Photos: Ancient Goa through the eyes of photographer Pantaleão Fernandes
Eighteen years ago, Pantaleão Fernandes, a civil engineer, quit his construction business to explore the villages of Goa and pursue his passion for photography. Since then, he has published seven books chronicling lesser-known aspects of Goan culture and heritage, including ancient artefacts from prehistoric tombstones to religious statuary.
This stone icon with a decorative panel depicting the goddess Gajalakshmi sits in a sacred grove in Kudshe village, Sattari. It finds mention in photographer Pantaleão Fernandes’s latest book, Outdoor Museums of Goa, which focuses on forgotten historical artefacts that dot the state. (Photo courtesy Pantaleão Fernandes)
2/7
Fernandes (L), seen here with traditional painter Mario Ratos from Benaulim, quit his construction business 18 years ago to tour Goa’s villages and pursue his passion for photography. He has since published seven books showcasing his work. Ratos featured in his 2015 book, Traditional Occupations of Goa. (Photo courtesy Pantaleão Fernandes)
3/7
Fernandes spotted this dolmen, a prehistoric tombstone consisting of three vertical megaliths topped by a horizontal one, near a temple in Agonda in South Goa. Despite being a marker for important ancient graves, the dolmen wasn’t protected and not many locals knew its significance, he says.(Photo courtesy Pantaleão Fernandes)
A hero stone commemorates the bravery of a local man who died trying to safeguard his village, Pedem in Canacona. The lower panels show the elaborate funeral of the village hero while the top panel is dedicated to goddess Gajalakshmi, flanked by two elephants. (Photo courtesy Pantaleão Fernandes)
5/7
Sati stones serve as memorials to women who committed the traditional self-immolation following the death of their spouse. Local legend has it that this stone was erected in memory of a local queen, who set herself on fire after she learnt of her husband’s death. Her ashes were immersed in the Kushawati river, on whose banks this stone was erected. (Photo courtesy Pantaleão Fernandes)
10
Modus Vivendi (1000 people – 1000 Homes), 2000: In this self-portrait, a work of mixed media on canvas, Kallat appears as a swaggering, bespectacled juggler of heart and brain. The painting is an exploration of selfhood in the city of Mumbai, where he grew up and lives. The individual, lost in the multitudes, wanders in a state of perpetual disorientation, as reflected in the work. The radiating streaks of red, orange and green, reminiscent of thermal imagery, were achieved by texturing the canvas with layers of paint or canvas and then peeling off some parts to attain the desired visual effect.
5
Sheer delight: While out surveying the remote Phoenix Islands Archipelago, Schmidt Ocean Institute scientists captured rare footage of a “glass octopus”, named so because it is completely see-through. What one does see when one shines a light on it is its optic nerve, eyeballs, and digestive tract. Even though this species has been known to science since 1918, scientists were forced to study about this animal through specimens found in the guts of predators, before this sighting.
7
Herald / Harbinger is a permanent public art installation by Ben Rubin and Jer Thorp. It broadcasts the sounds of the Bow Glacier cracking and breaking 200 km away, to the centre of Calgary, one of Canada’s largest cities, almost in real time. The sounds and imagery shaped by data from a glacial observatory are broadcast through 16 speakers and seven LED arrays.
10
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022): The movie explores the many dimensions of parenthood and love through the story of a Chinese-American immigrant named Evelyn Wang (played by Michelle Yeoh) who, while struggling to run a failing laundromat business, uses her newfound powers to travel across multiple realities to save the world and work on her strained relationships with her loved ones. It’s a family drama that’s fast-paced, funny and, above all, tackles earnestly the idea of healing from intergenerational trauma.
6
At first sight: For centuries, sunspots were thought to be Mercury passing across the Sun. By the early 17th century, with the invention of the telescope, astronomers could get a clearer look. In 1610, Galileo Galilei (who first used the telescope to observe space) in Italy and his British contemporary Thomas Harriot identified these as spots on the Sun. Seen here are 35 drawings of sunspots created by Galileo between June 2 and July 8, 1612.
