Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church, Catholic church in Panaji, India.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church is a whitewashed Portuguese Baroque church in Panjim, built in a cruciform plan with a nave and transept. Its facade rises in two tiers: a lower block with arched windows and a central portal, and above it a narrower belfry crowned by a small pediment and a red cross, flanked by two symmetrical bell towers with arched openings. A broad zigzag staircase with balustrades descends to the municipal garden, and a golden statue of a figure with raised arms stands to the right of the stairway.

A chapel built in 1541 served Portuguese sailors making their first port of call at the mouth of the Mandovi. Panaji became a parish in 1600, and in 1609 the chapel was replaced by the present church. The symmetrical zigzag stairways were added in the 18th century, after the viceroy made Panaji his residence in 1759; the town became capital of Portuguese India in 1843 as Nova Goa.

The parish celebrates its patronal Festival of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception every 8 December, when the church is colourfully illuminated and a fair is held. Mass is said daily in English, Konkani and Portuguese, and on feast days the wooden vault elements above the altars are hung with twines of blue and white flowers matching the white facade.

The best time to visit is during daylight hours when the interior is fully illuminated and details are clearly visible. Wear comfortable shoes since the zigzag stairs leading up to the entrance are steep and require some effort to climb.

The bell in the central belfry was taken from the ruined Augustinian monastery on Holy Hill in Old Goa and hung here in 1871. It is the second largest bell in Goa, smaller only than the Golden Bell in the Sé Cathedral of Old Goa.