Ponda

Called Phonda in Konkani, it is 28 km south-east of Panjim and 17 km north east of Margao. Ponda is the gateway to Belgaum, Hubli and other cities to the east of Goa (in Karnataka and beyond). Ponda lies in the so-called 'New Conquests'. In the heat of Portuguese religious intolerance centuries ago, Ponda was a safe-haven for Hindus fleeing Portuguese religion-based persecution, in times when it was ruled by local feudatories of the Vijaynagar kingdom or the Bijapur sultanate. This accounts for the large number of temples resettled from Salcete and elsewhere in and around Ponda. Konkani is widely used here. Marathi, Hindi and Kannada too. You can get by in tourist areas with English.