13 Dec 2023 | 05:01am ISTGoan architectural heritage in a concise bookA
book focusing on the architecture as well as history of Goa, ‘Heritage at
the Crossroads: Preservation of Goa’s Architectural Treasures’, edited by
Joaquim Rodrigues dos Santos, will be released today, December 13, at
Fundacao Oriente. Almost five years in the making, the book features some
of the top Goan, Indian and Portuguese conservationists and those who
worked closely on preserving various monuments in Goa
[image: Goan architectural heritage in a concise book]
Dolcy D’Cruz
Did you know that the Gate of the Palace of Adil Shah at Old Goa which is a
national monument is actually a folly ruin built by the Portuguese in 1906?
There are many interesting facets of Goa’s architecture which is buried in
the pages of books in the archives which hardly reaches a wider audience.
Joaquim Rodrigues dos Santos is an architect and PhD expert in heritage
preservation, researcher and professor at the University of Lisbon, who has
been undertaking investigation on the Indo-Portuguese architectural
heritage. He has been visiting Goa for almost two decades and almost every
year since he was studying his post doctorate.
He has edited the book, ‘Heritage at the Crossroads: Preservation of Goa’s
Architectural Treasures,’ which will be released today, December 13 at 6 pm
at Fundacao Oriente, Panjim. It brings together scholars, technicians,
heritage lovers and passionate conservationists. The book published by
Caleidoscopio in Portugal, is supported by the ARTIS – Institute of Art
History, School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon,
Consulate General of Portugal, Camões - Instituto da Cooperação e da
Língua, Lisbon, Fundacao Oriente and Casa De Goa (House of Goa) in Lisbon.
The book can be purchased online through the publisher’s website.
The 20 chapters of the 389 pages are filled with beautiful and crisp
photographs of monuments, maps, plans as well as rare paintings. Each
chapter is well researched and the authors have given utmost attention to
every aspect of the topic. The idea for the book was inspired by the many
conferences that Joaquim organised at Fundacao Oriente in Panjim. “When I
came to Goa in 2015 for my post doctorate which was about ‘The Preservation
of Heritage in Portuguese Influences in Goa, Daman and Diu during the
Portuguese Period’, I came across experts here. The following year, I used
to invite them to conferences in front of an audience with several
lectures. So after three or four conferences, I realized that there were
just a few scattered text here and there. And it would be good to have new
and revised text in a single book. I invited the authors to write something
for the book. The last chapter is from probably one of the best Portuguese
art historians, Vitor Serrao, about painting, because it's not only
architecture that is the most important thing,” says Joaquim, who arrived
in Goa with just five copies of thebook.
Theauthors are from Goa, India and Portugal writing about Goa. “My idea
since the beginning was to make a book about Goa for the Goans. Goan
heritage is somehow being distorted or vanishing or, and this is something
which is very painful for me. I wanted to have this book published here. I
was not able to get the publisher. Interestingly, Caleidoscopio, which is
the best Portuguese publisher in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences,
immediately asked to publish this book, when they heard of it,” adds
Joaquim.
The first chapter of the book is by Percival Noronha, a strong defender of
history and heritage of Goa. “This book is in memory of Percival Noronha
and Paulo Varela Gomes, because he used to say that we don’t have
Indo-Portuguese arts, it is Goan art, and it is unique. It should be
studied and preserved. Percival’s chapter was published by Fundacao Oriente
and his family allowed us to include it because it is a good introduction
to the context of the Goan architecture within India. An article I wrote
was also published in Portuguese in Portugal. I think it would be useful to
have in English here,” explains Joaquim.
Nizamuddin Taher was the former director of World Heritage Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI) and he mentioned the works of ASI since 1961 until he
was in Goa. Divay Gupta was the leader of INTACH and he talks about the
‘Role of INTACH in conserving Goa’s built heritage’. Ashish Rege wrote
about the houses in Margao, and about the architecture of Goa. “This
chapter is also very interesting, because it's not only talks about
architecture of Goa, but also how to make the traditional plasters, the
lime plasters, how to apply etc. This chapterwas published in Portuguese in
Portugal. I think it's interesting to bring it here in English.”
Alice Santiago Faria writes about the ‘The importance of preserving the
everyday public architecture in Goa’. He elaboarates, “She wrote a small
chapter about the everyday public architecture. Although a public building,
these are not con
