Editorial

Goa - most associate Goa with tourism, but do you know where it really is?

Goa is situated roughly halfway on the west coast of India, with a warm tropical climate, experiencing heavy monsoon rains from June through to September, and mostly dry for the rest of the year.

It is a place of heady beaches, with the coast of South Goa being almost one long beach stretching for miles. It is also a centre of Catholicism in midst of Hindu India, with so many cathedrals, churches, monasteries and nunneries within a few square kilometres in what we today call Old Goa, that it was known in the 16th and 17th century as the Rome of the East. Old Goa is also where you will find the relics of St. Francis Xavier, the exposition of which will be held this December, for public veneration.

Goa was a province of Portugal, known as Estado da Índia Portuguesa, from 1510 until 1961. After Indian military action of Dec 1961, Goa was annexed to India in March 1962. Doubtless to say, Goa has benefitted in many ways from its Portuguese influence of 451 years, particularly in architecture of churches, temples, mosques and residences, on culinary peculiarities and on the customs of the people.

Although today Catholics are in a minority in Goa, a great majority of Goans abroad are Catholics, of which circa 9,000 Goans have made Australia their home.

On this 21st August 2004, we Goans have gathered together to celebrate our unique culture, which could be said to be a blend of the East and the West, with a Latin flavour. We expect to display a brief glimpse into what was the past through the dances, and a sample of the culinary delights of Goa at dinner.

Perhaps the future way of celebrating the World Goa Day would be by way of having an all-day Goan Festival, where Goan heritage, food, music, art and literature could be promoted to the wide Australian public, as a manner of celebrating multi-culturalism. Viva Goa! Viva Australia!