Villagers in Goa are the safe-keepers of the state’s heritage and culture. The true nature of
these villages and the life around it can be understood by visiting and meeting
people who have lived and studied about these treasures. Luckily for Goans,
there are village walks that take place every week in different parts of Goa.
There are also bike rides that take place along different routes. As village
walks are gaining popularity, many historians are now sharing their experience
with a wider audience, including national and international tourists.
Sawani Shetye, a Porvorim based
archaeologist with an MA in Archaeology and Ancient Indian History and Culture,
has been conducting trails in collaboration with Exclamations Goa. She will
next be conducting a Heritage Trail on January 26, 2020 to explore five temples
in North Goa that have the unique monochromatic Kaavi wall Art. Previously, she
conducted a trail to Patradevi on the occasion of Goa’s Liberation Day, to pay
tribute to the martyrs of Goa’s liberation movement. The trail was conducted in
an attempt to draw attention to an event that took place on the Goa-
Maharashtra border in addition to the other revolts that took place for the
cause of Goa’s liberation.
She has also conducted heritage trails in
Mapusa, Mormugao, Pre Portuguese Mosques of Goa led by architect Shifa, nature
walk series with expert Tallulah D’Silva with a walk around Taleigao fields and
even a heritage trial to understand the cultural importance of River Mhadei.
Sawani explains, “The trail coming up will include a visit to Chandor, Pansaimol
Rock art, Jambauli, Rivona Cave and lunch at a local house. I am a full timer
with Exclamations Goa but we collaborate with others. We have Manjeet Gawas, an
environmental archaeologist, who joins the trails. We also have a few GTDC
licenced guides. The weekend trails are usually interesting for Goans as they
are curated and fixed. On weekdays, we have regular trails for tourists and
even private trails for organisations or colleges in Goa.”
Goa can be explored in different ways. The Local Beat has been
organising Vespa tours around Goa. One of their Vespa Tours was around Salcete.
One can choose one of their brand new Vespa scooters, making their way around
the lesser known roads of Goa. This weekend, the tour is set in St Estevam.
Unfortunately, this tour is not with bikes.
“St Estevam is so ensconced that getting married within their
village has been a way of life for villagers for centuries. It also has a
unique dwelling structure model; you will find rows of houses having common
walls and roofs. On this outing, we hop on for the world’s shortest ferry ride,
watch barges puff by, rummage around the gunnery-fort, the mannos, pass by
narrow roads lined up with homes and the vast paddy fields. Next, we stream
around the canal in a wooden boat and catch sight of egrets, kites and
hopefully lazy crocs lounging around,” says Mackinlay Antonio das Merces
Barreto of The Local Beat.
Soul Travelling has been organising trails with a dedicated team
of six people full timers, four members who work part time and around 20
different collaborators and experts, who are the ambassadors of different
places. The team works closely in training new people for conducting trails and
sharing experiences. It’s like one big family for us. We also do ‘Walk with
Legend’ once every month, wherein the focus is on the person and not
necessarily the place,” says Varun Hegde, a core team member.
Their trails for this week include Islamic Heritage of Goa on
January 25, 2020 with historian Prajal Sakhardande sharing information of some
of the most interesting monuments built by various rulers and a trail through
salt pans behind the Pontes de Linhares causeway guided by architect Tallulah
D’Silva on January 26, 2020.”
Soul Travelling does trails to Chorao, Cansaulim and the Latin
Quarters too, pulling in a lot of tourists. “A lot of businesses are
complaining that the tourist season is down but in fact, we have had a nice
season. The feedback we usually get is about the quality of the trails. They
are extremely surprised by what they’ve heard about Goa and what they
experience. It has more to offer than just beaches and casinos,” adds Hedge.
Soul
Travelling also works with different people from different fields. We have
researcher Heta Pandit, historian Prajal Sakhardande, architect Tallulah
D’Silva, landscape designer Daniel D’Souza, expert in folk theatre Tanvi Kamat
Bambolkar, artist Dr Subodh Kerkar, content writer Rujuta Borkar, hotelier Mc
Eugen Pinto and many more. Each one of them gets something different to the
table, something from their past experiences and a way of telling their
stories. They also bring along stories from their home towns and experiences,”
says Hegde.
