A place full of green pastures, a place filled with hills, a place with rich monumental and cultural heritage, is what hits our minds when we speak about our mother, Goa.
The state is known for its beaches, places of worship, springs, lagoons, forests, grooves, music and moreover its warm and hospitable people. Tourism is its primary industry today. The culture of Goa has been influenced by several dynasties, the last of which being the Portuguese who conquered a part of Goa in 1510. Influenced by the Portuguese rule and Latin culture, Goa presents a somewhat different representation of the country to foreign visitors. Major tourist attractions include the famous Kadamba era temple located at Tambdisurla, the Basilica de Bom Jesus at Velha Goa and the Safa Masjid in Ponda, among the rich repository of other destinations.
Being sons and daughters of the soil, we need to take pride in the rich cultural, architectural, and natural heritage that we own and truly understand the importance of preserving and protecting it for posterity.
Today the current generation is able to witness the breathtaking heritage of our land only because it was preserved with love by our ancestors for our sake. In the same way, it is the duty of today’s generation to conserve the heritage that exists, and try and restore the heritage that is dead already. We need to fix it in our minds that we have borrowed what we own, from the future and hence we need to return it to the future in its pristine form when the time comes. It is heartbreaking to see people specially the youth least interested in preserving our identity i.e. our heritage for posterity.
Parents and elders can play an immense role in planting seeds of love for one’s heritage and culture, in their children. They should teach them to love and respect one’s ancestral wealth that they have inherited and not sell the same for greed of money. Besides this, talks, heritage trails/walks could be conducted in schools so as to make history, heritage and culture, a more fun subject to learn about.
Heritage conservation not only helps us understand our very own culture, but helps us to find out similarities and differences between our modern and medieval cultures. It also helps people across the globe, learn about cultures other than their own. Hence we truly need to protect our rich cultural, monumental religious and natural diversity to guide us all towards a bright future.
If we do not protect our heritage, there will come a time when history will not make sense. It will take form of unproven stories of different kinds.
To protect our cultural diversity, we as sons and daughters of Goa, need to be there for her, protecting her from pseudo Goans and other like-minded stepchildren. Do not let Goa die a slow painful death in the hands of money driven individuals. It’s high time that we Goans move ahead and fight for protecting the true image of Goa.
Save whatever still exists… as there is no use in crying over spilt milk. All I want to acclaim is “Preserve your past to save your future.”