Colva Beach

Colvá is a coastal village in Salcete, south Goa, on the west coast of India. Colva Beach stretches for around 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi), part of a beach consisting of about 25 kilometres (16 mi) of powder white sand, lined along its shore by coconut palms and extending from Bogmalo in the north to Cabo de Rama in the south.

Colvá is a famous tourist destination, visited for its beaches, budget hotels, guest houses, beach shacks, food stalls, restaurants, pubs and bars. The beaches are constantly monitored by lifeguards, and the swimming areas are flagged for warnings.The village had significant importance to Portugal and was the retreat for Goa's high society, who would come to Colvá for their "Mundanca" or change of air. Today the Portuguese area is dotted with houses or villas, including many ruins. On weekends, huge crowds of tourists, visitors from around the world as well as local Indians, enjoy the sunset and various activities.

The beach is particularly busy in October, when hordes of religious pilgrims come and visit Colvá Church, called Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Merces, that was founded in 1630 by the Roiz family and rebuilt in the eighteenth century on the village square. The local people have been fishermen since the mid-16th century. They include Hindu converts as well as migrants from various Portuguese overseas territories such as Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, etc. as well as Portugal itself.

Located 6 km away from the west of Margao, Colva beach is one of the largest and striking beaches of South Goa that has fine powdered white sand and bounded by coconut palms that elongate from Bogmalo to Cabo de Rama alongside the coastline of south Goa. The Colva beach is very beautiful and has a stream flowing through it. Speckled with colonial style villas and broken-down fishing huts, the beach looks more stunning with a wide collection of concrete hotels, souvenir stalls and snack bars all around it.

During day time, many tourists in colorful attires throng at this place and some are also seen sunbathing in the bright sun. On the other side, drink stands and jewelry stalls on the golden sands make a moony evening on the Beach of Colva very romantic for honeymoon couples. There are lots of shacks available for lunch and a cold beer or two. For adventure freaks, various kinds of water activities are also available on the beach. While taking a long walk on the Colva Beach, silver carpets of mackerels can be viewed dazzling on the golden sands. This beach has lot to offer foreigners and Indian tourists compared to other beaches of Goa. In brief, it's a romantic gateway for beach lovers in India that offers an opportunity to relish the fascinating sightseeing, Goan nightlife, exalting water sports, and even more or less trinket shopping.

History

Colvá was a vast barren uninhabited land with a scenic Arabian Sea beach that had beach plants such as scaevola sericea until a few Goud Saraswat Brahmin settled there as migrants, primarily in the neighbouring village of Benaulim. The mughals, the people of Adil Shahi dynasty preferred the north and hilly regions of Goa, where they built forts and defences, rather than the coastal belt, and hence had not settled the barren land of Colvá. It was the Portuguese conquest which established the western regions of South Goa as a full-fledged human settlement.

Colvá was under Portuguese administration, as the Province of Portuguese-Goa, from 1510 until 1961 (and was still under dispute and represented in the Parliament of Portugal till 1974/75). It was the village of the Portuguese Roiz family, the descendants of D. Diogo Rodrigues, and its villagers. The village had belonged since 1550 to D. Diogo Rodrigues, who was the Lord of Colvá (Landlord of Colvá). He built the first Portuguese architecture residential house in 1551 facing away from the sea and at a distance from the shore to avoid any enemy attacks from the Arabian Sea. The entire beach called Praia da Colvá belonged to him.

In the 18th century, one of Diogo's descendants, Sebastião José Roiz, ordered the village people to plant coconut trees along the entire coastline, which the villagers thought was a waste of time as the soil was white and thus infertile and unable to sustain their growth. However today the shore line is fringed by those plantations of coconut trees. The entire Colvá shore and beach property as far as Betalbatim was inherited by various descendants of the Roiz family until the late 20th century, after which parts were handed over to the Government of Goa under the post-1974 Indian administration following the 1961 annexation of Goa by India. The rest of the land was sold.

Colvá is still famous for the white-washed Our Lady Of Mercy church, also known as Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Merces, that was founded in 1630 and rebuilt in the eighteenth century in the village square. It houses the miraculous statue of 'Menino Jesus' (Baby Jesus), which was introduced by a Jesuit missionary and which is believed to have healing powers. According to local legend, the statue at Our Lady of Mercy church was found in the mid-seventeenth century along the coast of Mozambique after Rev Fr. Bento Ferreira and his party had been shipwrecked off the coast. After swimming to safety, they spotted it as it was washed ashore after being dumped into the sea by Muslim pirates. In 1648 when Father Ferreira was posted to Colvá, he placed the statue on the altar, and it soon started drawing large crowds of devotees as it granted their favours. The Menino Jesus statue is kept for public viewing in October for the annual Fama ('Fame') festival for which thousands of people assemble. This is the only time that it is removed from the triple-vault locks of the Church. It is then dipped into a nearby river after a procession, and the pilgrims use this water for anointment and good luck.

Visitor Information

Famous For : Nature Lovers, Fun Lovers, Adventure Seekers
Entrance Fee : No Entry Fee
Visiting Time : All Days of the Week 12:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Duration of Visit : 2 to 3 hours