Carambolim Hills

Carambolim Holiday Cottages, set in the beautiful hills of Carambolim, is a visitor's paradise. Amidst rich foliage, the cottages give you an opportunity to be one with nature. Rejuvenate the mind and body as you escape from the hustle and bustle of your daily lives. The enchanting beauty of the place, spins magic on its visitors. Nestled among the beautiful hills of the Western Ghats, Carambolim is a popular tourist destination in Goa, world famous for its bird sanctuary. Stay at the Carambolim Holiday Cottages, a place where the cool mist and the breeze speak of stories of the past history and glory of the Portuguese era.

Carambolim or Karmali.

The Village of Carambolim

The village with lush, fertile paddy fields, with a largely agrarian population, possesses historical firsts in the religious sphere besides the world famous wetlands known for a variety of wintering birds. Carambolim, about 14 km from Panjim and just about 2 km from the Old Goa pilgrim centre, had remained largely unheard and unseen. The Konkani Railway, however, has brought the once sleepy, rustic village within sight of development hosting as it does Goa's third important station of the Konkan Railway. Karmali or Kormbolle for the locals, is probably one of the best known places in Goa, because thousands of tourists get a glimpse of its natural grandeur today.



Goa's birding hot-spot.

Bird Sanctuary of Carambolim
Goans, however, are blissfully unaware that the 72-hectare Carambolim lake is a major spot on the international birding map, and highly frequented by European tourists. Several species of exotic, migratory birds have been flocking to the Carambolim lake for hundreds of years, attracted by the verdant landscape and quiet, incredible charm of the picturesque wetland.

Writes Clive Harris, in his trip report, "I saw more birders than at any other location in India - even than on my visits to Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur... On November 16, I jumped into a taxi and headed off to Carambolim Lake, a good site for waterbirds. One treat was a Laggar Falcon making attempts at catching a Little Ccoromant. The village, south of the lake, has a stake-out for an unusual Saxicola species that is thought to be a Stoliczar's Bush-cat."

Carambolim Church.

St. John the Baptist Church, Carambolim, Goa.

Carambolim's age-old church dedicated to St John was originally a chapel figuring among those built before 1541. It was raised to church status during the tenure of Bishop D Joao Albuquerque in 1553. However, by 1542 the Church was demolished and a bigger one was raised sometime in 1714. Andre Vaz, a son of the village and a brilliant student of the College of St Paul and later a Latin Professor, was first Goan priest, who later become the first priest of Goa.






Karmali Railway Station

Karmali Railway Station
The length of the line from Bombay to Mangalore along the west coast is to be 760 Kilometres and out of that 106 Kilometres line runs through the State of Goa. The Konkan Railway is the biggest railway project undertaken in the Indian sub-continent in the present century. The project commenced on October 15,1990 and the Government of Goa approved the alignment passing through the State of Goa on December 17, 1990. Karmali Railway Station is is situated at Old Goa. Konkan Kanya Express, Mandovi Express and Netravathi Express pass through this station.

Rich History

The ancient temples of Carambolim were of deties like Betall, Sidnatha, Gram-Purusha, Khetrapall, Ravalnatha, Santeri, Ganesha, Vanavdevta, Butapriadhar, Fondde-Gaosalo-purusha, Kunbi-purusha, Brahman-purusha and Nirvaocipurusha, according to Rui Gomes Pereira (Hindu Temples and Deities). The only temple in Goa dedicated to Lord Brahma is believed to have been constructed in the 5th century, AD. The Divar island and Carambolim village were the two prominent places near Old Goa, where the first mass baptisms or conversions to Christianity were effected. According to Antonio Victor Couto, the general baptism took place on June 24, 1560