whilst I'm here ... odds and ends in southern India

India is cheap, so spending some time here helps to 'balance the books', as well as giving me the opportunity to rest and build up the energy levels for the next bit of travelling.  But of course there is plenty to see in this amazing country.

On my way to see the theyyam rituals, I stopped off for a day in Old Goa.  The capital of Portuguese India, it was populated by evangelising Christians, and (having been virtually abandoned when hit by epidemics of malaria and cholera in the 17th century) it now feels like some kind of museum of churches, abbeys, monasteries and convents - listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Some are in pretty good condition (like St Catherine's Cathedral, above), and are quite stunning - I particularly liked some corners of this cathedral where the walls and ceiling are elaborately decorated.

However, the town was a victim of the Portuguese Inquisition, intended to enforce Catholic orthodoxy, which hunted down those accused of secretly practicing their former religions or being involved in the Protestant revolution of the 16th century.  Forced conversions had brought people into the Catholic faith, but of course these did not necessarily change the underlying beliefs of those people, so the Inquisitors seized and burned books, punished those observing Hindu or Muslim rituals, and even executed some accused of serious religious transgressions.

The Augustinian friars were evicted as part of this inquisition, and the church of St Augustine abandoned in 1835; the vault collapsed a few years later, followed much later by the facade and three of the four towers.  I love abandoned and ruined buildings, so what remains of this building was one of my favourite places in Old Goa.

I also spent a couple of days in Kannur, where the old St Angelo Fort typified the history of this part of the country - built by the Portuguese, captured and rebuilt by the Dutch, sold to a local king, then seized by the British and strengthened before being finally handed over to the Indians at independence.

I also paid one of several visits to old lighthouses down the coast whilst in Kannur.