Of People and Places

Illustration of the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa  "Bom Jesus is to Velha Goa what the Taj Mahal is to Agra."                                                           - Manohar Malgonkar, Inside Goa Every tourist in Goa makes a bee line to the beautiful Basilica of Bom Jesus in Velha Goa, the part of Goa that looks familiar and exotic at the same time, depending on who you are.  To a European, the churches and convents must look familiar, and to an Indian, the coastal country, with its hills,beaches, lush coconut and palm trees must look ordinary, the same land that is attracting Europeans in hordes because it is so exotic! Everything,then, seems to boil down to relativity. The Bom Jesus Basilica is of religious significance - it preserves the body of St.Francis Xavier, the missionary who changed the course of history and whose trav...