Category: Goa Events

Goa Events

Top 10 things to do on your Honeymoon in Goa

Goa has always been one of the most beautiful honeymoon destinations in the whole of India, being blessed with miles scenic beaches with swaying coconut palms, old colonial Heritage Portuguese buildings, delicious cuisine and a easy going, laid back populace.

And most Honeymoon Couples that stay in one of the Honeymoon Suites at The Mitaroy, Goa – often ask for a list of things to do while they are on their honeymoon in Goa.

That is why I decided to blog about my Top 10 list of things to do as a honeymoon couple on your honeymoon to Goa:

1. A romantic walk on the beach

After checking in to their Honeymoon Suite, the first thing that honeymoon couples usually do is head to the beach. There is nothing more romantic than walking hand-in-hand across miles and miles of scenic beach. And Goa does have a wide variety of beaches to offer. From the busy beaches in the north to the untouched beaches in the south, honeymoon couples are spoilt for choice. While the waves crash in the background, the honeymoon couple seems completely oblivious to the beauty outside, so taken in are they by the beauty of their partner walking hand-in-hand beside them. And after a while of walking on the beach, the honeymoon couple sit down, close to each other, and admire the expanse of seemingly endless blue ocean.

2. Champagne Breakfast

One of the most popular things to do on a Honeymoon is to wake up leisurely to a Champagne Breakfast. While we serve a complimentary Champagne Breakfast at the Mitaroy Goa Hotel at a time of your choice, most hotels in Goa usually offer Champagne on the menu. Combined with freshly pressed orange juice, waking up to a glass of Champagne is one of the most romantic things honeymoon couples can do on their honeymoon in Goa.

3. Listen to the music of legendary mandolin player Emiliano

The O Coqueiro restaurant and bar is one of the most romantic restaurants in the whole of Goa. O’ Coqueiro (pronounced as o-co-ke-roo) means Coconut tree in Portuguese. The O’ Coqueiro restaurant is housed in a sprawling, old Portuguese-style ancestral bungalow right on the Mapusa – Panaji highway in the small village of Porvorim. Rather plain by day, in the evening the lighting and greenery give it a romantic atmosphere that is hard to describe.

Every Friday, Emiliano and his band play a medley of Portuguese, Goan and Hindi music that keeps your feet tapping through your meal. The O Coqueiro restaurant and bar is also home to the Chicken Cafreal, a delicious Goan chicken dish with a delicious dark green gravy, eaten either with Basmati rice or Goan paav bread.

4. View the impressive colonial architecture in the capital city of Panjim (Panaji)

Goa is not just about the beaches. 400 years of Portuguese rule has left an indelible mark on the architecture of Goa and nowhere is this more evident than in the capital city of Panjim or Panaji. After building up a glorious capital city in Old Goa, the Portuguese were forced to flee to Panaji or Panjim to escape the water contamination in Old Goa. The upper class Portuguese set up residence in and around the Neighbourhood of Fontainhas and then set about building up Panjim as a worthy successor to Old Goa. While certain buildings and statues had pure prestige value, other buildings like the high court and the administrative offices also served a bureaucratic purpose. Today, honeymoon couples can marvel at the Portuguese architectural heritage as they walk past magnificent buildings built in the Portuguese era such as the first Medicine University or the old City Library. Many honeymoon couples also like to walk hand-in-hand along the Mandovi pier as they watch the twinkling lights of the luxury yachts and casino ships moored in the river.

5. Discover the Latin Quarter of Fontainhas

Quietly tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Panjim or Panaji, the capital city of Goa, is the neighbourhood of Fontainhas, home to The Mitaroy, Goa. The neighbourhood of Fontainhas (which means “little fountain” in Portuguese) is home to the last surviving Portuguese families of Goa. In 1984, Fontainhas was declared a UNESCO Heritage Zone & most of the buildings and churches here date back to the mid 19th century.Fontainhas has a number of designer boutiques where you can shop for Portuguese crockery, glassware, art and clothing. With its narrow winding streets, quaint bye lanes, old heritage houses and distinct Portuguese flair, Fontainhas evokes a nostalgia and longing for the romance of an era gone by.

6. Visit the location of the tragic love story of Dona Paula de Menezes

The Dona Paula beach and promontory is named after the Portuguese Viceroy’s daughter Dona Paula de Menezes.

This young, innocent girl fell in love with a local Goan fisherman. This match was however, quite unacceptable to the Viceroy who forbade his daughter Dona Paula to ever see her young lover again. Distraught with love and sorrow, Dona Paula could not bear a life without her young Goan lover and threw herself off a cliff into the unforgiving Arabian Sea.

Left with nothing but his daughter’s memory, the Portuguese Viceroy named the area Dona Paula, as an eternal tribute to his stubbornness and forbidden romance & love.

Today, there is a black stone statue of the young Dona Paula and her Goan lover on a rocky promontory jutting into the sea with a sweeping view of the Marmagoa Port in the background.

The Dona Paula beach and pier is a popular spot for honeymoon couples to visit. Most honeymoon couples walk up to the top of the cliff to pay tribute to the stone statue of the young Dona Paula and her undying love.

7. Visit Goa’s only bird sanctuary

The Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary is Goa’s only bird sanctuary and one of the most romantic spots in Goa for honeymoon couples to spend an afternoon.

Named after the famous ornithologist Dr Salim Ali, the scenic and serene atmosphere of the Sanctuary make it a perfect spot for honeymoon couples to while away their time, whispering sweet nothings in each others ears or just gazing fondly at each other while listening to the natural bird calls in the background.

8. Discover the remnants of Goa’s Portuguese Heritage Homes

The Braganca House in Chandor is one of the last remaining Grand Portuguese Heritage Homes.

In the centre of the small, sleepy village of Chandor in south Goa lies a 450 year old sprawling Portuguese mansion named Braganca House. For honeymoon couples looking for a peek into the lives of the landed gentry of the Portuguese era, the Braganca House is probably your best bet. From the ceiling tiles hand-painted by Chinese artists, to the oyster shell windows and the exquisite porcelain plates from Macau adorning the walls.

In the magnificent ballroom, with its Italian alabaster marble flooring and crystal chandeliers from Venice, honeymoon couples can let their imagination take them back to the days when the aristocratic couples of old Portuguese Goa glided elegantly across the marble floor.

9. Trace the history of Goan Houses at the Houses of Goa Museum

Designed by the famous Goan architect Gerard da Cunha, the Houses of Goa Museum is a strange ship like structure situated in the middle of the road in Bardez, Goa.

The Houses of Goa Museum is a collection of household articles and trinkets that depict the history and heritage that is unique to Goa. Honeymoon couples can take a look at unique items like a rare hat stand, old French windows and rare postcards of Goa dating back to 1900s.

According to Gerard da Cunha, “Goans, who were people who were converted, were looking for a new identity, and thus embarked on the experiment in architecture, to produce something unique and unseen anywhere in the world”.

Da Cunha’s landmark museum provides a ringside view!

10. Make love in your own Honeymoon Suite

No honeymoon is complete without the consummation of the marriage itself. While it is nice to discover the local sights and sounds of Goa, most honeymoon couples at The Mitaroy, Goa come back to their Honeymoon Suite in the evening to freshen up for dinner.

After a romantic dinner under a starlit sky, it is time for honeymoon couples to return to their Honeymoon Suite, light up a few scented candles, turn off the lights and discover the pleasure of making love to each other till the early hours of the morning…after all, that’s what a honeymoon is really all about, isn’t it?

Honeymoons are special, once in a lifetime experiences and rest assured, we will take special care of you and make your honeymoon something you will remember for the rest of your lives!

Please make your reservations well in advance since we are often booked out quite early.

Click Here to Book your Tailor Made Goa Honeymoon Package Now!

Goa Events

Goan Carnival

The Goans are so well known for their fun loving nature that one would think that Goan’s certainly didn’t need a special day to party. And yet the Goan Carnival does not take place on just one day but is instead spread out over 3 days of dancing, feasting and enjoyment.

Whilst relatively unknown in the rest of India, the Carnival is celebrated with great enthusiasm and energy in the state of Goa. Known throughout Goa as ‘Entruz’ (from the Portuguese word Entrudo which means Carnival), the largest celebration of the Goan Carnival takes place in the city of Panaji, a short walk from my Mitaroy Goa Hotel.

Introduced originally by the Portuguese who ruled over Goa for over four centuries, the Goan Carnival is celebrated for three days and indeed 3 whole nights, with the legendary King Momo coming alive in a riot of music and colour. During these 3 days, there are massive parades are organized throughout Goa with bands, dances and floats out all night on the streets, and grand balls held in the evenings.

Like most Goan festivals, the Goan Carnival has its origins in the Catholic Church. The period of Lent in the Liturgical calendar was marked by fasting and prayer. During Lent, no parties or other celebrations were allowed to be held, and people refrained from eating rich foods, especially meat. This period was meant as a time of recollection and inner reflection and any form of pleasure was abstained from. However, this posed a very practical problem for the townsfolk. Since food in the olden days wouldn’t keep for so long, all the food and drink had to be disposed of. Forced to consume large amounts of fatty food and drink before the beginning of Lent led to a large party involving the entire community, thus leading to the origin of the Carnival (which roughly translates into Carne or “meat away”)

During the Goan Carnival, the Goan capital Panjim has the best parades in the whole of Goa and is colourfully decorated with streamers and paper ribbons of bright colours. The festival officially begins with an order by the legendary King Momo (or King of Chaos) who orders his subjects to party! The person is chosen to be ‘King Momo’ leads the grand parade through Panaji, waving to the numerous ‘subjects’ who gather along the way of the parade. 

In the morning, the streets of Panjim or Panaji are filled with Goans singing, eating, drinking, street plays and Carnival parades.  Unfortunately, the olden days custom of throwing flour, fruit, water and eggs has been replaced by smearing colour. I can only imagine the kind of delicious mess throwing eggs and flour would have caused! As dusk settles, there is more music and dancing until the week hours of the night. Revellers are supposed to greet each other with a full-throated ‘Viva Carnaval’.

One of the most important traditions of the Goan Carnival is the ceremony where the best float is given an award, handed over by ‘King Momo’ personally. 

When doing research for this article, I read on the net that the Carnival in Goa in the early days consisted of the white Portuguese masters and their black slaves mimicking each other while the local Goans watched in awe. The Portuguese masters masqueraded as black slaves while their African slaves used liberal amounts of flour on their faces to mimick their white masters. The slaves wore high battens and walked on stilts, just like the local Goans do today. 

In olden days, people used to come out in horse carts. Some of the aristocratic families owned their own horse carriages and the entire family used to pile into the carriage. Originally, the King Momo procession used to be on a cart, then a few years later on a jeep and now large motorized floats transport King Momo through Panaji.

There are other traditions that are not part of the Goan Carnival any more. In the past, children used to wear masks and roam around the village. Young boys would serenade outside the girl’s house and then the mothers of the girls would throw ‘Kokoths’ or flour bombs on them! 

The Goan Carnival in the villages is completely different from the revellery to be found in the capital Panaji. The poor, especially the servant maids, go back to their villages to celebrate, taking a special 3 day leave to be able to attend the celebrations in their villages. In the villages of Goa, groups of villagers dance around a small oil lamp to the beating of drums. The villagers sing songs prasing their ancestors and the tempo of the drums increases and the feni flows freely.  

Meanwhile, back in Panjim, the Goan Carnival comes to a fitting conclusion with the famous Red-and-Black dance that is held at the Clube Nacional in Panaji. In the olden days, there used to be three main clubs – Clube Nacional, Clube Vasco a Gama and Clube Harmonium. But today, it is only the Clube Nacional that celebrates the Carnival. 

It is also said that the couple that fell in love during the Carnival got married after Easter! Who knows, you might be the lucky one!

Stay Romantic!

Mihir

This year, the Goan Carnival will be celebrated from 18th to 21st February with the best parades only a short walk from my Mitaroy Goa Hotel.

Would you like to be stay right in the hub of all the pageants and celebration?

Make a Reservation at my Mitaroy Goa Hotel today!

Goa Events

Valentine’s Day Goa

Are you planning to celebrate this Valentine’s Day in Goa ?

Then you are certainly won’t be alone. For some reason, Goa seems to be the No. 1 Valentine’s Day destination for Couples.

Unfortunately, Valentine’s Day seems to have an image that is as cliched as can be. Celebrated across the world as a day of love and romance, Valentine’s Day offers Couples the perfect chance to reaffirm their true love for each other. Unfortunately, this chance to tell your partner or wife or husband how much you love him or her seems to be overshadowed by the crass commerce that is generated on this day. From red heart-shaped balloons to cuddly teddy bears, from card shops overflowing with heart shaped cards to splashes of pink across the city, it seems to be that Valentine’s Day is all about shopping. But contrary to public opinion, the concept of Valentine’s Day had very different beginnings. 

While doing research on the net for this article, I read that legend has it that in 269 AD, a Roman priest named St.Valentine was martyred for refusing to give up his religion. Before he died, St Valentine left a note for the jailor’s daughter, who had become his friend during his time in prison, signed “From Your Valentine”. Since he died on February 14th, Pope Gelasius declared the 14th of February to be Valentine’s day to honour St.Valentine. The romantic connotations to the festival seem to have developed over the centuries, with the image of the angel Cupid and his bow and arrow, overshadowing the original legend of St. Valentine. 

What few foreigners and Indians know is that India has been a land of love for many years before Valentine’s Day began to be celebrated in the west. Although the concept of Kama Sutra is a popular one in the west, few people know that  India has its own version of Cupid. Kamdev or Kama Deva is the Hindu God of Love. Indeed, I had never heard of Kamadeva before I did research for this article. Depicted with a flowery bow in ancient Hindu myths and mythology, he strikes lovers with his love arrows and thus ensures undying love for generations to come. However, like Kama Sutra, it seems that this mythical figure has been forgotten by Indians themselves, who prefer to look towards the west for romantic inspiration. 

In India, most Indian couples celebrate Valentine’s day like their counterparts in the west by exchanging gifts, chocolates and Valentine’s Day cards. Indian metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore are full of roses, cupids, cuddly teddy bears and heart-shaped balloons as shops try to drown out each other in a sea of red and pink. But it seems that this fixation on gifts and Valentine’s Day has spread to smaller cities and it is not surprising to see cities such as Mysore, Pune or other tier 2 cities dowsed in bright pink. Watching a movie on Valentine’s Day seems to be a popular pass time and it is not uncommon to find long lines stretching in front of multiplexes in the metros. Apart from the movies, many couples also make reservations for romantic dinners in some of the city’s finest restaurants or plan romantic holidays to nearby cities for the Valentine’s Day weekend.

Among Indian cities, Goa seems to be the most popular choice for Couples looking for a quick romantic getaway. Goan hotels, restaurants and beaches become choc-a-bloc as Couples from neighbouring states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka headed to Goa via road while couples from cities further away such as Delhi or Kolkata fly down on one of the many low cost airlines. Couples from across India  appreciate the laid back, romantic atmosphere that Goa has to offer during the festival of love. Besides, Goa has been thankfully spared from the protests from conservative Hindu groups against Valentine’s Day, that mar the celebration in the rest of the country. Couples are free to hold hands, hug and openly display their love for each other without having to watch their backs for the so called moral-police.

The Goans themselves celebrate Valentine’s Day with an zest and enthusiasm that is typical of their passionate nature as they express their undying love for one another.

The morning dailies in Goa such as the Times of India, Herald or Navhind Times are usually splashed with messages from love struck couples to one another. Like the shops, the newspapers to wear a bright pink look with a number of advertisements looking to capitalise on the Valentine spirit. Love-struck Couples can be seen at many of Goa’s popular beaches walking aimlessly hand-in-hand, just happy to spend time with each other. In the evenings and indeed throughout the day, the local Goan restaurants are filled with couples gazing deeply into each others eyes (as if they were eye specialists! – as a friend once quipped), completely oblivious of everyone and everything around them – the waiters, the menu or the food on the table getting cold.  

Over the years, Goa too has become more and more commercialised, with gift shops, card shops and restaurants doing the best business in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day. Large red hearts and big, cuddly teddy bears greet you at the entrances to most shops and restaurants. Not just shops, even bakeries, music stores, coffee shops, theatres, jewellery, watch shops and malls gleefully sport the Valentine look with lip-smacking offers (pun intended!) in an attempt to entice couples to show their undying love for each other in material terms.

All in all, it looks like this year’s Valentine’s Day in Goa is going to be a hectic one for both shops and couples alike. Happy Valentine’s Day!

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day in Goa than to stay in a Romantic Suite at The Mitaroy, Goa ?

Book your romantic Valentine Goa Package today!