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16 Kms from Panaji. is the most popular holiday resort in
Goa and known as The Queen of Beaches. Excellent accommodation facilities
are available, particularly at the tourist resort and cottages. Calangute
lie on the shores of the Arabian Sea of North Goa in India. It is encircled
by Arpora-Nagoa, Saligao and Candolim, in the Bardez taluka.
Being a popular holiday resort, the small houses amidst the coconut groves
behind the beach are always in constant demand. Calangute seems to be a
distortion of the local vernacular word - ‘Koli-gutti’, which
means land of fishermen. Some people connect it with Kalyangutti (village of
art) or Konvallo-ghott (strong pit of the coconut tree) because the village
is full of coconut trees. With the advent of the Portuguese, the word
probably got distorted to Calangute, and has stuck till today.
Seemingly not all that long ago, Calangute was the beach all self-respecting
hippies headed for, especially around Christmas when psychedelic hell broke
loose. If you enjoyed taking part in those mass poojas, with their endless
half-baked discussions about `when the revolution comes' and `the vibes,
maaan', then this was just the ticket. You could frolic around without a
stitch on, be ever so cool and liberated, get totally out of your head on
every conceivable variety of ganja from Timor to Tenochtitlan and completely
disregard the feelings of the local inhabitants. Naturally, John Lennon or
The Who were always about to turn up and give a free concert.
Calangute's heyday as the Mecca of all expatriate hippies has passed. The
local people, who used to rent out rooms in their houses for a pittance,
have moved on to more profitable things, and Calangute has undergone a
metamorphosis to become the centre of Goa's rapidly expanding
package-tourist market.
It isn't one of the best Goanese
beaches: there are hardly any palms, the sand is contaminated with red soil
and the beach drops rapidly into the sea. There is, however, plenty going
on, especially if you don't mind playing a minor role in this stage-managed
parody of what travelling is meant to be about. Try heading off the beaten
track unless you need a bit of R 'n' R to recover from life on the road, or
want to mix it with the Simons and Sandras of this world who are visiting
India to pep up their winter suntans.
The best time of the year
to visit this area is between September and March.
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