Daman or Damao, a Union Territory was a Portuguese enclave for four centuries and a half till the close of the colonial rule in 1961. The first Portuguese Captain Diogo de Mello, while on his way to Ormuz, met with a violent cyclone and when all hopes were lost, suddenly found himself at the Daman coast. Daman was the battleground to oust the Portuguese and had witnessed many a wars waged against the alien powers. It had been a melting pot where races and cultures met and mixed to bring forth a multicoloured identity. This paradise of peace, solitude and contentment with its coastline about 12.5 km along the Arabian sea (the Gulf of Khambhat) was once known as Kalana Pavri or Lotus of Marshlands. A laid back little town, Daman is divided by the Damanganga river. Nani Daman (or Little Daman) in the north and Moti Daman (or Big Daman) in the south which retains something of the Portuguese atmosphere in its Government buildings and churches of colonial origins enclosed within an imposing wall.