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THE DONA PAULA WALK
This walk gives you a bird’s eye view of
the mouth of the river Mandovi and all its resplendent
heritage buildings.
As an extended walk to The Campal Walk, take
a car or a scooter to Raj Bhavan, Dona Paula.
Take in the view as yon get there - Miraimar Beach,
Reis Magos Church, the ford at the Aguada and
Hotel River Rays, the charming little villas designed
he renowned architect Charles Correa. (Charles
Correa is also responsible for the design of the
celebrated Goa Kala Academy building that you
will go past on your way out of Campal). The little
chapel at the Raj Bhavan is open to worshippers
and Mass is celebrated in English at 9.30 every
Sunday morning.
If you make it inside the gates by then, take
a look at the beautifully laid-our avenue of trees
and ornamental shrubbery. Once inside the chapel,
take a look at the legends on the gravestones
of the original Dona Paula. Here is proof that
the hype that Dona and Paul were a pair of star-crossed
lovers who plunged themselves into the sea is
nothing more than the figment of an over-imaginative
tour operator’s mind. Goa historian Mario
Cabral e Sa also write of the popular belief that
the ghost of Dona Paula rides the roar of the
waves on the night of the full moon and roams
the streets of the village dressed in pearls from
the sea.
In fact, Dona (Lady) Paula de Menezes, after
whom the village of Dona Paula is named, was the
daughter of the Portuguese governor of Jafinapatam.
Dona Paula was his eldest daughter and was married
to a Portuguese’s fidalgo named Dom Antonio
de Souto Maior who owned vast tracts of land in
Goa. These lands extended all the way from today’s
Dona Paula village near the Raj Bhavan to Caranzalem
and included chunks of Miramar beach.
When Dona Paula died, she bequeathed her entire
wealth to the church and entrusted it to a church
trust then known as a mitra. It was also customary
for such donors to entrust a mitra with the task
of celebrating mass for the family of the donor
in perpetuity. Dona Paula’s brother-in-law,
a priest named Francisco da Cunha Souto Maior
constructed the Our Lady of Rosary Chapel and
St. Peter’s Chapel in Caranzalem in 1681
with the same mitra funds. If you have the time
and can obtain the permission to go down the steps
to the grotto, go and pay your respects at the
modest little statuette of the saint whose name
the place bears. This Saint used to be venerated
in the 4th and 5th centuries in Europe and the
grotto referred to as the Grotto of St. Paula.
You will notice that the Saint is being paid due
respect even today with Indian-styled garlands
and floral tributes.
Out of the Raj Bhavan gates, take a look at the
British cemetery to your right. It is the only
one of its kind in the whole of Goa. Watch the
barges carrying iron ore go up and down to the
rig near the Marmagao Port beyond the waters.
These massive vessels look like toys at this distance.
Admire the mango trees with fruit in the month
of April and May. Take a look at the spread of
the tamarinds as they come to flower at this time
of the year. Now walk down the slope and in through
the gates of the cemetery with graves of British
soldiers, railway men and their wives and daughters.
It must he remembered that a British garrison
was stationed in Goa between the years 1799 and
1813. You might find it rather macabre news that
there are a total of 47 tombs and 56 gravestones
in laterite over these fourteen years. It is also
something of a curiosity that most of the women
in these Fourteen years have died between the
ages of 30-40. Look for the grave hearing the
Legend, “Louisa Ann, beloved wife of Henry
Barrow, Assistant Foreman, WIP (Western India
Peninsula) Railway” and that of “Henry
William Mayne, employee of the Madras and Southern
Mahratta Railway for many years”. His daughter
has elected the gravestone. Once out of the Cemetery,
it might be worth your while to take a look at
the Greco Roman pergola and statue at the tourist
spot that tour operator’s mistakenly point
our as “a tribute to the star-crossed lovers
Dona and Paul”. The statue is actually a
sculpture of Mr. & Mrs. Robert Knox. Robert
Kim Knox was a philosopher who won the admiration
of the Dutch sculptor, the Baroness Yrsa Von Leistner.
The pergola bears the legend ORDEM 1961 that indicates
that it was probably built by Public Order or
Subscription in the year that Goa was liberated
from Portuguese rule.
Do not make the fatal mistake of trudging up
the stairs to the pergola after dark. The place
is infested with rats the size that even the Pied
Piper of Hamlyn could not take care of! In any
case, the view of the open sea is best appreciated
in daylight.
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