Coastline

St Anthony embarks himself as the patron saint of Siolim. On whose feast day the entire village solemnizes the mass and takes part in the great procession. This year the feast of St Anthony will be celebrated on June 19. The unique aspect of this feast is the statue of St Anthony at Siolim. which is one of its kind. Its an unusual statue of St Anthony, holding a string in his right hand, to which hangs a strangled snake. Where as, the saint is always seen holding baby Jesus in his arms.

Interestingly a local legend explains the story behind this statue. In 1600, the missionaries planned for a new and larger church in another location more central to the Christians of Siolim. As it was difficult for the people to travel right up to the hill of Shirkothe, where the previous church of Mae De Deus was present. So, in order to build a new church they were falling short of funds. At the same time two Portuguese merchants travelling to India via konkan coast ,were caught in a severe storm.

They had with them a statue of St. Anthony and vowed that if they made to the port safely they would build a church where they would land. And this so happened, that the ship landed at the Chapora river and docked on the left bank near the village of Marna. Co-incidental, they met the Franciscan missionaries who were looking for funds to build a new church.

As a promise made they soon began constructing the church. The work had begun of building of the church. An unusual snake began to appear and started harassing the workers and began disturbing the rector directing the construction. Every time they built the foundation he would destroy it. The snake was an obstruction due to which they decided to construction the church else where.

But the saint worked another miracle. To their great astonishment, the next morning they saw the cobra hanging to the snare of the cord, in the hand of the saint. There were no sign of the snake any more. The statue was seen with a strangulated snake on to a string in his right hand. Thus making it possible to construct the church. In the church, the statues, paintings, and even the church bell, depicts St. Anthony holding a serpent tied with a cord to commemorate this miracle.

It was the weekend and as planned all friends had decided to go to the beach to take a dip. Unfortunately, looking at the crowd there none of us wanted to step in the water nor wanted to wait there for long. We just sat down on a small bridge and admired people dancing and enjoying. We were just tired with the heat and crowd. So, we decided to go around the place and find some good place to sit. 

While we were walking around the place, we reached on the other side of the beach where this cross was. It was so calm and quiet. There was no one to disturb. It was so peaceful. It was just a complete change in the situation.

In life, we come across such situations quite often. We tend to get trapped in the circus of life and cry loud for an escape and fail many times. But what this taught me was really something worth. 

It's like no situation comes to you without a solution. If we didn't go around looking for this place we would never find this serene place. Similarly, if we don't make an effort to come out of the situation then no one can help us.

 Remember things can only work really well, when you decided to help your own self.

One of the most peaceful beaches in the south of Goa is the Agonda beach. Which is almost 40km from Margao. It's long pristine stretch makes it favorable for sunbathing, relaxing and swimming. There are several hotels and rooms for stay lined up close to the beach, which allows you to have a perfect holiday stay at the beach. Just before you arrive at the beach, you can find the main church of Agonda. 

Usually, the beach is lonely on Monday mornings but buzzing with tourists and locals on the weekend. If someone wishes to enjoy the calm sea and watch the waves hit the rocks with a big splash, then Agonda is where you should head to.