Three Kings Chapel, Cansaulim

The Three Kings Chapel stands on Cuelim hill at Cansaulim in Goa. Father Gonçalo Carvalho founded it in 1599, and it is linked to the Saint Thomas Church in Cansaulim. From its hillock there is a wide view of the Arabian Sea and the South Goa countryside, and its isolated, high position makes it popular with tourists and photographers, especially at sunset.

It is chiefly known for the feast of the Epiphany on 6 January, one of three places in Goa where the Three Kings are celebrated with strong local tradition. Three boys aged 8 to 12, one from each of Cansaulim, Arossim and Cuelim, dress as kings in crowns and gowns and ride by different paths across the hill to meet at the chapel for high mass, accompanied by locals and brass bands, before going on to Saint Thomas Church. Local folklore also calls it haunted, telling of three feuding kings who died here by poison, and it appeared in the films Bhoothnath (2008) and Finding Fanny (2014).