Parra is a village on the outskirts of

Mapusa Mapusa () is a city in North Goa, India. It is situated 13 km north of the state capital of Panaji. The city is the headquarters of Bardez taluka. It is located on the main highway NH-17, linking Mumbai to Kochi. During Portuguese Indi ...

town Bardez sub-district,

North Goa North Goa district is one of the two districts that constitutes the state of Goa, India. The district has an area of , and is bounded by Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra state to the north and by Belgavi district of Karnatak ...

, India. It has traditionally been known as a village that has grown luscious watermelons. In recent times, the village is facing considerable urbanisation and social change.

Location

It is close to the town of Mapusa and the villages of

Saligao Saligão () is a census town in North Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It is surrounded by the villages of Porvorim, Parra, Guirim, Sangolda, Pilerne, Candolim, Calangute and Nagoa and is in Bardez Taluka of Goa. It is 10 km ...

Calangute Calangute is a town in the North Goa district of the Indian state of Goa. It is famous for its beach, the largest in North Goa and a popular tourist destination. The peak tourist season is during Christmas and New Year, and during the summer i ...

Assagao Assagao is a village in Bardez, Goa, India located about 4 kilometres west of Mapusa. It is known as the "Land of Flowers" as well as several other nicknames – "Goa’s South Extension", "Artist’s village", "The Beverly Hills of Goa", ...

Anjuna Anjuna (, ; ) is a village located on the coast of North Goa, India. It is a Census Town, one of the twelve comunidades of Bardez. It is mostly a tourist destination. Its church, St. Michael's Church, Anjuna, founded in 1595, is dedicated to ...

and

Vagator Vagator Beach a beach in Bardez Taluka, in the state of Goa, India. It is located across the Chapora River from the town of Morjim. Description Vagator Beach has black rock cliffs overlooking the water. The beach was rated one of cleanest in ...

. And has rice fields

Village church

The Parra church is dedicated to St. Anne. According to José Lourenço, the Parra church, dedicated to St. Anne (Santa Ana or Santana), was built in 1649 and its feast is celebrated on the Sunday on or after July 26 each. year. By way of history, the rectorate of St Anne was established to cover the villages of Parra, Canca and Verla, all adjoining villages in the same locality. Earlier, the village was affiliated to the Nagoa Church, in another adjoining village. The first church was destroyed in 1683, but rebuilt with a vault in 1688. Its cemetery is said to have a "fine Rococo facade". This church is built in the

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

Neo-Roman style. It is of large size with three bays and three storeys. A gable wall is visible behind the frontispiece. There are twin bell turrets which have "pagoda like" roofs. The finials are of a spear type. A curved pediment crowns the apex. There is a large porch with arched openings which has a flat roof with a balustrade.

History

The Parra Church was earlier home to the Franciscan Rectorate of St Anne. It covered the neighbouring villages of Parra, Cança and Verla, and was established between 1650 and 1653. It was initially affiliated to the Parish of Nagoa. Parra's first church was burnt down by the

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

in 1683, and rebuilt in 1688, as currently existing.

Religious orders

Parra is today home to a number of religious Orders and congregations of religious women. These include: * Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), based at the Don Bosco Youth Welfare Centre, Naikavaddo. * Society of the Catholic Apostolate of Pallottines (SAC), at the Villa de Palloti, Silva Waddo. * Franciscan Sisters of St Mary of the Angels at Jyoti Nivas, D'Mello Vaddo Canca. * Fatima Sisters, at Pereira Social Welfare Centre, Colcondem, Verla and at Xavier Dhaam, Colcondem, Verla. Other institutions include chapels without chaplains in the parish: * Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel, Verla * Our Lady of Piety Chapel, Parra

Village structure

Parra covers a fairly vast land area, but most of it is agricultural land with pockets of residential land. A resident of Parra is popularly known as a "Porrikar". Parra used to be famous for sweet, red watermelons.

Issues linked to Parra

A controversy broke out in 2019 over "cleanliness tax" imposed on tourists clicking photographs on one of the scenic roads of the village. Meanwhile, a court case emerged over the lack of footpaths following the expansion of the

Parra Parra (Hebrew language, Hebrew: ''גפן'') is a Spanish, Portuguese, and also Jewish surname, meaning grapevine or Trellis (architecture), trellis, for example, a pergola. It is taken from the word meaning latticework and the vines raised on it ...

main road in Parra.

Connection with former CM

Former Goa chief minister and ex-Defence Minister of India

Manohar Parrikar Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar (13 December 1955 – 17 March 2019) was an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party who was the Chief Minister of Goa for three terms. He also served as the Union Minister of Defence ...

was a most notable person who traced his ancestral roots to Parra, as reflected in his surname.

Trivia

Parra's Catholic population is estimated at 4000, and the Feast of St Anne Church is celebrated on the Sunday that falls on or after July 26 each year. Parra's PIN (postal index number) code is 403510.

External links

Pilerne village ''panchayat'' Facebook page

References

{{Reflist Villages in North Goa district