What is unusual about this National Day celebration is that unlike other countries which observe the day of Independence as their National Day, the Portuguese celebrate Camoes Day, in honour of a celebrated Portuguese poet, Luis de Camoes, who in 1572 published Os Lusiadas, meaning "The sons of Lusus", the mythical founder of Portugal, which poetically means "the Portuguese". Echoing classical models, the poem chronicled the voyages of Vasco de Gama, before a panorama of strangely mixed Christian and pagan images.

Os Lusiadas has been hailed throughout Europe, sometimes to the detriment of Portugal's other literature, as Portugal's one masterpiece. Under Antonio Salazar, Prime Minister of Portugal in the 1930s, Os Lusiadas became an icon of Portuguese nationalism, and is said to be rightfully renowned as a classic of world literature.

However, de Camoes did not live long enough to reap the celebrity of his poetry. He began and ended life poor, though it is said he did find romance and adventure in between. An affair with one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting caused his banishment to North Africa, where he lost an eye in military service.

Returning to Lisbon, Camoes was involved in a skirmish that wounded a magistrate, ended up in prison, and was banished again to Goa in India in 1553. In 1570 he returned to Lisbon, and published Os Lusiadas in 1572. The poem's worth was immediately recognized and as a reward he received a small royal pension. His final illness, however, was spent in a public hospital and when he died in 1580, he was buried in a common grave.

Links:

http://amediavoz.com/camoes.htm

www.goa-world.com/about_goa/