Silvassa, Administrative capital in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, India
Silvassa is the administrative capital of Dadra and Nagar Haveli on the Daman Ganga, lying at an elevation of 32 meters between agricultural fields and industrial areas. The town extends along the riverbank with broad streets, residential neighborhoods, and several public parks under shade trees.
The Portuguese administration moved the seat of government here in 1885 and named the place Paço de Arcos after a town near Lisbon. The settlement remained under Portuguese control until its incorporation into the Indian Union in 1954.
The Warli communities of the surrounding area preserve their painted wall decorations with geometric patterns in white rice flour on ochre ground. Visitors discover these traditional motifs on house walls in the villages around the capital and in public buildings within the town itself.
The town is reached by National Highway 848A from Maharashtra or Gujarat, with the nearest railway stations in Vapi and Bhilad. The area is best visited between November and February, when heat is lower and humidity remains tolerable.
The area once counted only a few hundred residents before tax incentives in the 1960s attracted factories for plastic goods. Today warehouses and production plants shape large parts of the landscape around the town center.
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