MARGAO
Chandor’s history, heritage and rich culture came to the fore during the weekend as the villagers with the help of experts set the course to make Chandor a heritage village.
Historian Prof Prajal Sakhardande set the ball rolling when he asserted that Chandor earlier known as Chandrapur was the capital of Goa. That’s not all. He said the first Fort in Goa was built at Cota-Chandor, and that the remnants of the fort were still visible in the village and needs to be protected.
“This is testified by the presence of Copper plate and the inscription dating back to the 5th century AD. The Bhoj dynasty ruled from Chandrapur. The first Fort is seen at Cota. You cross the fields and you will find the brick work of the Fort. We have the Shiva Temple and the Nandi Bull. We need to preserve this history as part of the village heritage”, Prajal said.
Indeed, months after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced in his budget speech to make Chandor a heritage village, the Chandor Village Development Committee with support of experts, besides local MLA Yuri Alemao has set in motion the process to achieve the objective.
Architects Dean D’Cruz and Heta Pandit both guided the villagers how to go about in preserving the rich architectural heritage and culture.
Pandit said the Three Kings Festival, besides the village culture, including food needs to be preserved for posterity.
“Culture includes food. The grandma’s recipe needs to be documented and shared. Our children need to be encouraged to document the recipe and make them popular. Food is very much part of culture”, Pandit said.
Villager Joy D’Silva offered his suggestions to restrict the size of buildings along the roads to maintain sanctity of the heritage. “Heritage will be lost if high rise buildings are allowed”, he said adding, “Chandor plays host to heritage houses, some of which are around 200-300 years old. The owners are struggling to maintain these houses. The government should come out with a subsidy scheme to help the owners look after the upkeep and maintenance of the heritage structure”.
He cautioned: “When the government steps in, they normally take up the beautification. That is not what is expected in the village. What we need here is save the heritage”.
Chandor village Development Committee Convenor Julio D’Silva said the initiative was an attempt to list out the areas which can be preserved. “We not only plan to protect the places of historical importance, but conserve the village resources, including water bodies, culture so that they can be tapped to promote eco-tourism”, Julio said, adding the VDC will submit a memorandum a government how to go about the job of making Chandor a heritage village.
Addressing the seminar, Cuncolim MLA and Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao said Chandor-Cavorim village will be a Model panchayat to develop Chandor as a heritage village of Goa.
He said it is commendable work of Chandor-Cavorim Panchayat which has taken the initiative to discuss on the roadmap to develop our beautiful Chandor into a heritage village.
“Today, in other parts of Goa, we find that locals and villagers are mobilised to oppose their villages being declared as eco-sensitive. This happens when villagers are kept ignorant about benefits that accrue to local population. Wrong information, no information, half-information is dished out to people whereby they take a track which may destroy their villages. We are fortunate and lucky that people of Chandor want their village to be declared as a heritage location. I congratulate all of you for this positive thinking and your earnest desire to see that it happens, said Yuri.
He said the crucial aspect is to harness the heritage for creating opportunities for youth and locals, saying “we should market our heritage and come forward with sustainable economic initiatives to generate employment and income. It is only then, that heritage can be fostered and preserved”.
Speaking further, he said, “there are also dangers that Chandor will face on being heritage location. Investors in land and heritage properties would eye Chandor. The threat is of losing our land and heritage assets to outsiders. The threat is also of reckless commercialisation in the name of tourism development. The Village Development Plan should consider these aspects seriously”.
While promising to take the recommendations to the government for further action, Yuri, however, said “I want all of you to be on guard. I hope you will understand my worry and predicament”.
