Arambol Tourist Information
Blessed with a gorgeous beach, immense arboreal wealth in its hills, springs, sweet water lakes and a hardworking populace, Arambol could arguably be rated as Goa’s most magnificent village. It is a bountiful bundle of natural beauty enveloped in traditional Goan rusticity.
A 12-kilometre drive from Chopdem after crossing over from Siolim by ferry transports you into this haven of dazzling scenery. After passing Mandrem, as you climb the hill that dips into Arambol the picturesque panorama of the village enfolds. White sands decorated with coconut palms swaying to the gentle music of the azure sea extend a cool and balmy welcome to the visitor. It is a hospitable rural experience from then on.
Bounded on the North by Paliem, South by Mandrem, East by Korgao and on the West by the Arabian sea, Arambol, undoubtedly, is the pride of Pernem Taluka.
It were the Hippies who, in the early eighties, made known Arambol to the rest of Goa. Besides discovering the beautiful beach, then unknown to tourists and untouched by tourism, they also literally unveiled the stunning sweet water lake, strikingly sandwiched in a cove surrounded by hills, which interestingly lies at a hand shaking distance from the sea. The serene environs was sheer bliss for them, as they actually converted the place into a nudist colony. Hundreds of hippies, all without even a stitch to cover their bodies, could be seen sprawled across the beach sunbathing, others frolicking in the sea, while some swimming in the blue lagoon. Once news of the nude spectacle travelled across Goa and away, Goan picnickers and Indian tourists alike made a beeline to Arambol; and haven’t stopped coming ever since. As the oglers started coming, the nude Hippies began thinning. Today, just a sprinkling of topless white females adorn the sands even as members of the Goa Police patrol the beach. Just for the record, 75 per cent of the property along the beach belongs to the late Sukur Narayan Bhakia, the infamous history-sheeter who had dramatically escaped from the Aguada jail.
Although the tourism bug, which has made villages like Calangute and Candolim unrecognisable, seems to have caught on in Arambol, things are not that bad. But popular shaded picnic spots have disappeared, making way for restaurants and shacks – most of which are leased out by locals to non-Goans. The restaurants that cling to the cliff that leads to the lagoon, offer a variety of cuisine ranging from Goan, Indian and Continental to Japanese and Tibetian. The Lamanis and Tibetians with their ware have also descended upon Arambol. Widely advertised Tai Chi, Chi Kung and Chakra healing centers, a Himalayan Yoga Centre, and "Sat-sang"s conducted by ‘Gopalji’, ‘Neeru’ and ‘Aziz’ complete the touristic scene.
While just a miniscule part of the village has been sacrificed to tourism, the remainder is a slice of old. Amidst lakes, hills and fields belonging mostly to the Viscount de Pernem, Harmalkars, some kashti-clad, can be seen toiling. The carpet-like greenery more than suggests that this is the season for planting a variety of vegetables and pulses and caring for the second rice crop. During the monsoons, cultivation is also carried out on hill slopes. The other occupations that the village folk indulge in are, caju feni distillation, masonry, toddy-tapping and distillation and fishing with rampons in their canoes. Toddy tapping has been the forte of the Catholics – a profession they carried on even in British Bombay after they settled along the coconut tree-lined Shivaji Park-Dadar chowpathy. They freely distilled coconut Feni in Bombay until after independence, when liquor manufacture was banned by the Maharashtra government. A sizeable number of Harmalkars have since settled in Mumbai.
Arambol is blessed with skilled masons. Experts at building temples, churches and schools, two of Siolim famed schools, Holy Cross High School and St Francis Xavier’s High School showcase their expertise.
The hospitable Harmalkars, who account for a population of about 7500 live in Quepem, Gircar vaddo, Modlo Vaddo, Sokoilo Vaddo, Bamon Bhatti, New Vaddo, Bhat Wadi, Santan Vaddo and Voilo Vaddo or Deull Vaddo. The welfare of these wards is looked after by seven Panchayat members headed by Sarpanch Savitri Dadu Gadekar. Popular Panchayat members presently having a non-stop five and three terms respectively are Sebastian Fernandes and Ramchandra Krishna Kerkar. Already having a post office, a health center, private doctors, an imposing Panchayat building from whose precincts the State Bank of India operates, several provision stores, automobile spare-part shops, a petrol pump, a saw mill, a fabrication unit, a bakery, credit societies, a fair price shop, restaurants, cyber cafes, all that Arambol now requires is an LPG gas dealer. The three-road junction is where most of all these are located and where all the village buzz is. With fish and meat also available at this tinto, the locals need not go long distances to make purchases; more so since the retail rates offered in Arambol are surprisingly cheaper than, say, Mapusa.
On the education front too the village does not lag behind. The Harmal Panchakroshi High School, which was started in 1967, and the Higher Secondary section, having Science and Vocational streams, have a strength of nearly 1000 students. Church owned and Diocesan-run Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School educates 545 students. Besides, two out of five Marathi government primary schools are still alive and kicking.
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