With Goa's connotations of full-moon parties, beaches and backpackers in tie-dyed pants, it's not surprising that most visitors to the Indian state are blithely unaware of its gritty agricultural past. In that respect, the Goa Chitra Museum, tel: (91-832) 657 0877, comes as a genuine revelation.

       From the air, Goa is colour. An endless palette: green on green, blue, brown and grey. We are soon walking out of the small aircraft and past the terracotta figures, the sleeping dogs, and the small group of taxi drivers chattering softly. Now we are in a "Maruti Omni" taxi, along the river and then on the long narrow road to Baga. And all around us, on the ground, Goa is still endless colour, green on green, blue, brown and grey. Little children with chubby cheeks pass us on their way to the Chubby Cheeks School. Buffaloes and cows graze dreamily in the fields. A calf looks curiously around him.

       The best way to do this is visit the thronging Mapusa market (pronounced Maapsa, from the Konkani "Maap", meaning volumes of measure and "Sa", meaning "to fill"), about 12 kilometres away from Panaji. It is a short mini-bus ride away (Rs. 5 on a non-stop shuttle.

       The magnificence of Goan interior can be seen in the exemplary finishes and the choicest collection of furniture, furnishing and artifacts. Bavarian chandeliers that hung from the ceilings and Chinese porcelain that adorned the choicest of English furniture in Goan houses, is evidence that Goa's trade embraced several continents.