venessa silveira ribandar a serene and beautiful village is nestled between the capital city of panaji and old goa in the district of ilhas or tiswadi the ourem creek separates it from panaji and forms a large marshy estuary along the mandovi the village rests in the bosom of ribandar hills lapped by the mandovi river and surrounded by panaji chimbel and sao pedro village the islands of chorao and divar lie to the north and northeast of ribandar respectively the ferry wharfs at ribandar are the major means of transportation to these two islands the ourem estuary is traversed by an old causeway built in 1633 under the auspices of the viceroy the count of linhares after whom it has been named as the ponte conde de linhares although separated geographically from panaji ribandar has been made a part of the corporation of the city of panaji ccp administratively and judicially ribandar stands alone as a village and a part of the ccp but its religious jurisdiction has continued to include chimbel and sao pedro in the ribandar parish the name ribandar is a combination of two words rai bandar meaning dock of the royalties or kings harbour there were many hindu muslim and portuguese rulers who ruled goa in patches due to constant wars with each other ribandar boasts of some famous historical places some of the places of interest are o igreja de nossa senhora de ajuda the church of our lady of help which derives its significance from the fact that the body of st francis xavier was given a canon salute here on march 14 1554 and is an architectural wonder its shape resembling that of a ship the residents of patto celebrate the our lady of remedios chapel feast on the second saturday of february while the residents of fondvem celebrate infant jesus feast at our lady of ajuda chapel although a small village ribandar has four hindu temples ram temple at manasvaddo shri vitoba temple at fornavaddo pandurang temple at fondvem and another temple of the same deity at sao pedro or panvel among the prominent educational institutions in ribandar figures the over200yearold ajuda convent housed in the mansion which once was called palacio julio nogar it was handed over to the franciscan missionaries of mary who extended it to start a teachers training course and subsequently a high school in due course they wound up the school leaving behind only a kindergarten and it is now a noviate of their order peopled with creative persons arts entertainment and culture come naturally to these villagers on the third sunday of january the village traditionally stages a tiatr artists like the famed sculptor waman zo besides charis and others including francisco martins who has been excelling at putting up floats at the state and national level all hail from this village going back in time it is said that the carnival dance used to be held in the gracias house every year two to