Calangute Beach
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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