Mapusa. For all who have been to this place, the name conjures up images of a city teeming with activity. A city where new tall buildings keep appearing at regular intervals, where traffic jams never seem to ease and where the noise never ends. It makes you remember historical connections, like that of the Mapusa market, one of the oldest markets in Asia. Or perhaps, it's the city that your parents or grandparents visited on Fridays, to get their shopping done.
Mapusa which is one of the main commercial cities in Goa, seems to be competing against itself in the never ending race towards progress and modernisation, not unlike many others. Alive, it definitely is. But beautiful? A quick glance at the growing mass of ugly looking buildings may tempt you to respond in the negative. However, nestled in between these huge dull structures, lie some true architectural gems, a remembrance of a time long gone. While some continue to stand tall in all their majesty, courtesy of their devoted owners, others lie forgotten and abandoned, the windows broken, the last of the paint peeling off, often hidden behind their unkempt gardens that have long run wild. But take a walk around the town and even on the hill that is part of Mapusa and you'll see the quaint in the middle of the chaos. All of these houses have a story to tell.
Situated close to the old but noted pharmacy Drogaria Popular in Angod, the towering Cordeiro house with its lovely courtyard was once the residence of Advocate Francisco Herculano Cordeiro. “Advocate Cordeiro’s wife Juliana was my Portuguese professor at the Escola Tecnica and their daughter Maria Teresa, who was my class mate, went on to become one of the best athletes in Goa in the 1960’s,” narrates Domnic Fernandes, who gave readers a peek into Mapusa of days gone by in his 2012 book ‘Mapusa: Yesterday and Today “A Reminiscent Tour’. Indeed, the road on which Vivenda Cordeiro is situated has even been named as Pinto Cordeiro. “His grandson Antonio Filipe Cordeiro also shares his name. However, now all of them are outside Goa.”
Located on an inner lane in Feira Alto stands the awe inspiring Anna Purna Niwas. With roaring lions furiously guarding the gates to this yellow and white mansion, it is the kind of house that you would be happy to get lost in. Constructed in 1937, the Neogi’s house was said to have been the residence of Shyamsunder Jairam, who won the 1980 assembly election from Mapusa Constituency on a Congress ticket.
As one descends towards the police station, one comes across the Sadashiv Bhavan or the Natekar building said to have been built in 1933. Located centrally just around the turn, with its winding staircase that curls around the front of the house in a lovely cheerful shade of yellow, this home is difficult to miss. According to Fernandes, this was the home of wealthy cloth merchants built by Damu Sadashiv Shet Natekar and presently the residence of his grandson Devidas. The two storey place was built with a grand design by an architect from Mumbai who also designed the Administracao das Communidades de Bardez. The Natekars were supposedly the first in the area to acquire a Marconi radio and people were said to gather around to the house regularly to listen to the news. The family also claims to be among the first in the locality to get electricity perhaps owning to their close proximity to the electricity department.
Thus, dwells the city’s rich heritage within the walls of these lovely old structures. But, heritage unless properly looked after can slip away and be lost forever. Yet, the people in authority have done little in terms of maintenance and conservation lament some of the house owners and heritage activists.
“No one cares about these heritage buildings. They may have restored the St Mary’s school recently to house the municipal office, but in five years, the place will come to resemble other municipal offices that one sees and go back to being a dump. All this is just to show off,” states Fernandes.
“Our house is over 200 years old and was built by my grandfather John D’Sousa who was commonly known as Paklo and was the Mayor of Mapusa. The tiles used for the house were the same type used for the Asilo Hospital and were brought all the way from Italy,” states Aaron Gomes, a resident of Mapusa. “We have to shell out quite a sum to maintain the house. Also recently we did up the place. But the government does nothing to finance these heritage houses.”
Advocate Antonio Lobo, who owns a palatial 150 year old mansion close to the Olav Riberio Hospital, has long been campaigning for the preserving of Mapusa’s heritage under the Mapusa Nagrikancho Ekvott. “Heritage should be preserved for posterity. But the government doesn’t seem to be concerned at all. The area of Mapusa which is heavily residential has been converted into a high density commercial zone. As a result people are tempted to sell their houses. If this was instead kept as a conservation zone, the owners could transfer their development rights. We could come up with a scheme where a portion of the house area can be sold notionally to the developers, who could then develop the land on property elsewhere,” he says, adding that the suggestion had been put forward but nobody seemed to be paying heed. “I am afraid that we will lose all our heritage houses. The cost of maintenance is no small amount. I may be able to afford it but apart from one or two others not many other can afford to keep the houses going,” he states. “This is not just the case in cities but also in villages. Goa is slowly losing its architectural charm and beauty and it is painful to see houses being demolished and multi storeyed buildings coming up instead.”
“There are a lot of beautiful Indo Portuguese style heritage houses alongside the road in Peddem, Duler and near the court, but not much attention has been paid to these,” agrees Prajal Sakhardande, President of Goa Heritage Action Group. “Back in 2004-05 we had prepared a list of heritage houses, including those in Bardez with Matanhy Saldanha, and had drawn up a scheme with the heritage house owners association to provide subsidies and finance. However there were not many takers and it is lying in doldrums somewhere in the GTDC,” he says. “My request is that the Municipal authorities should pay for maintenance of these lovely houses. They should have talks with the owners and provide necessary funds and loans at low rates of interest.”
Yes, the new villas that are springing up are lovely enough, but nothing can beat the grandeur and magnificence of the old houses and the stories that lend them a touch of uniqueness. Thus, allowing them to fade into oblivion is not an option.
