Goa Images Reflections and Reality[Part One]

Goa Images Reflections and Reality[Part One]

"Images are the killers of the reality" I can't recall this or this type of words where I read but if you are visiting Goa with some of the images I assure you that you are going to find the vice versa situation , here reality is all prepared to kill your images. The first image that will go under the breakage if you are traveling by road is the Goa is the shortest piece of Indian land with most pictures and scenic nature. As if you preferred to go from the Belgaum, Karnatak, almost whole of the four hours of your journey you will feel mesmerised by the adventurous, fearful and scenic beauty of heights and Vallie's. Many of the,road side cliff top waterfalls will prove hurdle in your journey if you are visiting round the corner of rainy season and will force you to relax for a while at the door step of nature , cloud play during this time adds unforgettable experience to your memory. If your choice is go via the Maharashtra then from Kolhapur there are two options for you One by Amboli road and another by Gaganbawada Road though there is third option by Radhanagari road is also available but most of the visitors opt one from the former two. If you are traveling by the Kokan railway do opt for day journey to have the same experience that you will have by road travel either from Karnataka or Maharashtra.

Geographicaly Goa is situated on the west coast of India and its boundaries on the western side are composed by the Arabian Sea, Where as state is connected with Maharashtra on the north side and with Karanataka in the east and south directions. Population wise it is the fourth smallest and area wise is the smallest state of India. The state was under the Portuguese governance for about 450 years hence being in India you will found many things not matching with Indian customs and traditions, don't be surprised if you feel that life style of Goa is not matching with the rest of India, it is because still the ruins of Portuguese life style are very much alive in the human society of the state even after almost 50 years [ included in India in 1961] of Independence, though India is said to be country of festivals but here you will find the social stimulation towards the festivals only at the time carnival and to some extant during the New year celebration, thus here your second image get killed by the reality.

If we try to turn the history pages we will find that the natives of Goa are basically Saraswat Brahman who were moved from bank of river Saraswati to Bengal and were known as Gaud Saraswat, were shifted to Goa and during the era of Mahabharat & then were known as the Gomantak beside these Brahaman families some migrants from the south called Kundbis were the part of initial human society of the Goa. I am not sure but it is said that When Lord Vishnu was on earth as Parashuram, he defeated Samudra, the sea and since that time Samudra had never crossed the limit fixed by the arrow of Parshuram, which falls at the village Bannali [Bann = arrow and ali=village] presently known as Benaulim.

Some of the Dynasties that rules over the Goa are : The Scytho-parthians [ 2nd-4th century AD] ; The Abhiras, Batpura Bhojas [ 4th to 6th century]; TheChalukyas of Badami [6th to 8th century AD]; The Rashtrakutas of Malkhed[8th to 10th Century AD] ;The Kadambas [1006 -1356AD] ; The Yadavas of Devaguiri (modern Daulatabad) [ 12th to 13th century AD] ; The Hindu Empire of Vijayanagar [14-15th century AD]; The Muslim Bahmani Kingdom of Deccan [15th century]. Portuguese has take the control of the land somewhere near the 1510.

It might be surprise for you that in this era of high communication, Goa state still don't have own Television Transmission, there is no separate news channel for the state,you have to depend on Mumbai Doordarshan for the weather report and for local news on the not so much reliable cable network. The same thing is with the newspapers [though the scene is changing with a vigorous rate] This might be the due to the reason that during the Portuguese times any person seen reading newspaper was punished physically, the hangover of that mentality is so high that natives are still unable to get rid of it. Yet another example of this mental slavery is the tradition according to which during the tourist season [October- December] when Portuguese tourists are visiting Goa, state's cultural and tourism Minister remains present at Air port to welcome them, this tradition remain unbroken even during the rule of Hindutav wadi Party BJP.

Your another image about Goa that is going to become vanish on the surface of reality is the night life, the first thing that will make you spellbound is the start of closing of shops near around the seven in the evening and even in the major cities Like Panaji, Mapusa, Madgaon, Vasco you will have to search for an open hotel for the dinner after 11pm. You will be welcomed by the empty roads even after 9 O'clock at night.

This was all about the historical, Geographical and social life of the Goa, for the star tourist attractions which are in abundance here I will write a separate blog including the reasons why it is said" Go Goa 365 days on Holiday".

My Related Articles

Kokan Tourism

Alibag: Historic beautiful Kokanz beaches

Kokan Journey: Amboli Forest Hill Station

Maharshtra Tourism

Lush green hilly planes, calm clean and scenic sea shores, historical monuments,Wild life and reserve forests, Stone caved window to history these are the few words that can replace the word "Maharashtra Tourism" .

About the State

Word "Marathi", used for the natives and basis for the nomenclature of the state as Maharashtra, has historical roots, In the seventh century many of native of this land were associated with the profession of Chariot drivers "Rathi", history revels that in the 90 A.D. they have formed a group of fighters "Maharathi". Maharashtra is the state with a glorious past, pleasant present and fantastic future. The state is among the most advanced states of the country. Mumbai, the economic capital of the country is part of state. Here while your tour your are sure to found and feel the presence of most effective mixture of culture, traditions and technology. The per capita income of the state is 60% higher than the national average, state is among the high industrialised lands of India and contributes for 22% of India's net value-added output in the organized industrial sector-way ahead of any other state. The official language is Marathi with about 42 dialects, beside these Maharashtrians are also using Hindi,Gujrati and English in their day to day life, hence language is not going to prove hurdle for the enjoyment of your travel here. You will find at every place, sufficient accommodation facilities to meet with your budget, from five star luxury suites to shared rooms. The pure maharashtrian cuisine like the Misal, Kokani Fish Fry, Tambada and Pandhra Rasa, Kande Pohe, Jhunka Bakhari, Puran Poli, will not only prompt you to visit state again and again but also will keep your mouth watering for the years to come.

About your tour

Before you plan your tour have a look

Temperature: Summer 22°C-39°C Winter 12°C-34°C

Tourist Season :Sep to Apr (Coast) Jun to Sep (Hill Stations)

Airports : Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nashik, Sholapur

Mode of Transport : Excellent Air, Rail and Road links are available for travel within the state and around.

List of religious places includes :

Afghan Memorial [Colaba Mumbai]

Ambadevi Temple [Amravati]

Anwa Temple [Aurangabad]

Ayappa Temple [Mumbai]

Bahubali Temples [Kolhapur]

Ballaleshwar [Palli]

Bibi Ka Maqbara [Aurangabad]

Buddist Caves of Ajantha [A World Heritage site- Jalgaon]

Kailash Temple [Ellora-Aurangabad]

Mahalaxmi [Kolhapur]

Nageshwar Temple [Pune]

Osho Ashram [Pune]

Pandharpur

Shirdi

Sidhi Vinayak [Mumbai]

Shri Hazur Sahib,Sachkhand Saheb [Nanded]

Trimbkeshwar [Nashik]

If you are a domestic traveler I will suggest to go to

www.mtdcindia.com and plan you travel, as Maharashtra is a state with a quite large geographical area, so you can make parts of your Maharashtra Tourism, as for as the upper class domestic and foreigner travelers are concerned I will suggest them to have a tour with Deccan Odysee "A palace on wheal train" for maharashtra tourism. It is a life time experience of one week long comfortable and luxurious train journey that covers almost all the prominent travel destinations of the state. You can book your journey tickets online at the same www.mtdcindia.com site and have a look at your day to day journey schedules. Among the star attractions are unexplored see shores of Kokan are most important, you can even plan your trip only for these by making Kolhapur base camp.

Air Travel in India

Air Travel in India
It has passed just a little over two months, Shri Laloprasad Yadav, unioin railway minister, was reading the budgetory provisions and esstimates for the year 2007-2008 in the central hall of parliament at Delhi. [ This article is being written on 10 May 2007] It might be effect of political pressure or a part of his famous mangement style, he announced that there will be no hike in passanger tariff [ it is another thing that fares are increased by back door] and added many facilities specially to higher class so that Indian railway can meet the competition posed by the increasing graph of air travel. What may the statics say but my travel exprience suggest that No. of passanger in the higher class of railway is on decline and majority of those who are travelling are either railway free pass holders or those who are paid by goverenment departments and private commercial estabilishments. Even in the early days of human civilsation air travel was the symbol of status and power, that tendecy is on the boost in the present era. Techanical advancement has also forced Indian to opt for air travel to save the time, beside that lowering rates and increasing facilities are the other greeds that are prompting Indian to chose air travel.

Just have a look on the graph showing the growth in internal air travel in India for the year 2006 it shows a sounding growth of 46%. Statics shows that at among the 9 major airports growth in air trafic is more than 50% , at Delhi it was 27.1%, at Nagpur it was 94.8% at Port Blayer it was at record 141.8% other significant cities of the list includes Pune, Coimbtoor, Manglore, Hyderabad and Jaipur. Let us have a look on the facilities that worked as booster for this significant growth in air travel.

*** Air Deccon if offering shopping for its passangers from the company's inlisted companies, the product range includes many goods used at home and office at almost half price in compare to market price of the product.

*** Recently Jet airway has introduced Sky screen, this LCD will not only make your journey full of entertainment but also give vital and intresting information about your flying route.

*** Many companies are offering e-magzine facilty so during your journey you can enjoy with the digital eddition of your favourate magzine. All most all air companies are offering attractive gifts for the kids.

*** " Now you can enjoy your smoke" this is a futuristc announcement of air hostage, which going to become reality in very near future as many companies are on the way of procuring the needed infra structure for their internal flights.

*** The days are deposited with history when air travel was meaning cut from the world, in the present time during your air travel not only you can share your exprience with your family members but also can control business activities at your office by communicating proper instructions.

Above all the lowering rates,which are proving real mouth watering and attracting middle class economy of the country and prompting people for the air travel, so next time when you plan your business or family travel there is no harm in looking at the option of air travel.