Tourism
of Goa
Beaches
in Goa
Calangute
Beach16
Kms from Panaji is the most popular holiday resort in Goa popularly known as
The Queen of Beaches. Excellent accommodation facilities are available,
particularly at the tourist resort and cottages. Calangute lie on the shores
of the Arabian Sea of North Goa in India. It is encircled by Arpora-Nagoa,
Saligao and Candolim, in the Bardez taluka. Being a popular holiday resort,
the small houses amidst the coconut groves behind the beach are always in
constant demand. Calangute seems to be a distortion of the local vernacular
word—‘Koli-gutti’, which means land of fishermen. Some people
connect it with Kalyangutti (village of art) or Konvallo-ghott (strong pit
of the coconut tree) because the village is full of coconut trees.
With
the advent of the Portuguese, the word probably got distorted to Calangute,
and has stuck till today. Seemingly not all that long ago, Calangute was the
beach all self-respecting hippies headed for, especially around Christmas
when psychedelic hell broke loose. If you enjoyed taking part in those mass
poojas, with their endless half-baked discussions about `when the revolution
comes' and `the vibes, maaan', then this was just the ticket. You could
frolic around without a stitch on, be ever so cool and liberated, get
totally out of your head on every conceivable variety of ganja from Timor to
Tenochtitlan and completely disregard the feelings of the local inhabitants.
Naturally, John Lennon or The Who were always about to turn up and give a
free concert.
Calangute's heyday as the Mecca of all expatriate
hippies has passed. The local people, who used to rent out rooms in their
houses for a pittance, have moved on to more profitable things, and
Calangute has undergone a metamorphosis to become the centre of Goa's
rapidly expanding package-tourist market. It isn't one of the best Goanese
beaches: there are hardly any palms, the sand is contaminated with red soil
and the beach drops rapidly into the sea. There is, however, plenty going
on, especially if you don't mind playing a minor role in this stage-managed
parody of what travelling is meant to be about. Try heading off the beaten
track unless you need a bit of R 'n' R to recover from life on the road, or
want to mix it with the Simons and Sandras of this world who are visiting
India to pep up their winter suntans. The best time of the year to visit
this area is between September and March.
About
Goa