moderno’.The photos / designs of the forts were supple-mented with sketches produced by Carlos Julião,identifying native subjects of the empire and ob-

  jects of ‘ethnographic’ curiosity. It was an en-lightenment-masked racism with scientific veneer,a tendency that endures beneath subtle post-

colonial platitudes and discourses of human rights.Carlos Julião also did a topographic survey of 

Macau for 10 years. He served in India for about six years, probably sometime between 1763 and1777. A manuscript dated 1778 in the NationalLibrary in Lisbon titled ‘ Noticia Summaria do Gen-tilismo da Asia’ has corresponding images and text in another pholio by the same name, kept at theNational Library in Rio (Brazil). It is signed by Carlos Julião and includes two views of the portsof Goa and Diu. His ‘ Figurinhos’ includes, amongpredominantly Brazillian society, a ‘Gentio’ of Goain gala dress, a ‘Baye’ of Goa in Brahman dress, a‘Gentio’ of Goa in ordinary dress , a ‘Baye’ of Goa fromthe Chardo caste. We have yet to know what elseCarlos Julião did in Goa, besides looking at theGoan baye and Hindu ( gentios) dressing styles.

Contrary to the obvious interest of some art historians from Portugal in trumpeting thegrandeur of the colonial legacy, even while seekingto replace the label of ‘Indo-Portuguese’ to amore convenient post-colonial designation agree-able to natives, the Goan heritage lovers cannever forget that it is a religious symbol of thecolonial power, appropriated by some local ben-eficiaries. It was a baroque imposition that wasecologically unfriendly, socially disruptive andeconomically disastrous. Neither colonial norpost-colonial economy ever coped with such ‘holy’structures.

The new tendency in church architectureis likely to favour community centres withmultiple functionalities, combining the cultic and social needs of the local congregations.The World Heritage rules, framed through UN-ESCO and other international bodies, alwaysunder the pressure of the form er colonial powerseager to conserve their colonial art legacy, willcontinue to exact the preservation of all past monstrosities, or at least their gothic-baroquefaçades. They could well remain as a constant reminder of the religious-political impositionsand interferences in the cultures of the formercolonial territories.

To conclude, heritage is a delicate and nego-tiated concept acceptable to the local / regionalsections of the population. The lack of such asocial negotiation leads to disasters like theBabri Masjid case at the national level, ormany small but disturbing communal frictionsresulting in, or following from violations of religious sanctuaries in Goa. There is no suchthing as common heritage, unless all or most accept it as such through a democratic con-sensus.

Help the teachers  Leena Gomes, by email

Congratulations Jose Pereira for revealingthe truth about private unaided schools inMargao (‘Teachers’ plight’, Herald, 13 July).

 All teachers are grateful to you. Teachersare in a pathetic condition. They don’t get even a single day’s leave; if taken, Rs100 isdeducted (daily wages) from their meagresalary, and no account is maintained.

Now that the facts are revealed, we hopethat Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, Edu-cation Minister Babush Monserrate and hisdepartment open their eyes, look into thematter, and give us our rights as per thecircular of 16 April 2010 on sixth pay 

scales, pension and retirement benefits,

tuition fees, etc.

Fallow fields  Name withheld on request 

The paddy fields at Candolim are lying un-cultivated for more than four years, thou ghthey are fertile and can be cultivated thricea year. These fields belong to the comu-nidade, and were given free to farmers, but the latter do not bother to cultivate them.There are two big ponds (‘ Nag Tollem ’) andfive smaller ones, eliminating scarcity of 

 water.These fields are located below Boscio

hospital, on both sides of Nag Tollem. Thearea is more than 5,000 sq. metres. The

 Agriculture Department should take chargeof these fields and cultivate them.

Premium pricing  S Kamat, Alto Betim

The decision of the oil marketing companies(OMCs) to deliver LPG cooking gas cylinderson an ‘anytime’ basis by charging a premiumof Rs50 is irresponsible. It makes the LPGcylinder a privileged comm odity, accessibleonly to those who can afford to pay a pre-mium.

The number of cylinders to be deliveredunder this category must be limited, like‘tatkal’ railway tickets, so that the generaldelivery of cylinders to regular queuing cus-tomers is not affected. Let it not exceedmore than 1 per cent of the deliveries on amonthly basis.

Family business?  Augustus Alphonso, Vasco

Churchill Alemao’s daughter, Valanka, wantsthe Congress ticket for Benaulim. Churchillseems to be too eager to get her involvedin politics. Politics should not be like a family business. Valanka should stick to social serv-ice and not get involved in the dirty game

of politics. She would be better off in someother job. Churchill and Joaquim are suffi-cient for the family in politics. It is not fairfor her to ride on her father’s might.

Not by God Constancio Fernandes, Vasco

The letter by Tabrez Mahamad ‘Smash Un-

necessary walls’ ( Herald, 13 July) was very heart breaking. Unfortunately what he saysis the reality, not just in India but in theentire world.

The responsibility for this does not wholly lay with society. It is also the responsibility of the leaders of any particular religion totry and be part of the mainstream. We needto start reforming ourselves first. We cannot rely on politicians; they only exploit us fortheir own benefit.

Giving too much importance to religionnarrows our outlook. The point, as Tabrezsays, is that we are Indians first and thenMuslims, Christians, Hindus or Sikhs. Thebasic purpose of religion is to do good toothers. But, unfortunately, religion has be-come the main cause of violence in the

 world. Let us all remember that all religionsare made by men, not by God.

Crocodile tears Vincy Menezes, Margao

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) did anice job of shedding crocodile tears in

Mickky’s case. Mickky made a big blunderby disappearing from the scene, being scaredof arrest. The NCP watched the tamashasilently. Once the humiliation process wascomplete, they brought out their politicalbalm to ‘soothe’ Mickky’s wounds.

The NCP, being in the government, couldhave easily arranged for Mickky’s interro-

gation without arrest. But they had an axeto grind with Mickky for staging the most spectacular NCP convention at Betalbatim.Mickky’s supporters raised slogans against the Congress outside the court. Instead, they should have been directed against the NCP!

Gutless Sena  Jyoti Shetgaonkar, Morjim

The Shiv Sena marching to the Mapuca Mu-nicipality was a waste of time. Who is in-terested in having a name plate in Marathi?Whether the language of the name plate,everyone knows that it is the useless MapusaMunicipality.

I would be pleased if the Shiv Sainiks hadfought to demolish illegal constructions, orroad congestion. They should ensure that government employees do not have privatebusinesses.

On 12 July, people from all over Bardezgathered at the Mamlatdar’s office to get their election cards rectified or make new ones, but the mamlatdar did not attendduty, even though the Election Commission

had advertised in newspapers. The Shiv Sainiks should have marched there and madenoise. But do they have the guts?

Stone-Age Sattari Freddy Agnelo Fernandes, DubaiThe news item ‘Man-made wooden bridgeposing threat at Keri’ ( Herald , 14 July) makes

me wonder whether we are still in the Stone Age. A bridge made of bamboos and coconut tree trunks still operates in the constituency of former Chief Minister and present SpeakerPratapsingh Rane! Is this the ‘development’he has done in his constituency?

With the number of decades he has beenthe MLA, he should have made Sattari aparadise on earth. It is a shame that he hasfailed so miserably to provide the basic re-quirements to his people.

Rupee in big league  Pachu Menon, Margao

The Indian rupee now has a distinct identity.The new symbol retains our national char-acter with an international flavour. Designed

by IIT-ian D Uday Kumar, it “captures theIndian ethos and culture”.

The Rupee joins the exclusive club of theUS Dollar, the British Pound, the Japanese

 Yen and the European Euro. It can no longerbe confused with the ‘rupee’ and ‘rupaiah’of small neighbouring countries like Pakistan,Sri Lanka, Nepal and Indonesia.

Till the symbol is encoded, the govern-ment should ask the banking sector, indus-tries and the media to use it and promoteits use.

Cops after NSUI! Raul Soares, Mapusa

The summons issued to NSUI President SunilKautankar by the Crime Branch makes it clear that anyone who dares to demand aCBI inquiry into the drugs mafia-police-politician nexus will not be spared; even if it means putting false charges on them.

Shame on Home Minister Ravi Naik forprotecting criminals with the help of theGoa Police Crime Branch.

The NSUI should not be afraid. Theirsignatures campaign should be madeglobal over the Internet. Let’s remind these

crooks that we will not tolerate their criminal

ac tivities.

Chest Pain

OPINIONwww.oheraldo.in 

Pg8Vol No CX No: 183

Goa, Saturday 17 July, 2010

 Letters to the EditorLetter of the Day 

 Mockery of democracy B V S Priolkar, Margao

 A government employee gets suspended when (s)he is behind bars for 48 hours. Thepension, salary and other benefits get affected. For a government job, the credentialsand integrity of the person are verified.

But for our elected representatives in the Assembly/Parliament, integrity andcredentials are unimportant. They get pay, allowances, pension and all other facilitiesno matter what.

When these MLAs/MPs go to police custody or jail for the offences against them,they lose nothing. They continue to be MLAs or MPs, enjoy pay and pension uninter-rupted, and get a police escort to attend the Assembly or Parliament.

This is a sheer mocker y of democracy. Are MLAs and MPs not bou nd by any code of 

conduct? How can the Speaker entertain such people? The Speaker should disqualify suchmembers, and they should forfeit pay and pension, just like government employees.

Printed and publish ed by Vinayak Pai Bir for and on behalf of Herald Publicat ions Pvt Ltd. Printed at Herald Publicatio ns Pvt Ltd, Plot No: L-135, Phase II, Verna Industrial Estat e, Verna, Salcete, Goa. Published at PO Box 160, Rua Sao Tome, Panjim, Goa - 403001. Editor-in-chief: Mr R F Fernandes. Editor: Ashwin Tombat (Responsible under PRB Act). Regd Office: St Tome Road, Panjim, Goa. Tel: 2224202, 2228083, Fax: 2222475 (all Editorial); 2230535, Fax: 2225622 (Advertising); Margao: 2737689. Mumbai Office: 16-A, Bell Building, 2nd Floor, 19 Sir PM Road, Fort, Mumbai - 400001 (Tel: 22840702 /22844908 ). RNI No: 43667/83.HOW TO CONTACT US: mail@herald-goa .com — For press notes, general que ries. junioryouth@herald-goa.com  — Junior Herald & Careers. heraldmirror@herald-goa.com  — Sunday Mirror. reporters@herald-goa.com  — For Reporters. business@herald-goa.com  — For Business news. editor@herald-goa.com  — For Letters to the Editor. sports@herald-goa.com  — For Sports news. advt@herald-goa.com  — For Advertisements. 2day@herald-goa.com  — For Herald 2day. tiatr@herald-goa.com  — For Tiatr Reviews and Reports. Disclaimer: Except for the editorial above, articles and letters in Herald represent the views of the concerned authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Herald editor, publisher, and/or owners.

Paths of Wisdom 

It was ecologically unfriendly, socially disruptive and economically disastrous, says TEOTÓNIO R DE SOUZA

Colonial church architecture of GoaOHERALDO

HISTORICAL EXPLORATIONS

No one likes to suffer pain. It is all the more abhorred if it isphysical. But then pain, be it emotional or physical, is apart of life. Of course there are different types of pain de-

pending on the part of the body which it affects -joint-pain, tummy pain, headache etc. Most of these pains are not fatal and can becured by popping some pain-killers in the mouth. Almost all painsare symptomatic and are produced as a result of some kind of 

illness. Hence body pain or headache could be the result of a viral infection. Treating the cause of the pain can lead to curingthe pain itself. But then there are pains which can be fatal. Onesuch pain is chest pain. That is probably the reason why it is sopopular among the politicians who have been booked for a criminaloffence. No, the chest pain is not popular among politiciansbecause it (the pain) can prove to be fatal, but because it canallow them to spend time in an air-conditioned ICU of a hospital

rather than spending time in a mosquito-infested lock-up andbeing subjected to relentless questioning. If one goes back in time,it will be noticed that several politicians at the national level as

 well as in our very own State have complained of chest-pain assoon as there have been summons for questioning. The questionto be asked is how do politicians suffer from chest pain all toooften? A physician would probably diagnose it as a case of anxiety 

neurosis. Having to spend time in jail could probably make theconcerned politician anxious. Hence the anxiety neurosis manifestsitself. But then there could also be other reasons. The chest paincould occur because the politician does not have a clean chest.Or he could be playing with his cards close to his chest. Probably the best way for these politicians to get rid of the chest pain wouldbe to get certain things off their chest. Chest pain could be becauseof heart condition. Hence a politician who does not have a clean

heart is more likely to complain of chest pain. There is no way adoctor can measure pain suffered by the patient. Hence whetherthe chest pain is for real or just a hoax, cannot be proved beyondreasonable doubt. As a result politicians fake a chest pain makingthe doctors believe that something is really wrong them. There isthis recent case of a flamboyant politician who was trying to runaway from the long hands of the law. Obviously he did not succeed.

 And when arrested, as was expected, he complained of chest pain.He was promptly admitted in the air-conditioned ICU of a Govern-ment-run hospital. A social activist went on to disclose that doctorsare forced to give false certificates. A doctor from the Government hospital defended the action saying that the politician was put inthe ICU because he wanted some cooling in an air-conditioned room.This has probably given a new meaning to the ICU. It is probably nolonger an ‘Intensive Care Unit’ but an ‘Intensive Cooling Unit’.

Tongue in c heek 

By Adelmo Fernandes

      O     H     E     R     A     L     D      O

Troubles and Persecutions Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives,  when Peter, James, John and Andrew came to him in private. “Tell us, whenthis will be,” they said, “and tell us what 

 will happen to show that the time has

come for all these things to take place.” Jesus said to them, “Be on guard, and

do not let anyone deceive you. Many men, claiming to speak for me, will comeand say, ‘I am he!’ and they will deceivemany people. And do not be troubled

 when you hear the noise of battlesclose by and news of battles far away.Such things must happen, but they donot mean that the end has come. Coun-tries will fight each other; kingdoms

 will attack one another. There will beearthquakes everywhere and famines.These are like the first pains of child-birth.

 You yourselves must be on guard. You will be arrested and taken to court. You will be beaten in the synagogues; you will stand before rulers and kings formy sake to tell them the Good News.But before the end comes, the gospelmust be preached to all people. And

  when you are arrested and taken tocourt, do not worry before hand about 

 what you are going to say; when thetime comes, say whatever is then givento you. For the words you speak willnot be yours; they will come from the

Holy Spirit. Men will hand over theirown brothers to be put to death, andfathers will do the same to their children.Children will turn against their parentsand have them put to death. Everyone

 will hate you, because of me. But who-ever holds out to the end, will be saved.

(Mark 13: 3-13)

 National Waterway: Pros and cons

Goa’s inland waterways have been the most important economic avenues for the state from time immemorial.Being dependent on trade, most of Goa’s ports were

in her rivers. The po rt of Chandor, on the Kushavati River, wasGoa’s capital and its main trading centre during the early ruleof the Kadambas. Ships from Red Sea ports sailed there. Sil-tation, however, took its toll, and the Kadamba port (and

capital) shifted to Gopakapattana, at the present Goa Velha,on the Zuari River.

Gopakapattana, too, met the same fate as Chandor; in-creasing siltation made it difficult for larger ships to call.When the Bahamani kings took over Goa, they moved theport (and capital) to the village of Ela on the Mandovi River,at the present Old Goa. As the river was heavily silted upstreamof Old Goa, this remained Goa’s port for a few hundred years,till it moved to Mormugao, while the capital moved to Panjim.Essentially, the history of Goa has been directed, among otherfactors, by the siltation of her rivers.

The rivers were Goa’s highways. Most of our older largebuildings face the river, because that was the main means of transport. Before liberation, a lot of passenger transport wasby boat. It is only in the la st 50 years that roads have becomethe preferred mode of travel and the waterways have falleninto deep neglect. Today, in the Mandovi at low tide, loadedbarges cannot move out of the river and have to anchor off Panjim’s Campal waiting for high tide.

The solution is simple; the rivers need to be dredged peri-odically, to maintain a minimum navigable depth. That is why the Goa government needs to take the proposal of the InlandWaterways Authority of India (IWAI) to declare and developthe Mandovi, the Zuari and the Cumbarjua canal as NationalWaterways seriously. It will give a tremendous boost to thestate-run Panjim port, as well as to the tourism and miningindustries.

The state government has accepted in principle the proposalto nationalise Goa’s inland waterways. However, no furtherprogress has taken place. If Goa gives the nod, it will bring inhuge investments – up to Rs400 to Rs500 crore – to dredgeup to 50 km inland on each of our two main rivers, build

 jetties and ramps, night navigation structures and otherfacilities to give a boost to water transport. This will not only help the Panjim port, it will give an enormous boost to thetourism industry, which is facing visitor fatigue, because it has little to offer beyond the state’s beaches. Creating anational waterway will also enable the revival of water pas-senger transport, which could take a considerable load off Goa’s congested roads.

It is not as if Goa will be handing over her rivers to thecentral government through this process. Under the InlandNavigation Act, the state government retains control of therivers; though the centre will enter the picture as anotherstakeholder. Therefore, the interests of fishermen who put tidal nets on the river bank mud flats or those who do stakefishing can be protected at the state level itself. There is a lot of pro and very little con in this proposal.

 Fees imbroglio

T

he High Court’s direction to the state government toappoint experts from the Accounts Department along

 with a retired High Court judge on the committee to

examine fees charged by unaided schools is the best way toresolve this unending crisis.

Charges have been flying back and forth between irate par-ents and angry school managements over an issue that basically needs sound accounting and educational acumen to sort out.Hopefully, the government will cooperate and end this im-broglio.

100 Years Ago 

17 July, 1910

Council Meet The Council of Land met lately to delib-erate over the pending matter where sofar about 100 claims has been decided.

 Albanians RebelThe inhabitants of Albania have rebelledagainst the new tariffs with a fierce com-bat taking place between Government troops and the population in the neigh-borhood of Tirana.

Government Embarrassed At the House of Lords, Lord Curzon em-phasized on the evacuation of friendly tribes from the region of Somaliland andthe loss of face which His Majesty’s Gov-ernment will have to endure to regainits acclaimed credentials.

Credit EvaluationThe Public Works Ministry has concludedits legal proposal in regards to the eval-uation to be presented in the Parliament along with the regulations which are rel-ative to agricultural credit.

 PRIMEIRO DIARIO NAS COLONIAS PORTUGEZAS

Letters should be 150 words or less in length, and 

should have the writer’s name, address and tele-

 phone number. The editor reserves the right to

edit letters for size and readability, and to delete

any personal attacks or libellous /objectionable

matter.

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