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---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com/lr/2002/11/03/stories/2002110300160300.htm) Story of a confluence Goa, the site of a confluence of Portuguese and Indian cultures, is the subject of India and Portugal, with the emphasis on architecture. But the book has other surprises as well, says ZERIN ANKLESARIA. IF one were to look for an emblem of Indian cuisine, the choice would automatically fall on the chilli. Yet, this zingy seedpod was a stranger to our kitchens until the Portuguese introduced it from the Americas 400 years ago. Along the trade routes they created came cashew and pumpkin, tomato and potato, and a host of luscious fruits, 300 species in all, from Africa and the New World to enrich our diet. There are other surprises in Marg's new book on India and Portugal. The violin, for instance, came here not during the Raj but during the short-lived Portuguese presence in Bengal. Becoming a part of local folklore, it was frequently depicted on the walls of 19th Century village temples where the violinist, always female, is usually standing, but sometimes sits and plays her instrument, Indian style. As Gautam Sengupta points out, the Portuguese made a far deeper impression on the Bengali psyche than their brief incursion warranted. Their swashbuckling feats of piracy were repeatedly pictured in temple plaques in the coastal areas, and words of Portuguese derivation like (tobacco), (window), and (soap) are still in use. The great European voyages to the East were undertaken in the quest for spices, particularly pepper, known as black gold. Today its importance is difficult to understand, but imagine a world without refrigeration or modern transport in which one could only eat local produce. In the long, harsh Northern winters, even this meagre resource dried up and, potato and onion being unknown there, one lived on stale bread and salted meat. By winter's end, the latter was virtually inedible without cardamom and ginger, cinnamon and above all pepper to disguise the noxious flavour. The Portuguese established their first trading posts in fertile Kerala, the home of spice. Some of their churches still stand, curious amalgams of foreign and indigenous architecture, where columned, oblong halls borrowed from Hindu temples are combined with Gothic façades or rounded Dutch gables, and the interiors are carved with European motifs such as vine creepers, corn and acanthus leaves. Goa, where the Portuguese ruled for more than four centuries after being expelled from Kerala and Bengal, is the main subject of the book, with the focus on architecture. The earliest structures, palaces and civic structures were built in a severe fortress-like style, and they did indeed double up as fortresses at a time when the Portuguese were establishing their supremacy along the Western Coast. One example of the Manueline mode, as it was called, survives in a 16th Century church-cum-priory built on a prominent headland overlooking miles of open sea. With thick walls and an unadorned exterior, this block-like structure has turrets and a square central tower suggesting a castle rather than a place of worship. The great churches of Old Goa, which came later, were increasingly inspired by Italian Renaissance styles, first in their ornate interiors and then in domed, columned and gabled exteriors. This second phase of Portuguese building culminated in the church of St. Cajetan. Modelled on St. Peter's basilica in Rome, its façade is defined by Corinthian pilasters and a pediment, with a great central dome towering over them. The last, and for us the most interesting, phase is a hybrid. While the architectural embellishments and interior decoration of Christian structures borrowed freely from Indian tradition, there was a two-way traffic, in which temples incorporated Renaissance and Islamic elements. The Mangeshi and Shantadurga temples, with domes, arches and tiled roofing, look far more like colonial mansions than Hindu structures. Old family mansions have the same steeply-sloping tiled roofs. The disposition of interior space is Hinduised, and the façades are plain or have arched windows alternating with pilasters. Their unique features are windowpanes inset with oyster shells instead of glass, which let in plenty of air even when the rooms are closed and fill them with iridescent light, and that charming emblem of Goan friendliness, the . This steeped entranceway, consisting of a pillared porch with seats built into the sides and sometimes along the steps as well, literally invites the visitor to come in and be comfortable. There is little by way of Goan painting. We have only two sets of 16th Century illustrations with detailed captions, providing a panorama of contemporary life. The provenance of the earlier set of 76 large pictures is unknown. Though the captions are in Portuguese, stylistic features clearly indicate that the painter was Indian. Working in a rough, folksy, pre-Mughal idiom resembling the Gujarati or Deccani, he has left us vivid, finely-observed pictures of local dress and customs such as the marriage scene shown on the book cover. We see processions honouring native kings or Portuguese bigwigs and people at work, from the moneychanger to the humble . A quaintly humorous scene shows Europeans dining at a table set in an ornamental pool, with water rippling around them and their feet submerged because, the caption says, "the land is too hot". Flowerpots adorn the poolside and servants navigate the steps gingerly carrying dishes laden with goodies. The prints for a book by Jan Linschoten, a Dutch clerk in Portuguese service, made from sketches done by the author during his nine years in Goa, show similar scenes from a Western standpoint. These are very "correct", sophisticated images in which Indian physiognomy is adapted to suit European tastes. Buildings and people of various races and degrees, modes of transport on sea and land, local beliefs and customs such as are portrayed with commendable attention to realistic detail. What they gain over the Indian illustrations in verisimilitude, they lose in wit and liveliness. This reader-friendly book concludes with chapters on Goan music, food, including a yummy recipe for shrimp and cucumber soup, and furniture, particularly chairs. The latter, like all things Goan, are eclectically inspired, combining Indian motifs such as the lotus and the with spiral supports and scrolled hand-rests inspired by Portuguese, English or Dutch models. In a culture in which the hoi polloi squatted on the floor and VIPs sat bolt upright, chairs were formal and straight-backed, aesthetically pleasing but hardly inviting. You couldn't loll around in one of these! It is safe to predict that the most enduring Portuguese legacy will be culinary, for, in centuries to come, when their buildings have crumbled, our great grandchildren to the nth degree will still be spicing the potatoes with chilli, and serving up tomato salads and chutneys, and savouring the succulence of guava and pineapple and , and swooning over the undisputed King of Fruits, the incomparable Alfonso mango. India and Portugal: Cultural Interactions, Copyright: 1995 - 2002 The Hindu Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the consent of The Hindu -------------------------------------------------------
