Candolim tourist information
Traditional old peace, green grandeur and golden sands have woken up to witness a new dawn in the charming, coastal village of Candolim. The almost unending Aguada fortress skirting the Sin querim plateau, the beautiful Linhares Church and the lighthouse, glowing warmly in the evening wind, buttress the historical heritage of Candolim. It has emerged into a prime resort village, which draws visitors like wasps to a flame.
Candolim's feast of Nossa Senhora de Esperance is being celebrated on December 19. People from the surrounding villages gather in large numbers for the feast with hope and pleas for intercession. Of course, being a part of the coastal milieu with a penchant for celebrations, it's a day of great rejoicing in the village. They also have a rare monsoon festivity called Sangodd on June 29 every year, coinciding with the feast of St Peter. The Sangodd is an aquatic tableau ma de by tying together five canoes to form a platform and decorated like a chapel. The floating stage is rowed gently along the river and the large crowds gathered along the banks move along watching the lively musical programme enacted aboard the platfo rm. Until a decade ago, there used to be three such floats but only the one at Orda Santa Cruz continues till date.
Candolim taps lightly on the shoulder of its tourism-twin - Calangute - in the North. Hill-clad Pilerne lies to its North-East, and a meandering stream of the Mandovi river separates it at Saipem from neighbouring Nerul on the West. Saipem is the gateway to Candolim from the Betim side. "Saipem, is an idyllic place, where you can forget the din and dust of big cities like Bombay, and where you can weave a cocoon of solitude for yourself, away from the stress and strain of town l ife," wrote the eminent lecturer of Bombay's St Xavier's College, Prof Frank D'Souza, in In Praise of my Wife's Village.
Sinquerim, Candolim and Orda make up the exotic village with a population of about 11,000, with a section of 1000 people comprising upcountry construction labourers and people working at the hotels. Says Tomazinho Cardozo, Speaker of the Goa State Assembly and the local MLA, "Besides Goa's first five-star hotel, Candolim has nearly a dozen three-star establishments. Moreover, virtually every house along the coast is a guest house during the tourist season. Candolim, with a quarter of the tot al area under cultivation, has witnessed sufficient progress since 1983 in the form of basic amenities like roads, water supply and electricity."
Fishing craft and dolphins cresting the waves make up a pretty sight on the horizon. Candolim's bewitching sights begin atop the scenic Sinquerim plateau, which overlooks the scenic Quegdevelim beach framed by palmfronds. At the Sinquerim plateau, a ri bbon used to be traditionally tied from the Fort Aguada to Cabo, which the then General of Rivers would cut and to throw the sandbar open for navigation. The colourful ceremony was held in front of the dome-shaped chapel of St Lawrence (controller of winds) raised to a church in 1668. It is also known as the Linhares Church since it was given to the Franciscans by a deed dated 22-11-1636 by its founder the Count of Linhares.
The feast of St Lawrence is celebrated on August 10. According to Bosquejo das Possessoes Portuguesas, "Before the day of St Lawrence nobody expects to see a sail on the horizon, because it is monsoon; but with the break of dawn one sees on passi ng by a miracle, or there appears at the sandbar by his favour the vessel of the high seas, and the coastal vessels or the ships which have been lying anchored during the monsoon get themselves ready to leave. It is because of this that the church fac es the sea, the churchyard is packed with curious people, the sailors make their calculations by scanning the horizon, and the pious and devout souls fulfill and make their vows on this occasion."
The pageant has lost much of its glitter now. The plateau remains largely deserted most of the time except for the vehicles unloading innumerable tourists every day to have a glimpse of the historic fort. The seclusion of the plateau inspires young lo vers to play hide-and-seek amidst the wooded part, unmindful of the thorny bora trees growing wild all around.
Candolim aerial map
Please click on any icon on the Candolim aerial tourist map, to find close by places, offering hotels and tourist information. You can zoom in and zoom out our touristical map as well as switch between satelite and map view of Candolim.
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