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Mapusa (म्हापशें) is a town in North Goa,
India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
. It is situated 13 km north of the capital
Panaji Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuar ...
. The town is the headquarters of
Bardez ''Bardez'' ( kok, Bardes; pt, Bardes; IPA: ) is a ''taluka'' of the North Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It was a '' concelho'' in the Portuguese State of India before 1961. Etymology The name is credited to the Saraswat Bra ...
Taluka A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
. It is located on the main highway NH-17, linking
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
to
Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...
. In Portuguese, the town is known as Mapuçá.


History

Mapusa is a small town clustered around the Mount (Alto). The name Mapusa is thought to be derived from the Konkani word for a 'measure' - 'map' and the phrase fill up - 'sa'. Ancient Goan agrarian community had a well established '' Gaunkari'' or Community Farming System, where villages formed associations, worked on community land and shared profits. Market day was a major event, with goods brought in from every district to one central area. Mapusa has thus remained a prominent market center for many centuries.


Geography

Mapusa is located at . It has an average elevation of 15 metres (49 feet).It lies on the banks of Mapusa River. Mapusa has a tropical climate with temperatures ranging from a high of 37 °C in summer with high levels of humidity to a low of 21 °C in winters.


Demographics

As of the 2011 Census of India, Mapusa had a population of 40,487. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Mapusa has an average literacy rate of 76%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 73%. In Mapusa, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.


Government and politics


Civic administration

Mapusa is administered by the Mapusa Municipal Council.


Representation in Parliament and State Assembly

At a state level, Mapusa falls within the Mapusa (Goa Assembly constituency). As of 2019, its representative in the
Goa Legislative Assembly The Goa Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the state of Goa in India. The Assembly meets at the Goa State Legislative Assembly Complex in Porvorim, Bardez. The Eighth Goa Legislative Assembly consists of 40 members. The asse ...
is Joshua D'Souza of the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...
. At a national level, the city is falls within the North Goa (Lok Sabha constituency). As of 2019, its
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
is
Shripad Yesso Naik Shripad Yesso Naik (born 4 October 1952) is an Indian politician serving as the current Minister of State for Tourism and Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India in office 7 July 2021 (in Second Modi ministry). He was the former Union Minister o ...
of the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...
.


Economy

Mapusa is close to one of the main centres of Goa's tourism industry. Mapusa's proximity to many beaches in the north of Goa makes it a suitable base during the tourist season (November to April). Because it is a mainly commercial town (for locals) with a large resident population, Mapusa has only a limited number of hotels and accommodation. Mapusa comes alive on Friday, the traditional market day also known as Mapusa Friday Market. People from surrounding villages and towns come to Mapusa to sell their wares. This fair has a lot of local flavour (unlike some other tourist-oriented fairs or markets) and specialises in agricultural produce, vegetables, locally grown fruit, spices, clothes and even plants (mainly during the monsoon planting season). Every Friday, the Mapusa Market bulges at the seams, with seemingly every square inch of space occupied by sellers with only just enough room for the prospective buyers, the alleys between the regular stalls being occupied with temporary mats and boards. From lottery tickets displayed in great swathes to barber shops, the bazaar caters for almost every requirement imaginable. There is the fish street, dried fish of all possible varieties and whole fresh fish from baby shark and squid to the ubiquitous bangda (mackerel). Fresh fruit and vegetables are gathered together and beautifully displayed, from huge sweet potatoes, and pumpkins and the local shiny red brown Moira bananas to the tiny fresh beans and other pulses.


Education

Mapusa houses several prominent Goan educational institutions, including Saraswat Vidyalaya, St. Mary's Convent High School, St. Britto's High School, New Goa High School, St. Antony's High School, Mapusa High School, Dyanprasarak High School, Shree Ganesh Vidya Mandir, Dnyanprassarak Mandal's College, St. Xavier's College of Art, Science and Commerce, and St. Xavier's Higher Secondary School, Agnel Institute of Technical Education (Engg College).


Landmarks

Mapusa, however, does not have too many tourist sites. There are a few colonial era Municipal building on the Altinho hill, but it is a fairly small town with mostly modern buildings spread around the slopes of Altinho. The most famous local shrine is Shree Dev Bodgeshwar Sansthan of Lord Bodgeshwar, located on the outskirts of the town in the middle of some rice fields, which is beautifully lit up at night and draws thousands of devotees for its annual Jatra. The St. Jerome Church, founded in 1594 and rebuilt several times since, is famous for the annual feast of Our Lady of Miracles. The Mapusa Market gathers Goan traders as well as merchants from adjacent states for goods such as spices, toddy and home-grown goods. For example, there are four varieties of locally grown bananas sold in this market and other varieties imported from Karnataka. There is also a part of the market where the traders specialise in repairing utensils such as blenders and food mixers for the preparation of spices. Duler Stadium is an association football stadium located in Mapusa. The 10000 seater stadium has
Astroturf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has ...
surface. Goa Professional League and Santosh Trophy games are held here.


Gallery

File:Mapusa Aerial.jpg, Aerial View Of Mapusa, Goa File:Mapusa Goa street.jpg, A street in Mapusa File:Shree Dev Bodgeshwer.jpg, Shree Dev Bodgeshwer File:Old Muncipality Building Mapusa.jpg, Portuguese Colonial Era Municipal Building Mapusa Mapusa, chiesa di san girolamo, esterno 02.jpg, St. Jerome Church, Mapusa File:Mapusa_in_North_Goa,_with_the_old_(in_front)_showing_up_against_the_new.jpg, Downtown Mapusa, India File:Verla Canca Saibaba Temple.jpg, Verla-Canca Saibaba Temple located outside Mapusa, Goa


Notable people

* Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister of Goa,
ormer Minister of Defence of India Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae. Other common names are ear shells, sea ears, and, rarely, muttonfish or mutton ...
* Dayanand Bandodkar, 1st Chief Minister of Goa *
Francis Dsouza Francisco Casimiro Jerónimo Agnelo Pinto de Souza known as Francis Dsouza (4 October 1954 – 14 February 2019) was an Indian Politician from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who served as the Deputy Chief Minister of the Indian State of Goa. He c ...
, Deputy Chief Ministers of Goa * Raj Naik, first-class
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
er * Myron Fernandes, professional footballer * Ramdas Kamat, Classical Singer, Performed in Marathi Sangeet Natak and theatre. * Manohar Usgaoncar, lawyer, former Advocate General of Goa and the first Additional Solicitor General of India from Goa. *
Surendra Sirsat Surendra Sirsat (1945/1946 – 29 March 2021) was an Indian politician and member of the Nationalist Congress Party. Sirsat was a member of the Goa Legislative Assembly in 1977, 1984, 1989 and 1994 from the Mapusa constituency in North Goa as M ...
, educationist and former Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly. * Ramakant Khalap, lawyer, politician, former Law Minister of India.


References


External links

Goa: A compete Guide
{commons category Cities and towns in North Goa district