Gateways to India
The sea is witness to much that defines India and our port cities are the sentinels of change. Let’s travel to some old and new ports through the Sarmaya collection of maps and engravings and imagine them at the peak of their power
Goa
Basilica of Bom Jesus, Goa
The Basilica of Bom Jesus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was as much a photographer’s muse two centuries ago as it is today. Construction on this Goan beauty began in 1594 and was completed in 1605. The main attraction inside is the incorrupt body of St Francis Xavier, a 16th-century Jesuit missionary whose work in… Read more »
WATCH: CURTAIN-RAISER FOR SERENDIPITY ARTS FESTIVAL 2018
If you haven’t booked tickets to Goa for the Serendipity Arts Festival, do it now! This year’s programme will be spread out over the vibrant city of Panaji and offer shows and performances of theatre, photography, music, dance, craft and the intriguingly titled ‘culinary arts’. Go to Serendipityartsfestival.com to register
Costume Drama
Are you as excited as we are for the opening of India’s first costume museum? Located in a beautiful Portuguese bungalow and the brainchild of fashion designer Wendell Rodricks, the Moda Goa Museum and Research Centre is all set for a soft launch during the Serendipity Arts Festival 2018 next month. It will house costumes… Read more »
Christ
Hailing from the Asnona village of Portuguese Goa, A.X. Trindade was a student of one of the earliest batches of Sir J.J. School of Art, Bombay, and was trained in the classical style of academic realism. Like all students trained in the school during this period, he was an expert in various mediums like watercolour,… Read more »
Aussicht Von Goa
This is an engraving after an older one by Jean Bellin, the official engraver and cartographer of the king of France. It is a town plan of Goa in the panorama view including mountains, trees, buildings, elephants, ships in the harbor, boats resting on the shore, and religious buildings. It depicts the fort of Goa,… Read more »
Indo Portuguese Colonial Issue, Silver 1/2 Rupia of Goa
This is a silver coin issued when Goa was a Portuguese colony. The obverse reads “estado da India” meaning the “State of India” and states the value of the coin: “1/2 rupia”—rupia was the currency of Portuguese India from the late 17th century till the state dissolved. The emblem shows the Portuguese Coat of Arms,… Read more »
Some Years Travels into Africa and Asia the Great
This is a mid-17th-century travelogue by historian Thomas Herbert, who chronicles his journey to the Middle- East, Asia and Africa with particular emphasis on the empires of Persia and India during the 17th century. Thomas Herbert (1606-1682) was a courtier to Charles I (1600-1649). He travelled to the court of Shah Abbas (1571-1629) of Persia… Read more »