Panaji - Goa

Panajim or Panaji's history goes back to the Purta Dharmas - the charitable deeds of Gandagopal Kelima whose grandfather Kalapa was entrusted with the administration of Panajim by the Kadamba king, Shasthadeva, a good and a glorious king. The first few Portuguese chroniclers, soon after the conquest of Goa, refer to Panajim as Panaji or Ponji which is said to mean "Land that never gets flooded". Its name was later changed by the Portuguese into Panajim. On December 1, 1759, the Viceroy Dom Manuel de Saldanha de Albuquerque, Count Of Ega, shifted his residence from Panelim (near Old Goa) to Panajim. For this purpose, the old castle of Adil Shah was totally remodeled and a palace was built where, at present, the old Government Secretariat stands. When Old Goa collapsed in the 19th century, Panaji was elevated to the status of a city on 22nd March 1843 and was renamed `Nova-Goa' (New Goa). After liberation in 1961, it came to be known as Panjim.