CALIZZ - THE HEART OF GOA

Calizz is how the Konkani word for heart is spelt in the Roman script. It is also the name of an intriguing, new near-museum experience in Candolim, which seeks to show you the heart of Goan culture, as it was found in its houses. Like its subject, Calizz is itself a bit of a high breed in its pleasant spaces, museum meets lifestyle store. What Calizz has is a vibrant, eclectic collection of objects from more than a hundred years to less than fifty years ago, presented engagingly in a couple of graceful old Indo-Portuguese houses as well as some restoration of traditional Hindu houses.

Mr. Laxmikant Kudchadkar has collected the artifacts over the past fifty years. The layout of the place, like the story that every experience today must have, is simple. Meet the family of Donna Bertha, mother to three sons and a daughter. Following customs of the Old Portuguese traditions, she gave one son to God, one to the devil and the third to the people. So there you are in a typical Indo-Portuguese house opposite the entrance, with the doctors consulting room on one side (the son given to the people) and the lawyers (the son given to the devil) on the other side. Each room is a cabinet of curiosities loosely wrapped around its theme. The doctor's room is a mini medical museum-old anatomical charts, all manner of instruments and injection sets, even a shallow cabinet with many kinds of spectacles, old first aid kits and different types of doctor's bags which will catch your eye as soon as you will enter into the room. The good doctor, it turns out, was a man of multiple medical talents in the good old days before specialization. At Calizz, we also see a beautiful pattern of keys on the backdrop to the lawyer's chair which turns out to be his family business of trading keys and in his consultancy you will discover a collection of various cameras set according to the chronological setting, law books and rare encyclopedias which will take you on a journey of imagination. When you will move to the main house you will discover the true spirit of Goan traditions which is a mélange of many religions and beliefs.

Calizz takes Goan culture very much to the heart. The grounds have a large patch for medicinal herbs we call it as the garden of lost plants and the rest of the land is  surfaced with traditional cow-dung paste. In this garden, you will find different trees which are grown in Goa like for example coconut, mango, jackfruit, soap (reetha) tree etc. In the pre-Portuguese era you will also find a huge Banyan tree which tells you the story of their own.

Traditional craftsmanship is in evidence everywhere. Most importantly, the objects or the buildings are allowed to be themselves, by and large, particularly the Indo Portuguese ones: no synthetic paints for the buildings, for instance. The Hindu houses are buildings are smaller especially when you will visit Laxmibai's house (wife of a Hindu Brahmin) which is a completely different experience in itself explained in its true colours, including a gallery of Raja Ravi Verma (one of the most famous and renowned artists of India whose paintings have won many prizes in the world).

Your journey to discover Goa will be incomplete without sampling her cuisine. At Calizz, you can taste Goa by sampling its Goan Portuguese and vegetarian Hindu cuisine at our restaurant. The recipes have been handed down the ages; the old ways of grinding spices by hand are used to bring out the true flavours.

TOUR DETAILS:

1. Lawyer and Doctor consultancy (an Indo-Portuguese architecture)

2. Dona Bertha house (an Indo-Portuguese architecture)

3. Tobacoo house (an Indo-Portuguese architecture)

4. Carpenter's house (a traditional Goan architecture)

5. Fisherman's house (a traditional Goan architecture)

6. Laxmibai's house (Hindu architecture)

7. Landlord's house (Hindu architecture)

The tour is of maximum one hour duration. You will see around 45000 artifacts which have been displayed in thius heritage site at the various houses and consultancy's.

Also includes:

1. Welcome drink on arrival at the museum

2. Choice of soft drinks

3. Choice of Domestic brands

• Royal Challenge
• Imperial Blue
• Royal Stag
• Smirnoff
• Blue Riband
• Honey Bee
• Old Monk
• Beer

4. Choice of Hindu and Portuguese Menu. [Comprises of starters (2 nos.), main course and dessert