Goa State Museum & Secretariat Building

Panaji


Currently housed in the Secretariat, the oldest colonial building in Goa, the state museum features an eclectic, if not extensive, collection of items tracing aspects of Goan history. As well as some beautiful Hindu and Jain sculptures and bronzes, there are nice examples of Portuguese-era furniture, coins, an intricately carved chariot and a pair of quirky antique rotary lottery machines.

The most interesting exhibit is in the furniture room: an elaborately carved table and high-backed chairs used by the notoriously brutal Portuguese Inquisition in Goa during its reign of terror. The table’s legs feature carved lions and an eagle on one side, and four human figures on the other.

The Secretariat building stands on the site of the grand summer palace of Goa’s 15th-century sultan Yusuf Adil Shah, which was originally fortified and surrounded by a saltwater moat. After falling to the Portuguese in 1510, the palace was further reinforced and used as a customs post, also serving as temporary accommodation for incoming and outgoing Portuguese viceroys. It later housed Goa’s State Assembly.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Panaji attractions

1. Statue of Abbé Faria

0.03 MILES

Beside the Secretariat Building, look out for the sublime, starkly black statue of a caped man, arms, hands and fingers outstretched, towering over an…

2. Municipal Gardens

0.15 MILES

Panaji’s central square is the leafy Municipal Gardens, also called Church Square (Largo da Igreja). The Ashokan Pillar is at the gardens’ centre.

4. Mario Gallery

0.16 MILES

This gallery and shop showcases work by India’s favourite cartoonist, Loutolim local Mario de Miranda, who died in 2011 at the age of 85. Along with…

5. Ashokan Pillar

0.16 MILES

This pillar at the centre of the Municipal Gardens was once topped by a bust of Vasco da Gama, the first Portuguese voyager to set foot in Goa in 1498,…

6. Jama Masjid

0.24 MILES

Tiny Jama Masjid, barely 100m south of the Municipal Gardens and built about two centuries ago, is easy to miss. The exterior of the mosque is plain, its…

7. Azad Maidan

0.26 MILES

To the west of the Municipal Gardens, the grassy Azad Maidan won’t win any prizes at a flower show. Its centrepiece is a small pavilion (whose Corinthian…

8. Chapel of St Sebastian

0.32 MILES

Fontainhas is notable for being home to the pretty Chapel of St Sebastian, built in 1818. This small whitewashed church contains one of only a few relics…