Garden City of Silvassa – The Capital of Dadar and Nagar Havelli  

Starting with a couple of important facts of Silvassa

• Silvassa – the capital of Dadar and Nagar Haveli, the union territory of India.
• It has numerous factories and industries and helps maintain a low level of taxation.
• Before independence, during the Portuguese rule, it was known as Vila de Paço d’Arcos.
• The population of approximately 27,359 people.
• Warli the language spoken by the Warli people. It is a dialect of Konkani, just as Agri which is also spoken.
• A former Portuguese enclave, Silvassa has a significantRoman Catholic population that speaks a distinct dialect of Portuguese. Gujarati and Marathi languages are widely spoken.

History of Silvassa

Handed over to Portuguese by Maratha Peshwas in 1779 as part of a friendship treaty, Silvassa was a small village part of Nagar Haveli. It was a cluster of 79 villages that paid taxes to Portuguese.

It was in the year 1885 when the then Portuguese government made certain to give Silvassa the status of a town. It is still a small town with a rough population of about 100,000 people. It was then re-named Vila de Paçod’Arcos after a town in Portugal near Lisbon.

Before Independence

During the British rule in India, many rulers joined hands with Mugal to get rid of the British. The Marathas and the Peshwas were the powerful rulers at that time and they signed a peace treaty with the Portuguese, as per the treaty Portuguese were given 72 villages and Portuguese gave us the military support to fight against the British.

After Independence

Dadar and Nagar Haveli got its independence in the year 1961 and it was merged in the Indian republic. It comprises of 72 villages with Silvassa the capital town.

In the beginning it was famous for agriculture with mango and banana as the main production, however later with the industrialization, things have changed and the due to its tax-free status many industries like Reliance, Gulf oil, HUL etc has made their base here.

Beautiful places to be visited in Silvassa

There are various beautiful places and gardens in Silvassa and is also termed as the new garden city of India. The places here are not only beautiful but maintained well- kept clean.

Nakshatra Garden Silvassa

It is a relatively new garden located just on the banks of Daman Ganga River. The garden is typically structured in a manner that plants with the Nakshatras or the planetary positions. There are plants associated with Nav Graha or nine planets that are worshiped by Hindus. There are plants associated with each of the 12 signs of Zodiac and arranged in the form of an astrological chart.

Vanganga Lake & Garden, Dadra

A lovely garden surrounding a lake with an island in the middle. If you go around Vanganga Lake for a walk you would be done with your daily exercise requirement. This lake garden falls in the town of Dadra and was earlier known as Dadra Park.

Hirwa Garden, Silvassa

This is a garden located in the heart of the city. It was originally called Pipariya Garden after the area it is located in. This garden is smaller than the Nakshatra Garden or the Vanganga Garden. Hirwa Garden is best known for its rustic rock wall that during some times of the day has cascading water falling from it gives an illusion of it being a waterfall.

Silvassa Tribal Museum, Silvassa

Silvassa Museum is a small museum opposite the Portuguese church. It displays the lives of Warli tribals through some dioramas but mostly through the articles of their use.