A new book documents traditional Goan homes and the families who preserve them (architecturaldigest.in)
Frederick Noronha
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Carved porches and long verandahs, bordered by ornate columns and grand staircases—the balcãos of Goan homes are a defining feature of the sunshine state’s domestic architecture. Eighteenth century reforms urged community members to look and engage outwards, rather than retreating inwards, as aangans or courtyards gave way to this new form of seating. If the balcão was born of societal churn, oyster shell windows—with their peacock fan arches and delicate translucence—are a testament to the design ingenuity of Portuguese-era craftsmen who found that glass was out of their reach.
Menezes Bragança House
The Memory Keepers and Future SeekersIt was precisely these aesthetics that spoke to photographer Ulka Chauhan, who embarked on a project to document Goan homes in 2021. “Right from the vibrant hued facade, to the textured and pigmented interior walls, to the glittering crystal chandeliers, to the patterned mosaic floorings—everywhere I looked, there was something I could capture through my viewfinder,” says Chauhan, who splits time between the coastal state, Mumbai and Zürich.
Fernandes House
The Memory Keepers and Future Seekers
Figueiredo House
The Memory Keepers and Future SeekersWhen art writer and curator Samira Sheth joined forces with Chauhan (previously, they’d collaborated on the photographer’s first book, Two Worlds), the scope of their work expanded and became more intimate; they began to put together fragments of memories and personal histories. Soon, friendships with the homeowners blossomed as they were invited to visit and revisit, “through long conversations over several cups of coffee, glasses of porto, platters of prawn rissois and cataplanas, long lunches and dinners, and even an intimate 92nd birthday celebration with only the immediate family present,” Sheth shares.
The result is The Memory Keepers and Future Seekers, a photo book that documents six Goan homes whose foundations were laid as early as the 16th century. Consider Vodlem Ghor (Konkani for ‘big house’), built by the local Hindu elite and believed to predate Portuguese rule. Located in a former capital city in the region, Vodlem Ghor was witness to the rise and fall of kingdoms and a switch in faith. Goa’s turbulent past is evidenced by the underground escape routes and bullet hole marks in the heritage home.
Fernandes House
The Memory Keepers and Future Seekers
Yet, in Chauhan and Sheth’s gaze, these structures are not ancient relics but rather “living, breathing entities” with beating hearts—families who invest in nurturing and preserving them. Chauhan, who has lived in four continents across two decades, was particularly drawn to the rootedness these families felt towards their inherited abodes and the land they stand on. This rootedness is not merely emotional. “They see themselves as the custodians of an invaluable cultural legacy. As Alvaro Viegas (of Casa Viegas in Curtorim, Salcette) says, ‘Goan homes are not merely memory keepers, they are future seekers,’” says Sheth.
Their ancestors may have been bhatkars (landlords), but the current generation’s notion of guardianship is focused on ensuring the homes do not fall into the hands of strangers who don’t recognise their value. This value rests not just in the architectural richness, but also the array of artefacts that are lovingly maintained, from Ming dynasty wash basins to gold-plated crockery, speaking to Goa’s place in the Portuguese empire and its flourishing trade. Some artefacts are of personal significance, such as Vodlem Ghor’s sale deed written in the 17th century Modi Lipi script, and a 200-year-old hand-embroidered bedspread in the Colaço House, imported from Macau.
Figueiredo House
The Memory Keepers and Future SeekersThe images that have stayed with Chauhan feature subjects feeling ‘at home’ in the everyday, whether it is Ranjeev Fernandes reading the morning paper on his ‘volter’ chair (a recliner seat similar to a plantation chair, made popular by Voltaire); or Fatima Figueiredo hosting an elaborate meal in the grand Sala (large hall) of her Loutolim residence. In one poignant picture, Maryanne Viegas sits in a Casa Viegas passageway—her marital home—with her colouring book, an activity meant to soothe the septuagenarian’s mind. “The visual narrative of the book includes the ordinary and humdrum moments of day-to-day life that become quite extraordinary when framed through a viewfinder,” says Chauhan, “The Memory Keepers explores architecture as going beyond the realm of form and function—as a conduit to time and memory.”
Colaço House
The Memory Keepers and Future Seekers
Menezes Bragança House
The Memory Keepers and Future SeekersLore passed down the generations, as well as the very structure of the homes, tell us about a way of life defined by family, community and faith. There remains an exquisiteness to the everyday, with hand-woven doilies resting on 400-year-old rosewood tables and pianos enjoying pride of place in gargantuan rooms. The Sala Grandes (ballroom) and Sala Pequenas (smaller hall) brimmed with relatives dancing away to the orchestral sounds of saxophones and trumpets, played by live bands. The entire village would receive invites to annual parties—occasions when aunts and uncles arrived on horseback from nearby towns, or even by sea from Europe.
Viegas House
The Memory Keepers and Future Seekers“It was a time when the doors and windows of the house would be left open and neighbours could walk through the house,” Sheth says. Though gilded home altars may still be aglow with lamps and Rosary prayers, balls and elaborate feasts have long become a thing of the past. The poder (bread baker) still delivers freshly baked bread each morning, but the liminality and syncretism of the Goan identity is at risk of being lost in the face of fast-paced homogenisation.
In the last 20 years, various cities and towns in Goa have transformed into coveted pin codes, and many traditional homes have been re-imagined as hotels, restaurants and cultural centres. But not all structures live a second life; the migration of locals out of the state has meant that some homes now lie dilapidated and in dire need of restoration. “In that sense, Ulka’s photographs have a strong archival quality as the Goa we see here may not exist a few years from now,” Sheth says in reflection.
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