Assagao

Assagao Asganv
village
Nickname:  Land Of Flowers
Assagao Location in Goa, India Assagao Assagao (India)
Coordinates: 15°35′51″N 73°46′38″E
Country	India
State	Goa
District	North Goa
Taluka	Bardez
Government
• Type	Panchayat
• Sarpanch	Jallinder Gaonkar
Elevation	8 m (26 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	4,367
Demonym	Assagaonkar
Languages
• Official	Konkani
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	403507
Vehicle registration	GA 03
Nearest city	Mapusa
Lok Sabha constituency	North Goa
Website	goa.gov.in

Assagao is a village in Bardez, Goa located about 4 kilometres west of Mapusa. Assagao is known as the Land of Flowers as well as several other nicknames – “Little Delhi”, “Goa’s South Extension”, ‘Artist’s village’, “The Beverly Hills of Goa”, “Goa’s Tuscany”. It is one of the beautiful villages of Goa. The village is surrounded by hills. From Mapusa town, the road u-turns uphill and, while descending the pass in the small plateau, splits into two parallel roads: one which proceeds straight along the St. Cajetan Church, Assagao Union High School to Anjuna and the other, which passes by Pallottine Seminary and Panchayat Office straight to Badem. The popular beaches of Anjuna and Vagator are to the west of Assagao.

History

Like all of Goa, Assagao was long held by the Portuguese. As per Elderly People, village got its name when a prince, who was lost on the hills of Assagao on a dark night, heard the cock crow to announce the dawn. Overjoyed, the forlorn prince heaved a sigh, Assa re ganv. The early inhabitants of Assagao were Saraswat Brahmins of the Atri gotra. There must have been others too. But all were invariably Hindu with Ravalnath being the presiding deity. There was no dearth of temples too. However, only an odd pillar called kator on the hill at Socolvaddo is the vestige of the Hindu past. It was the temple lamp-post and to preserve the relic of their Hindu heritage, the elders cleverly slapped a legend over the kator. They the common man to believe that there was something inscribed on the kator in a strange a language. They claimed that the one who manages to decipher the inscription would be blessed with a bhangaracho handdo ( pot full of gold). Nobody ever saw the inscription and so no one ever got any gold either.

Education

Assagao is home to Many Prominent Education Institutions, including Agnel Institute of Technology and Design Engineering College, DMC College, Assagao Union High School and Government Primary Schools.

Sports

Football and cricket are popular sports in the village. During Monsoon people play football, and an inter-ward football tournament is organised every year. Cricket is played during summer.

Geography

Assagao is located at 15°35′51″N 73°46′38″E at an elevation of 8 metres above MSL.

Places of interest

• Mint Royale Resort near Anjuna Beach
• Assagao Heritage Walk
• St. Cajetan church is architecturally similar to St Alex's Church in Calangute.
• Dossa-zor spring
• SWAN Yoga Retreat
• Ghatyeshwar Temple
• Purple Valley Yoga Retreat
• Redbrickshop - see weaves & crafts of India

External links

• About Assagao