|
|
|
|
|
Mormugao is a sub-district and a municipal council in South Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It is Goa’s main port. It was featured in the 1980 film The Sea Wolves and the Bollywood film Bhootnath.
Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Mormugão has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 70%. In Mormugão, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
When the Portuguese colonized part of Goa in the sixteenth century, they based their operations in the central district of Tiswadi, notably in the international emporium 'City of Goa', now Old Goa. As threats to their maritime supremacy increased, they built forts on various hillocks, especially... Read more
Mormugao is a sub-district and a municipal council in South Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It is Goa’s main port. It was featured in the 1980 film The Sea Wolves and the Bollywood film Bhootnath.
Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Mormugão has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 70%. In Mormugão, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
When the Portuguese colonized part of Goa in the sixteenth century, they based their operations in the central district of Tiswadi, notably in the international emporium 'City of Goa', now Old Goa. As threats to their maritime supremacy increased, they built forts on various hillocks, especially along the coast. In 1624, they began to build their fortified town on the headland overlooking Mormugão harbor.
The sultans of Bijapur, who had colonized Goa before the Portuguese, did not give up easily. There were several invasions. From the sea came the Dutch, who eventually took over from the Portuguese most of the coastal settlements: the Moluccas, Batticaloa, Trincomali, Galle, Malacca, Manar, Jaffna, Quilon, Cochin, and Cannanore. From 1640 to 1643, the Dutch tried their best to capture Mormugão but were finally driven away.
In 1683, the Portuguese in Goa were in grave danger from the Marathas. Almost certain defeat was averted when Sambhaji suddenly lifted the siege and rushed to defend his own kingdom from the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. The narrow escape, no less than the decline of the City of Goa, convinced the Portuguese viceroy, Dom Francisco de Távora, that he should shift the capital of the Portuguese holdings in India to Mormugão’s formidable fortress.
In 1685, the new city’s principal edifices were under construction, with the Jesuit priest Father Teotónio Rebelo in charge. The Jesuit architects made a consistent effort to avoid the ornate style of the time. The austere viceregal palace still stands, having been used, after its short stint as a palace, in various capacities, including as the hotel which housed the British agents who in 1943 destroyed German ships anchored in Mormugão’s neutral waters. Viceroys after Távora found Mormugão too secluded for their liking. The administrative headquarters were moved to the new city of Panjim, which is till today Goa’s chief city.
Ever since it was accorded the status of a Major Port in 1963, the Mormugão port has contributed immensely to the growth of maritime trade in India. It is the leading iron ore exporting port of India with an annual throughput of around 27.33 million tonnes of iron ore traffic.
Epidemics devastated Mormugão during the eighteenth century, but after that, its fortunes turned. As the importance of one of India’s best natural harbors grew more apparent, Mormugão, which the British called Marmagoa, became a key trading point. It was chosen for the terminus of the new meter gauge railway linking the Portuguese colony to British India. For a fabulous price, the Western India Portuguese Guaranteed Railways Company, a British enterprise, modernized the port and built the railway. Both were opened to the public in July 1886.
Mormugão’s city of Vasco da Gama was planned and built in the early years of the twentieth century. A colorful city of officials, traders and migrant laborers, it had its Portuguese academies and British club life for several decades. Now rather scarred, Mormugão district continues to be unique in Goa.
With Goa’s airport at Dabolim, the railway terminus at Vasco da Gama, and the busy port, Mormugão is many visitors’ first experience of Goa.
LOCAL TIME
3:49 pm
April 11, 2021
Asia/Kolkata
|
|
LOCAL CURRENCY
INR
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
![]() |
We continue our tour of North Goa (North Goa. P.2). We arrived in the capital of Goa - the city of Panaji. The city has a very beautiful and well-kept promenade. There are European shops with trendy European clothes for men and women. They are inexpensive. In the evening you can set... |
Let's continue our tour of North Goa (North Goa. P.1)!
If you got bored on the beach, you can take a bike and ride around the neighborhoods, in the capital or to the distant beaches.
Here's the Vagator Beach (Big Vagator).
Here's the Small Vagator Beach.
On the way to Anjuna and... |
1.5 hours drive from Palolem to the Baga Beach - and we can already see the contrast. There are so many people here. Even in the off-season.
You can get a sunbed on the beach for free if you order something in the shack (restaurant).
Once you laid down, the whole department store... |
Let's continue our tour of South Goa (The Story of South Goa in Pictures. P.1)!
Local young people constantly watch the cricket matches broadcasting in the bars.
Of course, they also play it. On the beach and at work, in the yard and on the special playgrounds.
Cricket is the national... |
This is a review of South Goa in pictures.
Here's the Palolem Beach. To be honest, this place is just a big village. There are not many things to see. You can rent a scooter or a motorcycle and ride around. Lovers of relaxation will be offered to enjoy the silence, sea, weather and... |
Goa is 105 km of the sand along the sea, more than 40 beaches lying one after the other. I was at the Agonda Beach, Cola Beach, Butterfly Beach and at the famous Palolem Beach.
This is the Palolem Beach.
Here's the Agonda Beach.
This is the Cola Beach (big Cola).
This is the... |
I'd like to share my impressions after visiting the most "European" part of India (Mormugao).
In general, in India you transform into some unusual state and perceive the world in some special positive way.
Even the beaches have some special aura.
Sometimes children of the Hindus arrange... |