Author: Meenakshi Rao
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: February 11, 2001
She was the Queen of Georgia in
difficult times; she was the prisoner of the Shah of Persia in an even
more volatile era; she was publicly executed in Persia after she refused
to convert to Islam; a devout Christian, she was bestowed sainthood by
the Pope way back in the 17th century. Today, she lies buried, unknown
and unsung in the ruins of a Goa church, on the same street as the much
more venerated St Xavier. Four centuries later, Queen Ketevan's nation
is clamouring for recognition to their toughest icon, an icon who stood
tall in the face of Islamic expansionism and defeated all efforts by the
Shah to change her religion.
Thanks to the efforts of Georgia's
honorary consul in India, K S Dhingra, a top-level team of experts from
faraway Georgia is all set to land in Goa in a bid to trace the remains
of their saint and Queen who is said to be buried in the St Augustine chapel
in Goa since 1622.
legend goes that after the Iranian
Shah Abbas I plundered Georgia, he massacred 60,000 people on September
22, 1624. Churches were devastated, icons and crosses broken up and jewels
given to the Shah's concubines. The Shah took away Queen Ketevan as a slave,
put her in his harem and repeatedly forced her to embrace Islam.
According to an account by contemporary
Augustinian Fathers who witnessed her execution in Persia: "The officials
lit a fire and inserted iron pincers into it. They stripped the Queen from
her neck to her waist and taking the red hot pincers, they tore away the
flesh from her delicate body with great cruelty until at last the Queen
fell half dead to the ground, continuing to invoke 'Our Lord' with courage....
They finally strangled her to death by a bowstring."
The gory execution was, among others,
witnessed by some Portuguese missionaries. The next night, the remains
of her almost charred body were stolen by the St Augustine Portugeas Catholic
missioners and hidden for three long years.
Finally, in 1627, the remains were
brought to Goa and buried there in the St Augustine De Grasa Church.
Since then, several teams have come
from Georgia and searched in vain for the exact location of her grave.
The first evidence of her presence
in Goa surfaced in 1633 when a letter was published on the martyrdom of
Queen Ketevan in England.
Archives say she is supposed to
have be buried near the mummified remains of St Francis Xavier and that
she was interred "to the right of the altar" of the St Augustine Church.
"The problem is," says Dr PP Shirodhkar,
who led the last excavation of the church in 1998, "if you stand facing
the altar the right side becomes the left side. It is a confusing mystery.
We are sure she is somewhere. But so far we have not been able to locate
her."
The original monastic complex collapsed
long ago, leaving only a 46m bell tower. Excavators in 1988 found 54 grave
slabs, but none bore Ketevan's name
But the Georgians haven't lost hope.
Merab Chachua, Deputy head for division for Asia, Australia and Pacific
countries, says Georgia wants to give her a full state funeral. "Queen
Ketevan was declared a saint and figures in school curricula. We would
like to have her back," he said.
The spot the queen operation though
will take time. Meanwhile, the Georgians plan to renovate the location
and make it worthy of a queen and a saint. "The idea is to first locate
the remains of St Ketevan and then put up a memorial there," says Deputy
cultural minister Zviad Chumburidze.
The search is expected to resume
this month.
Till then, may Queen Ketevan rest
in peace.
