Many of us have visited Goa in the summers. The beaches, the golden sand and the lush greenery make it an enticing destination. You can lay on a beach with a chilled beer in hand and forget all the worries of this world. But did you know that Goa has many other hidden treasures?
Every year, in the monsoon, a village appears out of nowhere in South Goa. In the Sanguem region, a whole village of Curdi, with intact houses and temple structure emerges out of the water, to disappear underwater again after a few days.
The reality is that the villagers of Curdi gave up their village to help the state build the Salaulim dam. The construction of Salaulim dam began around 1975-1976. As a few areas of the village started submerging, the affected families started migrating to the land that they were allotted. 450 families migrated away from their ancestral land.
Just before the monsoon begins, the water recedes enough to expose the remnants of this ghost village. As the water builds up in the later months of the heavy monsoon in Goa, the village again disappears, only to emerge after ten months.
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A feast is held in the water-logged chapel every June. Villagers who have left their home, make the sad pilgrimage to their native home to pray at the chapel, which will again vanish with heavy rains.
Image Credit: Instagram
Curdi makes for an interesting destination in early monsoon. There are walls and houses, temples and churches, standing isolated in water. You can walk on roads towards the beach, that suddenly vanish into the shoreline. It feels like the plot of a novel or the setting for a Christopher Nolan movie.
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There is even a small hillock, where you can hike up to enjoy the mesmerising view of the entire panorama. It is a scene that is tragic and serene at the same time. Early showers make the place more enchanting.
The nearest railway station is Margoa, 32 km away and the nearest airport is Dabolim, 50 km away. You can also drive into the Netravali forest, which becomes a thick blanket of green during the rains.
So, pack your bags to explore something new in Goa this monsoon.
