Historical church St.Anne, Santana,Talaulim, Goa, India

St. Anne, Santana,Talaulim, Goa,www.indianholiday.com

St. Anne, Santana,Talaulim, Goa,en.wikipedia.org

 During the  Portuguese rule in Goa, a lot of  churches were  built to  serve the Portuguese and other European settlers. Some of  churches were in Portuguese  architectural  design  unique  to  Goa.

Church of St. Anne, Santana,Talaulim, Goa, also commonly  known as  Santana  was  declared  a "national monument" during the Portuguese administration. The church construction work, that  began in 1557 jointly with contribution from some  generous villagers and Mons Francisco do Rego's own funds, at one stage come to a standstill due to lack of additional. Additional construction work  was undertaken by Fr Antonio Francisco da  Cunha  who had the honor of  completing the church work as far back as 1965.

A  village  by  the  name of  Bartholomeus Marchon, during  the  construction  work  of  the  church  had an  apparition  of  a  divine  lady  with  a  hat  on  and  a  staff  in  her  hand  telling  him  that  the church  was  her  abode. A  dying  elderly  Brahmin  woman  had  a  similar  vision  and  after  that  she was  saved  from thee jaws  of  death.  The  elderly  lady felt  that  if  at  she was  alive, it was because of  divine vision  and  blessing  from  the  holy  angel.  She became  a  Christian as  a  way  of  expressing  her gratitude to the divine  lady. The news of apparition and  the  miraculous  cure of  the  old lady  became a news  in the  neighborhood and  later  it had  begun to spread to other places like summer wild bush fire; later  consecration  of  the church  took  place. The feast  of  St  Anne  celebrated on July 26th through out  Goa is quite famous. Another well-known feast  "Touceachem Fest" or the Cucumber Feast mostly is performed by bachelors and spinsters.

Bachelors  make  an  appeal  with a wooden spoon for a wife;  unmarried  women request: 'Senhora, tomai urido (a variety of pulse) dai  me  marido'. Newly married couples  make pledges by saying:  'Senhora, tomai pepino (cucumber) dai me menino'.

St. Anne, Santana,Talaulim, Goa,aroundgoa.com

The church  of  St. Anne, the largest surviving monument in the whole of  Asia  is  unfortunately in a  state of neglect  as  it  is  being  managed by the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India)  and it continues  to  remain neglected and is in a dilapidated condition because of lethargic attitude of the ASI.  Many Hindu temples, in particular, and other historical monuments also face the same fate on account of  the ASI's   poor administration.

The huge  outer  fortified  wall  and the adjacent moat  around the  Thanjavur Big temple, a world famous UNESCO Heritage Site  and the  historical Protestant  church  very close to the Big temple built  by Maratha Maharajah Rajah Serfoji for his mentor Fr. Schwartz, on a plot of temple land donated by him are good examples. About my recent visit to the Schwartz church (which is very close to   Sivaganga park, a famous recreation park at Thanjavur city), I saw several cracks on the outer walls. On enquiry, I found out that no private party could repair them without permit from the central government. Historical monuments of our country should be well taken care of for our younger generation and the central government ought to get these monuments well maintained,  
by way of carrying out frequent repairs.
 
Ref:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St._Anne,_Talaulim