Taleigão
Taleigão, or Platô de Taleigão, is a neighborhood located in the southern part of the city of Panaji, the capital of the Indian state of Goa. It is entirely located on the island of Tiswadi, which is one of the talukas in the state of Goa. The neighborhood is known for its important campus at the Goa University.
Overview
Taleigão lies in Ilhas de Goa and is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, vast tracts of fields to the east, Odxel-Vaiguinim-Dona Paula to the south and Santa Inez-Bhatlem to the north. Located five kilometres from Panjim, Taleigão was considered the granary of north Goa during the Portuguese era, as vast tracts of agricultural land were then under rice cultivation.Taleigão is known for its palm-fringed beaches, bright green paddy fields and Nagalli hill, age-old traditional houses and mansions, broad roads, footpaths, a centuries-old church, traffic circles with azulejo titles, chapels and temples, educational institutions, hotels and restaurants and of course its inhabitants.
The population is currently a mixed group with a lot of settlers from other parts of Goa and other parts of India, especially on the Dona Paula Plateau and elsewhere. The aboriginal inhabitants are the Gawda tribes who were—and some still are—involved in the cultivation of the Comunidade land.
Taleigão Panchayat, the local administrative structure, has been functioning since the 1960s. The first Sarpanch of Taleigão village after the end of Portuguese rule in Goa was freedom fighter Late Narayan Naik in 1966.
Origin of name
Taleigão or Taleiganv, gets its name from the local language, Konkani, Tolle-ganv, Tall-ganv or Toll-ganv. Toll-ganv, a contraction for somtoll ganv, meaning a level village, neither on a hill nor in a valley. Tall-ganv refers to the fact that Taleigão is the last village of Tiswadi, beyond which is the mouth of the river Mandovi flowing into the Arabian Sea. However, the most likely origin is Tollem-ganv. Along the path to Durgavaddi, in Taleigão, there is a tollem, i.e. a lake or a pond, which is how the name stuck, Tollea-ganv or Tolloi-ganv, the village of the lake or pond.Religious institutions
Church of São Miguel Arcanjo
The Igreja de São Miguel Arcanjo is one of the oldest churches in Goa, and was built by the Dominicans in 1544. It is also the only church in the neighborhood, serving one of the largest parishes in Goa. From the census conducted in 2015 there are about 12,000 Catholic population. The Chapel of Blessed Sacrament was annexed in 2006 during the tenure of Fr. Carmo Martins. The assistant parish priest have been Fr. Xavier Braganza and parish priest is Fr. Conceiçao D’Silva, who took charge of the church in June 2011, and took the initiatives to give a facelift to the church and renovate the parochial house and church office. The compound wall fitted with azulejo tiles bordering the Adro da Igreja de São Miguel and the illumination around it were added by Atanasio Monserrate. The Taleigão parish celebrates two main feasts: the harvest feast on 21 August, and the feast of the patron - St. Minguel - on the nearest Sunday on or after 29 September.The president of the feast of St Michael is selected from amongst the senior gaunkars of Comunidade de Taleigão. The selection is done a Sunday before the feast day by a process where the names of the eligible gaunkars along with beads are put in a circular box with three compartments. Every gauncar who participated in the election inserts beads in the box through a small hole in the center. The lid of the box is rotated to ensure that the beads falls in the compartments at random. The gaunkar who scores the highest number of beads is elected to be the president for the forthcoming year. On the feast day, before the final blessing, the copper hat of St. Michael is placed on the head of the president-elect and a short prayer is recited for his good health. The Comunidade de Taleigão makes a provision for the expenses of the feast, novenas and vespers. In addition, the parishioners celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Rosary and Perpetua Succor.
The frontispiece of the church has a Holy Spirit in high relief. The Church has six altars, including the main altar. The main altar has the statue of St Michael above and to the right that of St Sebastian and to the left of St Domnic De Guzman, founder of the Domnicans. The collateral altars: on the left is the altar of Our Lady of Rosary with a small statue of Saint Ana in a niche on top. To the right is the altar of Jesus Crucified and the statue of Saint Rita of Cassia. Another two altars have been added: one to the left has a panel and to the right is that of Our Lady with Infant Jesus with a book in his hand and a smaller statue at the bottom with Jesus. And closer to the entrance, to the right is the altar dedicated to Sacred Heart of Jesus with Sacred Heart of Mary and Saint Joseph Vaz on the sides. Statue of St Mother Teresa was added in 2016.
The corridor of the Church has big panels along the wall, on the left side, which depicts the portraits of: Saint John the Baptist, Saint Roque and Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Peter, Saint Carlo Borromeo. On the right-hand side is another painting of Jesus on the Cross at Mount Calvary, with Mother Mary, Mary Magdalena and others. In the wall, there is a niche, with Our Lady holding the Infant Jesus. On the right-hand side, there are five statues on pedestals—of Saint Dominic de Guzman, three different depiction, with a star on the forehead, in prayer and with the Bible in hand and Saint Thomas Aquinas, two different depiction, one with a sun on his chest and the other holding the Blessed Sacrament. A description of the Church of Taleigão is given by Ricardo Micael Teles in ‘A Voz de S. Francisco Xavier’, in 1941.
The main altar does not have a retable, which some 60 to 70 years back, was substituted by the throne of Exposition of the Sacrament. In this retable there were six big images of Dominican saints; five of which are in the corridor of the church. These were even taken to the fourth centenary celebrations of the canonical erection of the Archdiocese of Goa. The image of the patron saint St Michael Archangel is venerated in the niche where the Holy Sacrament is exposed. On this occasion the statue of St Michael is turned so that the rays on his back are used to expose the monstrance. On the sides of the wall are the images St Anthony and St Sebastian. The collateral altars are dedicated to Our Lady of Rosary and to Jesus Crucified with Our Lady. The first, has on top, the image of St Anna with her daughter in her lap with a globe in her hand and the second the image of St Rita de Cassia,. These images must have been put up after those of the Dominicans were removed. Of late the altar of Sacred Heart of Jesus was established. There is also an altar dedicated to the Holy Souls. According to Teles there were three Confraternities, namely Our Lady of Rosary, Our Lady of Loreto and that of Holy Souls. Francisco Xavier Gomes Catão mentions in the Anuário da Arquidiocese de Goa e Damão, that there are seven altars in the Church. In 1972 the Church underwent restoration work which was funded by Mr. Arthur Ligorio Benedicto Anunciaçao Viegas, who at the time spent rupees 60,000 and the Pope Paul VI honoured him with ‘Medalha de Proeclesia Pontificie’.
There are plans to build a modern St Michael Parish community center consisting of gathering hall, a clinic for elderly, a library, class rooms for catechism children and a meeting room for youth.