- Goa
- Dr Vishvesh Prabhakar Kandolkar is an Associate Professor of Architecture at Goa College of Architecture. His researc... moreDr Vishvesh Prabhakar Kandolkar is an Associate Professor of Architecture at Goa College of Architecture. His research on Goa’s architectural history focuses on early modern church design and the creation of Indo-Portuguese aesthetics and their afterlife. Apart from considering the social aspects of architectural legacies, he also attends to neoliberal co-optations of design influences. His Ph.D. research was on the cultural history of the Basilica of Bom Jesus, which is among the few monuments to have survived the steady decline of Old Goa, the city which was once the capital (1530-1843) of the Estado da Índia; accordingly, his study of this building reveals the relationship between it and regional identity-making. His writing on art, architecture, and cultural politics has been published in various forums, including the peer-reviewed journals Verge, Economic and Political Weekly and Journal of Human Values. Currently, Kandolkar is the Programme Coordinator for The Masters of Architecture Programme in Urban Design at Goa College of Architecture.edit
Citation:
Kandolkar, Vishvesh Prabhakar, 2022. “Unmooring Goan Identity: Maria Aurora Couto and the Architecture of The Hotel Mandovi.” In The Peacock, Entertainment Society of Goa, Goa, pp. 108-111
Kandolkar, Vishvesh Prabhakar, 2022. “Unmooring Goan Identity: Maria Aurora Couto and the Architecture of The Hotel Mandovi.” In The Peacock, Entertainment Society of Goa, Goa, pp. 108-111
Research Interests:
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Contents of online websites and advertisements by real estate companies operating in Goa suggest that newly developed properties are meant to attract urban elites from Indian metros. These investors from urban metros, such as Delhi, seek... more
Contents of online websites and advertisements by real estate companies operating in Goa suggest that newly developed properties are meant to attract urban elites from Indian metros. These investors from urban metros, such as Delhi, seek a tranquil getaway from the pollution and pressures of city life. However, more than simply Goa’s idyllic location, second homeowners desire to indulge in the region’s difference from the rest of India—Goa, after all, was a Portuguese territory for 451 years. For the Indian urban elites, investing in the state is not just about buying ‘a piece of Goa’ on which to sojourn; rather, it is about buying into what this land signifies: an exotic ‘laidback’ Goan lifestyle. Essentially, I aim to suggest that the contemporary image of Goa through real estate advertisements is fashioned for the consumption of elite buyers from Indian metros who are sold a version of Goa’s culture that evokes the Portuguese colonial past while instantiating an idyllic present. ...
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Francis Xavier (1506–52) was Spanish, but it was the Portuguese who kept his legacy alive in their Asian colonies. Although Xavier died in China, it was Goa—capital of the Portuguese Empire in Asia—that received his mortal remains in... more
Francis Xavier (1506–52) was Spanish, but it was the Portuguese who kept his legacy alive in their Asian colonies. Although Xavier died in China, it was Goa—capital of the Portuguese Empire in Asia—that received his mortal remains in 1554, which were believed to be miraculously preserved from blemish. This article concerns the 1952 exposition of the saint’s relics, which marked 400 years of Xavier’s death and was attended by a record number of pilgrims. Although the exposition was intended to celebrate a saint, the state (Estado Novo) used the occasion to showcase Goa’s Europeanised culture for propaganda. With the pressure from newly Independent India to oust the Portuguese from Goa, the Estado Novo refused to cede any part of its overseas territory on the basis of its uniqueness from the neighbouring region. The state used the exposition, and the large gathering of devotees attending it, to make a point that Goa continued to remain an integral part of the Portuguese nation. Ostensibly, the state changed the venue of the exposition from the Basilica of Bom Jesus to Sé Cathedral. Although the basilica had been hosting the periodic exposition from 1859 to 1942, the cathedral was considered to be architecturally a much bigger and richer monument. This shift of the exposition to the cathedral was also aimed at adding a new ritual to the event: a grand procession of Xavier’s body from one church to another. Located 1000 feet apart from each other, the procession traversed a public open space between these historical buildings, wherein a record number of devotees could witness/participate this event simultaneously. While the body of Xavier and architecture of Old Goa were relics from the heyday of the empire, the state also wanted to use the faithful, who came in large numbers to celebrate this occasion, as visual evidence to showcase the longevity of Portuguese presence in Goa.
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The graphic novel, The Destination is the Journey, is Vamona Ananta Sinai Navelcar’s last published artistic work. It appears in the compendium Goa/Portugal/Mozambique: The Many Lives of Vamona Navelcar, which accompanied a 2017-18... more
The graphic novel, The Destination is the Journey, is Vamona Ananta Sinai Navelcar’s last published artistic work. It appears in the compendium Goa/Portugal/Mozambique: The Many Lives of Vamona Navelcar, which accompanied a 2017-18 retrospective of the same title at Fundação Oriente in Panjim, Goa. That exhibition was the final time Navelcar’s art would be seen publicly while he was alive. Despite his artistic and historical importance, Navelcar is little known in his native Goa, not least because both the artist and his once-Portuguese-colonized homeland cannot neatly be factored into the post-British nationalization of India and its art history. This essay centers on The Destination is the Journey as a fictionalized biographical text to consider how the graphic novel can act as a record of history that does not reconcile with the making of the postcolonial nation-state.
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In this photo essay, we offer a variety of representations of the Basilica of Bom Jesus, the structure which famously houses the remains of St. Francis Xavier, highlighting its aesthetic transformations historically. Through this visual... more
In this photo essay, we offer a variety of representations of the Basilica of Bom Jesus, the structure which famously houses the remains of St. Francis Xavier, highlighting its aesthetic transformations historically. Through this visual journey, we intervene in ongoing debates about the Basilica’s appearance, these having arisen over the necessity to alter the building’s iconic look. Such visual education may then hasten its replastering, a restoration that returns the Basilica to its original form and will extend its life by protecting it from climate-related damage.
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Born in Portuguese Goa in 1929, trained in art in metropolitan Portugal while the empire was being decolonized in the 1960s, and then exiled in postcolonial Mozambique in the 1970s, Vamona Navelcar became the artist of three continents... more
Born in Portuguese Goa in 1929, trained in art in metropolitan Portugal while the empire was being decolonized in the 1960s, and then exiled in postcolonial Mozambique in the 1970s, Vamona Navelcar became the artist of three continents not solely by choice. At the same time as his work chronicles these diverse locations, these very transits have made Navelcar’s legacy verge on disappearance. As this article argues, it is the politics of nationalism at the three continental sites that constitute Navelcar’s life-cartography that have defined this artist’s trajectory and obscured his oeuvre. Even as Navelcar’s life and artistic connections across the Lusophonic Indian Ocean-world demonstrate the multiplicities and convergences of the region, it is the fixity of nation(s) that has undermined the complexity of such heritage and the artist’s legacy.
Francis Xavier (1506–52) was Spanish, but it was the Portuguese who kept his legacy alive in their Asian colonies. Although Xavier died in China, it was Goa—capital of the Portuguese Empire in Asia—that received his mortal remains in... more
Francis Xavier (1506–52) was Spanish, but it was the Portuguese who kept his legacy alive in their Asian colonies. Although Xavier died in China, it was Goa—capital of the Portuguese Empire in Asia—that received his mortal remains in 1554, which were believed to be miraculously preserved from blemish. This article concerns the 1952 exposition of the saint’s relics, which marked 400 years of Xavier’s death and was attended by a record number of pilgrims. Although the exposition was intended to celebrate a saint, the state (Estado Novo) used the occasion to showcase Goa’s Europeanised culture for propaganda. With the pressure from newly Independent India to oust the Portuguese from Goa, the Estado Novo refused to cede any part of its overseas territory on the basis of its uniqueness from the neighbouring region. The state used the exposition, and the large gathering of devotees attending it, to make a point that Goa continued to remain an integral part of the Portuguese nation. Ostens...
Over the last century, monsoons in Goa have become more intense, with an increase of over 68% in rainfall (Goa State Biodiversity Board, 2019, p. 42). Such effects of climate change are devastating to architectural heritage, especially... more
Over the last century, monsoons in Goa have become more intense, with an increase of over 68% in rainfall (Goa State Biodiversity Board, 2019, p. 42). Such effects of climate change are devastating to architectural heritage, especially those structures built using materials like laterite, a weaker stone, vulnerable to rapid deterioration when it is left exposed. This is the precise problem concerning the Basilica of Bom Jesus, a sixteenth century building that is still in use. The monument which houses the relics of St. Francis Xavier is one of the most important cultural icons of Goa, as evidenced by its ongoing use and also its iconic representation in visual culture. While research may be available regarding the effects of climate change and architecture in the tropics generally, little pertains to the specificities of Indo-Portuguese architecture and especially heritage buildings. My article seeks to make an intervention in this regard, focusing on the effects of climate change ...
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The Archaeological Survey of India's role in the protection of the 16th century Basilica of Bom Jesus monument in old Goa has come under attack. The rector of the basilica, in an open letter recently, has accused the ASI of “utter apathy”... more
The Archaeological Survey of India's role in the protection of the 16th century Basilica of Bom Jesus monument in old Goa has come under attack. The rector of the basilica, in an open letter recently, has accused the ASI of “utter apathy” in restoring the structure. This has prompted the Goan government to swing into action by appointing a committee to overlook the restoration of the monument. What is of importance in this case is that the monument is still used as a church by the local community. Religious heritage buildings that are still in use by the community call for a different kind of restoration measures. The ASI needs to take the local stakeholders into confidence, and allow their participation in the protection of monuments.
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At once uniquely regional, yet possessing international cache, it is Goa’s Portuguese past that makes this now-Indian territory a site of consumption. Located along the western coast of the Indian subcontinent, it is not only the ‘sights’... more
At once uniquely regional, yet possessing international cache, it is Goa’s Portuguese past that makes this now-Indian territory a site of consumption. Located along the western coast of the Indian subcontinent, it is not only the ‘sights’ of Goa that have been commercialized, but the very ‘site’ that has been occupied as elite India’s playground. Goa is overburdened with tourism-based real-estate development, and, the latest trend is to own a second home, catering to the needs of the elites from the urban metropoli like Bombay and Delhi. Such second homes add to the environmental concerns of the place, especially when the basic needs of housing for the locals are ignored. This paper argues that luxury second homes, even if they are certified as ‘green’, are in fact environmentally as well as socially unsustainable for a given place.
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Contents of online websites and advertisements by real estate companies operating in Goa suggest that newly developed properties are meant to attract urban elites from Indian metros. These investors from urban metros, such as Delhi, seek... more
Contents of online websites and advertisements by real estate companies operating in Goa suggest that newly developed properties are meant to attract urban elites from Indian metros. These investors from urban metros, such as Delhi, seek a tranquil getaway from the pollution and pressures of city life. However, more than simply Goa's idyllic location, second homeowners desire to indulge in the region's difference from the rest of India-Goa, after all, was a Portuguese territory for 451 years. For the Indian urban elites, investing in the state is not just about buying 'a piece of Goa' on which to sojourn; rather, it is about buying into what this land signifies: an exotic 'laidback' Goan lifestyle. Essentially, I aim to suggest that the contemporary image of Goa through real estate advertisements is fashioned for the consumption of elite buyers from Indian metros who are sold a version of Goa's culture that evokes the Portuguese colonial past while instantiating an idyllic present. Even as the elements from colonial-era architectural style of Goa are sustained or replicated, and Goan land appropriated, Goans themselves are not factored into the commercial imaginings of the sale of these exclusive and exclusionary properties.
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Although Spanish, the legacy of Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta, more popularly known as Francis Xavier (1506–1552), has been kept alive in Portugal’s former colonies in Asia, especially Goa, where his mortal remains lie in the Basilica... more
Although Spanish, the legacy of Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta, more popularly known as Francis Xavier (1506–1552), has been kept alive in Portugal’s former colonies in Asia, especially Goa, where his mortal remains lie in the Basilica de Bom Jesus. In 2014, an estimated 50 lakh people attended the exposition of Xavier’s relics, which occurs every 10 years (Kamat 2014). As this article argues, the number of attendees signals the participants’ connection to the Catholic site as one that, while obviously borne out of religious affiliation, may additionally speak to other possibilities, including an attempt to resist the homogenisation of their culture with that of a Hindu India. That non-upper-caste Catholics and other Goan minority subjects—themselves seeming relics of a colonial past—see in the relics of the saint the possibility of celebration and the need for constant commemoration speaks to the symbolic importance of Xavier, and the architecture that surrounds him. Though the state may have other designs for these elements of Goan culture, those most tied to Goa’s very markers of Catholic faith and history continue to resistantly manifest their presence in celebration and renewed meaning of Old Goa’s relics.
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Modernist architectural historiography and processes of architectural conservation have invariably subordinated the complex experiences of 'ordinary people' and their built environments. In most cases, discourses have become 'expert... more
Modernist architectural historiography and processes of architectural conservation have invariably subordinated the complex experiences of 'ordinary people' and their built environments. In most cases, discourses have become 'expert oriented' to the extent that the community's association to their own past is considered to be secondary to a larger narrative of history and conservation. This symposium seeks to address this dislocation by focusing attention on people-centric approaches. We invite papers that address issues of architectural value and historical significance for communities, processes and methods of community engagement, ethics of conservation practice, and politics of architectural knowledge production, among other things. We also invite critical reflections on mainstream architectural histories, conservation processes and projects in order to address how they may become relevant to various stakeholders. This symposium is not intended as an 'expert-space', rather it is an opportunity for sharing work in progress, learning from each other's successes and mistakes, and generating new ideas for architectural history and conservation in the Indian sub-continent. We invite papers from architectural historians, conservation architects, heritage professionals, community workers and other professionals and students who work or are interested in the subject of historic built environments for the following themes: Theme 1: Plural architectural/ urban histories The recognition of diverse stakeholders in conservation processes is linked to the fact that different groups of people have varying associations and values for historical sites and their everyday environment. While this may almost be self-evident, much of architectural history and conservation continue to be underpinned by singular-often monumental-narratives. Papers under this theme may challenge this singularity by problematizing dominant narratives, exploring alternative architectural/ urban histories, or outlining conservation processes that were premised on other imaginations of history and heritage. Theme 2: Recording/ Documenting/ Ways of seeing In calling for people centric-approaches, it is important to critically reflect on the intellectual foundations and core methodologies of our discipline. If monuments remain the aesthetic standard for architectural history or scientific preservation the best practice for conservation, then a people-centric approach requires not just minor adjustment, but a foundational shift. Historic built environments can no longer be documented as objects but need to be explored as dynamic relationships. Papers in this track will raise issues about and present examples of ways of recording and documenting historic sites. We encourage reflections on core methods employed by architectural historians and conservationists, but also welcome accounts of unconventional methods and approaches.
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The development of church architecture in Goa.
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An uncritical embrace of the smart city project in Panjim threatens to make it just another site of globalization by erasing its unique identity, both in terms of being a place and privileging it as a playground of global elites rather... more
An uncritical embrace of the smart city project in Panjim threatens to make it just another site of globalization by erasing its unique identity, both in terms of being a place and privileging it as a playground of global elites rather than the home of its people.
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The citizens of Panjim, who are discussing how to make their city smart, need to make some tough decisions, without which the city will soon come to a grinding halt. There is an urgent need to expel the cars from the city and make way for... more
The citizens of Panjim, who are discussing how to make their city smart, need to make some tough decisions, without which the city will soon come to a grinding halt. There is an urgent need to expel the cars from the city and make way for efficient public transport, cyclists and pedestrians.
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An architectural appreciation of monuments requires meaningful engagement with their history and context.