Tag Archives: Goa

“The news is that monuments, including the Basilica of Bom Jesus, have been listed for adoption by private players”.

President of India Ram Nath Kovind on the occasion of World Tourism Day launched “Adopt a Heritage” Project on September 27, 2017. “With the efforts of the Tourism Ministry, Culture Ministry and Archaeological Survey of India, has great potential to make our rich and diverse heritage monuments, tourist-friendly”, said the President.

I am not saying if it is a good or bad idea. But it should not threaten the historical/religious value of the monuments or become an abject advertisement of one company.

An article from The Indian Express:

The Goa government has expressed its reservation over the Centre listing some of the state monuments for adoption without consulting the local authorities about it.

The state cabinet members, including Archives Minister Vijai Sardesai, Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar and Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar, expressed apprehension over the Union culture ministry’s scheme under which, Sardesai claimed, six monuments in Goa, including the Basilica of Bom Jesus at Old Goa, have been listed for adoption.

“The news is that monuments, including the Basilica of Bom Jesus, have been listed for adoption by private players. The Goa government is completely in dark about it. It is a religious place of huge importance, the relics of St Francis Xavier are kept there,” Sardesai told reporters on Wednesday.

He said the Basilica, which is located about nine kms from Panaji, is not just a place of cultural importance but also has religious significance.

Sardesai said a meeting would be called next week where he, Ajgaonkar and Madkaikar, the MLA from North Goa’s Cumbharjua constituency where the Basilica of Bom Jesus is situated, will be present.

The ministers would discuss the matter with the parish priest of Se Cathedral (also located in Old Goa), rector of the Basilica of Bom Jesus, state chief secretary, the Archaeological Survey of India and the church representatives, he said.

“We should be clear about what exactly is the adoption scheme. The experience with Delhi (central government) has been that they come with a small thing and then they take over your whole asset,” Sardesai said.

The Old Goa churches are an asset of the state and the church has to be taken into confidence, he said, adding that “here in this case, we were not aware.”

“We, as a government, would like to be clear about the whole scheme and the adoption procedure, its transparency and whether the church was taken into confidence,” he said.

The Chapora and Cab de Rama forts have also been listed, he said, adding that “we will not allow anyone to take over the forts under the guise of providing some amenities.”

“We want the scheme to be well-defined. I want that the state government be taken into confidence along with the church. These are assets of the state,” Sardesai said.

On the occasion, Ajgaonkar said he was shocked to know about the listing of the state’s monuments for adoption.

“We are fully equipped to take care of our heritage structures. We don’t need any help from the corporates. Goans know what is best for them,” he said.

The minister claimed that his department, which promotes tourism, was completely kept in dark over the issue.

Madkaikar said the locals were also not taken into confidence before such a proposal was moved.

Notably, President Ram Nath Kovind had in September last year launched the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ project, to entrust heritage sites to the public sector and private sector companies and individuals for the development of tourist amenities.

Last month, the Ministry of Tourism signed an MoU with the Dalmia Bharat Group and the ASI to adopt the iconic Red Fort monument in New Delhi and Gandikota Fort in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh under the project.

Carmelite order set to mark 400 years of existence in Goa, India

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Carmelite order set to mark 400 yrs of existence in Goa

TNN | Nov 28, 2016, 03.11 AM IST

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COLVA: The Carmelite order is all set to mark 400 years of its presence in Goa with the feast of its first martyrs, Blessed Dionysius (Dennis) and Redemptus. Celebrations will be held on Tuesday at the ruins of the first foundation monastery in Old Goa. Every year, the Carmelites observe this feast as a mark of remembrance of their first martyrs.

Fr Archibald Gonsalves, superior of the Carmelite monastery in Margao, told TOI that the Discalced Carmelites of Goa will remember and celebrate the feast of their first martyrs, Blessed Dionysius and Redemptus, at the ruins of the first foundation monastery, Old Goa, on November 29 at 4pm. The feast mass will be celebrated by Fr Charles Serrao OCD, provincial of the Karnataka-Goa province of the Carmelites. Fr Sylvestre D’Souza OCD, councillor for spirituality will deliver the homily.

In the 17th century, Fr Leander of the Annunciation, a native of Burgos in Spain, contacted authorities in Goa for the purpose of setting up a foundation in the state.

Without much difficulty, Fr Leander was able to secure a temporary licence from Archbishop Don Cristobal de Sa Lisboa to put up a church and a modest residence, which soon grew into a novitiate community.

The archbishop and viceroy contributed to the construction of a magnificent church which was inaugurated on April 25, 1620 and completed in 1621. Today, one can see the ruins of the first foundation Carmelite monastery at this plac, where over 100 friars were trained.

It has become a pilgrim site for nearly 20,000 Carmelites living in Asia. There are tombs of significant personalities of royal families and of Carmelite friars on the premises and in the Convento Di Carmo church.

It is recalled that Blessed Redemptus, a Portuguese soldier, joined the Carmelites to be a non-clerical Carmelite brother through a profession of vows in 1635 at Old Goa. The other was Fr Dionysius, a French sailor and a cartographer, who was admitted into the novitiate at Old Goa in the year 1635.

When the ambassador, Francis D’Souza was to leave for the East Indies on the request of the government, his superiors allowed Fr Dionysius to go along with the diplomatic mission sent by the viceroy to the sultan of Acheh in the East Indies. He was accompanied by Redemptus of the Cross.

While the ambassador and his troupe were released, Fr Dionysius and Redemptus were enslaved for some time, and subjected to torture before they were martyred on November 29, 1638.

These first martyrs of the Teresian Carmel were beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1900.