Moon Over Panjim Church

That whole day was spent testing Tamron 150-600 lens review of which you can see in my last blog. When returned back to my hotel at Panjim I was very tired. For dinner we went to a old classic Goan restaurant next to the Panjim Church. After ordering food gazing up the sky, I noticed the moon playing hide and seek with the clouds. I quickly grabbed my camera and the only lens I had at that time along with tripod and ran up the hill which housed the church and here are few quick, but slow shutter speed photos. I used Canon EOS 5D Mark III Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM on a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 Carbon Fiber Tripod.

Initially I tried Landscape format to include whole of the church and the surroundings along with the moon. Getting moon into the frame was difficult as he was higher up in the eastern sky already. Next I climbed few steps and went to the upper level and tilted my camera to get the church and the moon into the frame. With that tilt, I could get both into the frame. Last one here is a HDR which did not make much difference as compared to the single shutter speed shots.The cloud movement was much more dynamic on that HDR. All the photos were shot at ISO 100, f/9.0, 5 sec shutter speed. Darkness surrounding made me to miss centering the camera perfectly opposite the church. Only one single light was illuminating church wall. As my family was waiting at the dinner table I had to click my photos as fast as I could and return.

The Panjim Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is placed on the hillside and just high above the Idalco Palace built by Adil Shah. Standing on the gallery of the church, you can see the entire view of the lovely Panjim city. It is one of Panjim’s best attractions located in the heart of Panjim city and is the first church of Goa, built in 1541. In this century this area was hilly and residential. Land around was swampy covered by the field of paddy, coconuts groves and watery. It was in 1843 the land was developed by the Viceroy when he took over Panjim; and in the year 1855 the ‘Praca de Flores’ (Square of Flower’s) was built in front of the church. In the year 1619 the church was re-constructed by enlarging it further looking at the population growth.

The decoration of the Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception church is simple, but still it is amazing to the eyes because of it simplicity. In the year 1871, the great bell belonging to the Augustinian Church of Our Lady which is in Old Goa was brought here in Panjim Church to install. After the Golden Bell in Se Cathedral, this is second bell which is large and heavy in weight and due to this the whole pediment of the façade was renovated and increased in the size. The Panjim Church has ordinary interior. The main altar is honored to Mary Immaculate, and it has two more altars, on the left is Jesus crucified and to the right is Our Lady of the Rosary. On the both sides there are two marble statues, one of St. Peter and one of St. Paul. On the right of the main altar in the south transept there is a Chapel of St. Francis Xavier.

The area above the church on hilltop is called Bairro Altos de Pilotos because large beacons used to be lit here to guide ships into the estuary before the light house. On the right side of the church down to the lane little further is Secretariat Building. On the down the lane few steps is Jama Masjid and built in is a Muslim College. Further on the street is the Hindu Mahalaxmi Temple which is main temple in Panjim, In front of the church is the view of Municipal Garden, hotels, boutiques etc.

The feast of the Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception church is celebrated on 8th December every year. During its feast this church is beautifully decorated with lights and decoration and the entire Church Square is occupied by a lively fair. In fact this location of the church is so popular that many film shootings have been carried on this place. Standing on the high on the hill this church is indeed the crown of the Panjim city.