Goa (
i/ˈɡoʊ.ə/;
Konkani:
गोंय) is
India's smallest
state by area and the
fourth smallest by population. Located in
South West India in the region known as the
Konkan, it is bounded by the state of
Maharashtra to the north, and by
Karnataka to the east and south, while the
Arabian Sea forms its western coast. Goa is India's richest state with a GDP per capita two and a half times that of the country as a whole.
[3] It was ranked the best placed state by the Eleventh Finance Commission for its infrastructure and ranked on top for the best quality of life in India by the National Commission on Population based on the 12 Indicators.
[3]
Panaji is the state's capital, while
Vasco da Gama is the largest city. The historic city of
Margao still exhibits the cultural influence of the
Portuguese, who first landed in the early 16th century as merchants and conquered it soon thereafter. The
Portuguese overseas territory of
Portuguese India existed for about 450 years until it was
annexed by India in 1961.
[4][5]
Renowned for its beaches, places of worship and
world heritage architecture, Goa is visited by large numbers of international and domestic tourists each year. It also has rich
flora and
fauna, owing to its location on the
Western Ghats range, which is classified as a
biodiversity hotspot.
Mythological origins
The first literary reference to Goa is mentioned in the
Bhishma Parva of
Mahabharata as
Gomanta which means the region of cows.
[6] Even though there are no archeological and historical evidences,
Hindu scriptures mention
Parashurama, as its creator(see:
Skanda Purana:
Sahyadrikhanda). He is said to have settled ten sages in this land and performed fire sacrifices. Another legend has that after performing the penance, the seven sages or the
Saptarshis were blessed by lord
Shiva therefore known as
Saptakoteshwar. Further Lord Shiva is believed to have taken up temporary residence after having tiff with his consort
Parvati. Yet another legend says that Lord
Krishna defeated
Jarasandha the king of
Magadha on
Gomanchal mountain in Goa. (see:
Hari Vamsha purana)
[7]
In
Suta Samhita Govapuri or Goa is associated with spiritually cleansing touch:
...The very sight of Govapuri destroys any sin committed in former existence just as sunrise dispels darkness... Certainly there is no other kshetra equal to Govapuri [8]
Lord Parshuram with Saraswat brahmin settlers commanding Lord Varuna to make the seas recede to make the
Konkan .
A similar hymn praising Govapuri city is found in Sahyadrikhanda of Skanda Purana,which says the extent of Goapuri was about seven
Yojanas.
| “ | गोकर्णादुत्तरे भागे सप्तयोजनविस्तृतं
तत्र गोवापुरी नाम नगरी पापनाशिनी | ” |
According to the Parshurama legend, Parashurama, the sixth reincarnation of lord
Vishnu faces with an order of banishment from the lands that he had once conquered, sets seven arrows fly from the
Sahyadris to push back the sea and create a stretch of land which he could claim for himself. The sea-god is believed to have acceded his to wish and crated a region
Shurparaka (literally:winnowing fan). This region is also known as
Parashurama Kshetra.
[9] The legend further tells us that having created Goa thus, Parashurama brought Brahmins from the North and settled them in this land.(See:
Shree Scanda Puran (Sayadri Khandha) -Ed. Dr. Jarson D. Kunha, Marathi version Ed. By Gajanan shastri Gaytonde).
Transport
Most of Goa is well connected by roads.
Goa's sole airport, the
Dabolim Airport, is both a military and civilian airport catering to domestic and international airlines that stop en route to other Indian destinations. The airport also handles a large number of chartered flights. Goa receives international flights from
Qatar,
Dubai,
Sharjah and
Kuwait in the
Middle East and from
Britain,
Germany,
Netherlands and
Russia during the charter flight tourist season. Dabolim Airport is serviced by the following carriers –
Air Arabia,
Indian Airlines,
Kingfisher Airlines,
Go Air,
SpiceJet,
Jet Airways,
Qatar Airways, besides charter flights from the UK, Netherlands, Russia, Germany operated by
Thomas Cook, Condor,
Arkefly,
Monarch Airlines etc.
Goa's
public transport largely consists of privately operated buses linking the major towns to rural areas. Government-run buses, maintained by the
Kadamba Transport Corporation, links both major routes (like the Panjim–Margao route) and some remote parts of the state. In large towns such as Panjim and Margao, intra-city buses ply. However, public transport in Goa is less developed, and residents depend heavily on their own transport, usually motorised two-wheelers. Goa has two
National Highways passing through it. NH-17 runs along India's west coast and links Goa to
Mumbai in the north and
Mangalore to the south. NH-4A running across the state connects the capital Panjim to
Belgaum in east, linking Goa to cities in the
Deccan. The NH-17A connects NH-17 to
Mormugao Harbour from Cortalim, and the new NH-17B, is a four lane highway connecting Mormugao Harbour to NH-17 at another location, Verna, via
Dabolim airport. Goa has a total of 224 km (139 mi) of National highway, 232 km (144 mi) of state highway and 815 km of district highway. Hired forms of transport include unmetered taxis, and, in urban areas,
auto rickshaws. A unique form of transport in Goa is the
Motorcycle taxi, operated by drivers who are locally called "pilots". These vehicles transport a single
pillion rider, at fares that are usually negotiated. River crossings in Goa are serviced by flat-bottomed
ferry boats, operated by the river navigation departments.
Goa has two
rail lines—one run by the South Western Railway and the other by the
Konkan Railway. The line run by the
South Western Railway was built during the colonial era linking the port town of
Vasco da Gama, Goa with
Hubli,
Karnataka via
Margao. The Konkan Railway line, which was built during the 1990s, runs parallel to the coast connecting major cities on the western coast.
The Mormugao harbour near the city of Vasco handles mineral ore, petroleum, coal and international containers. Much of the shipments consist of minerals and ores from Goa's hinterland. Panjim, which is situated on the banks of the Mandovi, also has a minor port, which used to handle passenger
steamers between Goa and Mumbai till the late 1980s. There was also a short-lived catamaran service linking Mumbai and Panaji operated by Damania Shipping in the 1990s.
Media and communication
Main article:
Media in GoaGoa is served by almost all
television channels available in India. Channels are received through cable in most parts of Goa. In the interior regions, channels are received via
satellite dishes.
Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster, has two free terrestrial channels on air.
DTH (
Direct To Home) TV services are available from
Dish TV,
Tata Sky &
DD Direct Plus. The
All India Radio is the only
radio channel in the state, broadcasting in both
FM and
AM bands. Two AM channels are broadcast, the primary channel at 1287 kHz and the Vividh Bharati channel at 1539 kHz. AIR's FM channel is called FM Rainbow and is broadcast at 105.4 MHz. Private FM radio channels available are
Big FM at 92.7 MHz,
Radio Mirchi at 98.3 MHz, and
Radio Indigo at 91.9 MHz. There is also an educational radio channel,
Gyan Vani, run by
IGNOU broadcast from Panaji at 107.8 MHz. In 2006, St Xavier's College, Mapusa, became the first college in the state to launch a campus community radio station 'Voice of Xavier's'.
Major cellular service operators include
Bharti Airtel,
Vodafone Essar (Previously Hutch),
Idea Cellular,
Uninor,
Reliance Infocomm,
Tata Indicom/
Tata DoCoMo and
BSNL CellOne.
Local newspaper publications include the
English language The Herald (Goa's oldest, once a Portuguese language paper known as
O Heraldo), the
Gomantak Times and the
Navhind Times. In addition to these,
The Times of India and the
Indian Express are also received from Mumbai and Bangalore in the urban areas.
The Times of India has recently started publication from Goa itself serving the local population news directly from the state capital. Among the list of officially-accredited newspapers are
Sunaparant in Konkani (Devanagari script),
The Navhind Times,
The Herald Times and
The Gomantak Times in English; and
Tarun Bharat ,
Gomantak,
Navprabha,
Goa Times,
Sanatan Prabhat,
Govadoot (all in Marathi). All are dailies. Other publications in the state include
Goa Today (English-language, monthly),
Goan Observer (English, weekly),
Vavraddeancho Ixtt (Roman-script Konkani, weekly)
Goa Messenger',Vasco Watch
,Gulab
(Konkani, monthly), Bimb
(Devanagari-script Konkani) .
