Most people, foreign as well as Indian, think of Goa as a place with unlimited sun, sea and sand, where beaches and the famous laid back lifestyle, or sossegado, awaits. But behind this façade lies a different kind of Goa. Most of its people, no matter their creed, are devoutly religious and have strong ties to their cultural traditions. Faith in various forms plays a major role in the lives of most Christians as well as Hindus. This book explores the lives of Catholics in Goa today and aims to describe the way people live their faith.
Passion in Paradise depicts the symbolism, which plays such an important role in the way the Catholic faith is practiced by Goans today. Its images show the celebration of customs on special days as well as lived faith in everyday simple rituals.
The book also documents various Hindu-Catholic syncretic practices that Goans engage in and aims to explain how and why these came into existence.
Passion in Paradise represents the author’s first steps in a journey through the fascinating complexity that is Catholicism in contemporary Goa.