The drive to the village is scenic, with paddy fields and wooded hills lacing the roadway, very typical of the Goan countryside.

From the top of the hill, superb panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, including the meandering Mandovi river and Old Goa can be seen.

The famous Bonderam festival is celebrated in Divar, on the fourth Saturday of August during the monsoon with great fanfare and attended by thousands of tourists and locals.

Naroa, located on the eastern tip of the island, has a population of barely a thousand people, with about 80 houses dotting the tiny village.

It also houses three parochial churches and possesses a chapel of two images of Christ held in great veneration by the Catholics of the place.

Fort Naroa, located on the Island of Divar opposite the old city of Goa in Ilhas, was originally built by the Muslims.

You will see a Koti tirth Lake (a Government Occupied Place archeological site, which has 108 carved small niches in its walls) and Hatkeshwar Temple (Riverside of Mandovi) The original inhabitants of this island were people who once lived in Old Goa but had to leave during a disastrous plague that greatly reduced the population of Old Goa.

It is believed that the Island of Divar was once a site of Hindu pilgrimage - one of many in India - and hosted the temples of Saptakoteshwar, Ganesh, Mahamaya and Dwarkeshwar.

It's also said, that the current Cemetery near Church at hilltop once housed a Ganesh Temple, though studies performed by ASI found no archeological evidence to this claim.

Shirali, a village near Bhatkal in Karnataka claims to house a parts of the Shree Ganesh Mahamaya temples of Navelim and Goltim.

According to Dr Olivinho J F Gomes, Professor of Konkani, Divar was one of the first places the Portuguese ventured to convert locals to Christianity.

Similar to the Carnival, the famous Bonderam festival is celebrated in Divar on the fourth Saturday of August during the monsoon with great fanfare and attended by thousands of tourists and locals.

[citation needed] The huge bell which today adorns the Se Cathedral in Old Goa was originally donated by the master of a sinking ship who'd made a vow that, were he to survive his fate, he would donate the ship's bell to the first church village, town, or city his vessel touched.

The Chapel of Our Lady of Candelaria or Purification on Divar Island is a round building covered by a hemispherical vault with skylight cupola.

A long nave in the form of a stone shed was recently added hiding the east-facing door giving access to the rotunda.

It is probable that the dedication to Our Lady of Candelaria dates to 1763, when the chapel was subject to major interventions on the initiative of Viceroy Manuel de Saldanha, Count of Ega (1758-1765).

The windows and round oculi with scroll pediments we see ornamenting the rotunda's perimeter may be ascribed to the tastes of that period.

The original chapel was founded in 1543, perhaps dedicated to Our Lady of Pity; the devotion was later transferred to the main church of Divar.

Two narrow shafted pilasters with plant motifs support a sharp triangular pediment above an overly weak frieze.

Divar is one of few places in Goa you will find Urak (mild version of Cashew Feni) all-year round.