Goa

Goa

Goa was colonized by Portugal in 1510 and remained under Portuguese rule for 450 years, the longest European colonial presence in South Asia, until Indian annexation in 1961. This produced a genuinely hybrid Indo-Portuguese identity found nowhere else in India: Catholic basilicas standing beside ancient Hindu temples, Portuguese surnames and Konkani language, and a laid-back coastal culture locals call susegad. The Basilica of Bom Jesus and Se Cathedral in Old Goa form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, while forts like Aguada and Chapora once guarded the same coastline now lined with beaches.