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Walking around the Goa Chitra Museum in Benaulim, is like strolling through Goan homes and market places of the centuries gone by.
Conceived by Victor Hugo Gomes, the museum is an exhaustive repository of 4000 exhibits, most of them antiques, all of which provide a window to Goa’s past and the manner in which we Goans went about chores in those times.
All the collected articles and artifacts at the museum were once used as part of life’s daily routine back then and are complete with information about its use and the period in which they existed.
“Re-utilization and recycling of materials like wood work, doors, windows, pillars, railings and other materials and elements from over 300 demolished traditional houses that have been recovered by the designer contribute to the contemporary outlook of the structure with its blend of traditional elements and modern technologies,” says Gomes, explaining his work.
Goa Chitra's rich collection includes a broad range of local pottery, musical instruments, farming implements, ancient carts and even palanquins used by the rich and mighty -- from different points of time in Goa’s past.
Behind the museum is an organic farm which cultivates vegetables, spices, sugarcane, herbs and rice – staple foods in this part of the country.
Goa Chitra’s mission according to Gomes, is to revive age old traditions through the museum display and outreach programs thus allowing the younger generation to share the wisdom of the past which would otherwise be irretrievably lost, while at the same time creating awareness about nature, its influences, and benefits on human life.
The museum is a hit with tourists interested in ethnography and keen on knowing what life in Goa could have been in the past, before the advent of electricity and modern means of comfort.
Getting there: Goa Chitra Museum is located in the coastal village of Benaulim in South Goa. Its around a twenty minute drive away from Margao and around 40 kms from Panaji.
What to see: See and imagine what life in Goa was in the past, in an age when the rich rode in a palanquin instead of BMWs.
Contact details: 0832 6570877
