It was after two decades since I visited this historical church. The last time was some time early 2000s I was here with my business associate based out of Goa, we had taken a day off from work that day. Going back in time, my first visit was another decade and half, with my college friends in 1987. I remember our guise showing us the 500YO corpse of St. Francis Xavier. We had taken a few snaps of our group in front of the building. In those 38 years, the building seems same. Of course it has to remain as it is, after all this is one of the few World Heritage Sites of our country.
This visit was with Pushpa and my friend Srinu from Hyderabad. Srinu had driven down from Hyderabad to spend a week or two with us at Dharwad. Srinu and I visited the Chalukyan realm- Badami, Pattadakal and Aihole, it was his first visit there. Then we returned home, rested for a day or two and then drove down to Goa via Belagavi on Sept 1st. Before checking into a resort we managed to visit a few tourist spots such as Harvelem waterfall, Harvalem rock-cut cave shrines, Lamgao caves and Corjuem fort. The resort was situated close to Assonora in a remote location of Northern Goa. That evening we drove to Vagator beach, missed the sunset, spent some time on the beach, had dinner at Jaws restaurant and came back to the resort.
Sept 2, 2023. We left the resort early morning, had This towering edifice built in the XVI Century CE by Portuguese architects is an engineering marvel. Though it appears like a multi-storied building, the interior is just one huge space. There's a narrow ledge running around the side and front walls at the first lintel level. It's my guess that this building is around 65' at it's highest point. The neighboring white building is a regular one, ground plus two, which is approximately 40' tall. The white building houses missionary offices and may be monks' living quarters as well.
The three projecting support walls seem to be later addition to this west-facing building.
Being a heritage site, this is under ASI care. A plague installed by the Archaeological Survey of India describes this World Heritage site as below:
The construction of basilica of Bom Jesus was started in 1594 and upon completion it was consecrated in 1605 the church is cruciform on plan. Its three storied façade has a main entrance flanked by two smaller entrances. Entire façade has moulded basalt casing and the remaining part is exposed in laterite. Inscribed at the top of the façade, the letters "IHS" symbolise the first three letters of Jesus in Greek.
As one enters the choir, the altar of St. Anthony is located to the right, and a wooden statue of St. Francis Xavier is kept to the left. On the northern wall of basilica of Bom Jesus, the cenοταρη of Dom Jeronimo Mascarenhas, the benefactor of this church is placed in the corresponding wall, there is a profusely carved wooden pulpit with canopy.
The main altar is flanked by altars of our lady of hope and St. Michael. The richly gilded main altar has Bom (infant) Jesus; and a large statue of St. Ignatius Loyola with the "IHS" medallion is placed above the Bom Jesus.
The holy trinity of "the father, the son and the holy spirit" is depicted at the top of main altar. The chapel on the northern side is dedicated to the "blessed sacrament"; whereas that on the south side has sacred relics of the body of St. Francis Xavier. The interior of this chapel is adorned with scenes from the life of the saint. A corridor adjoining this chapel leads to the exquisitely carved wooden door of an oblong sacristy. The sacristy has vaulted roof with an apse at the end to the west of the sacristy, the cloister of basilica of Bom Jesus and the professed house are located.
The facade is a symmetric form and divided into four tiers to reinforce the structure. The stacked pillars have both functional and aesthetic values. While Tier-1 pillars are circular, the upper tier pillars are square sectioned. Along the rectangular windows level is a ledge running inside on the front & side walls. I guess the ledge is provided so that windows can be accessed. I guess the windows are kept closed in during monsoon and opened in drier months. Weather is mostly warm and humid, windows this height allows air flow.
The highest tier of the facade displays a logo accompanied by decorative sculptures. Within the circle are the letters IHS which symbolizes the first three letters of Jesus in Greek.
A view of the arch over the doorway.
The great hall of this church. Notice the ledge on the side walls at the rectangular windows' height. Since photography is not allowed inside the church, this is the only shot of the interior. The altar is a rich mass of golden sculptures, a befitting color for the deity and it's paraphernalia.
We spent about half an hour inside. The basilica is connected to the neighboring building which houses a museum and missionary offices. The ticketed museum has a collection of idols of missionary monks. The idols are quite realistic, giving us a feel of attire of those times- long robes, overcoats, sandals & shoes. Many of the monks heads were partly shaven, like a circular gap on top of their hairy heads. Surely that is more than just symbolic, there must be some rational behind that hairstyle. Also there were other artifacts and a few paintings too. I can't recall much of it now i.e. after almost a year.
With the basilica premises is St. Francis Xavier memorial. People could pay their respects by lighting candles here. Some people have put garlands as well which is ancient Hindu tradition. Original Goa was known as Gomantak. On the European colonist arrival people of Gomantak were basically Hindu. The Portuguese traders turned rulers with the missionaries changed the culture of this land. Anyway, that's history.
After the tour of Basicalica of Bom Jesus, we headed to another complex of buildings across the main street. The complex contains two big churches- Se Cathedral and Church of St. Francis of Assisi, and ASI museum. I wanted take Pushpa and Srinu to the former to show an ancient hanging oil lamp.
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