The village had significant importance to the Portuguese, local (Gancars) noble chardó (Kshatriya) Feudal Lords and was the retreat for Goa's high, elite and aristocratic society, who would come to Colvá for their mudança (change of air), to enjoy the private beach of the then Roiz family.

Today the Portuguese area is dotted with the past elite houses and modern villas, including many ruins from more than 300 years.

On weekends, huge crowds of tourists, visitors from around the world as well as local Indians, enjoy the sunset and various activities.

The beach is particularly busy in October, when hordes of religious pilgrims come and visit Colvá Church, called Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Mercês (Church of Our Lady of Mercy), that was founded in AD 1630 by the Roiz family and the crown of the statue of our Lady has their family initials.

These working class local people (called Mundkars lived on the land of their respected Bhatkars) have mainly been fisherfolk in majority since the mid-16th century.

Other working class (curumbins, jornaleiros) were carpenters, massons, coconut pluckers (render/padekar), field/rice cultivation labourers, bakers (poder), etc...

[citation needed] Colvá was under Portuguese administration, as the Province of Portuguese-Goa, from 1510 until 1961 (and was still under dispute and represented in the Parliament of Portugal till 1974/75).

Colvá is still famous for the whitewashed Our Lady Of Mercy church, originally known as Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Mercês, that was founded in 1630 and rebuilt in the eighteenth century in the village square.

According to local legend, the statue at Our Lady of Mercy church was found in the mid-seventeenth century along the coast of Mozambique after Rev Fr.

In 1648 when Father Ferreira was posted to Colvá, he placed the statue on the altar, and it soon started drawing large crowds of devotees as it granted their favours.

The Menino Jesus statue is kept for public viewing in October for the annual Fama ('Fame') festival for which thousands of people assemble.

The Feudal Lords and aristocratic families of Colvá that included Gandaulim, Vanelim, Sernabatim and limited part of Canã were: Roiz/Roiz dos Mártyres (Rodrigues), Friz (Fernandes), Mascarenhas, Aguiar, Santimano, Gracias, Costa, Vales, Texeira, Pacheco, Cunha, Cruz, Silva, Rebêlo.

These families belonged to the parish church called Igreja Nossa Senhora das Mercês de Colvá and had allegiance to the Portuguese Empire.

From 1581 to 1635, these aforementioned illustrious, elite and noble families and all their subjects (mundkars) in Colvá belonged to Igreja de São João Baptista.

Marathi, Hindi and Kannada are also recently widely understood and spoken throughout the locality post the year 1975 due to the large influx of various migrants from India and Nepal.

The locals enjoy rice with fish curry (xitt kodi in Konkani), which is the staple diet in Goa.

Prior to this (current) office space allocation, the sessions were held at the ancestral homes of the Gancars of Colvá.