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Publication: GoaHolidayHomes.com
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URL: http://www.goaholidayhomes.com/info/249/goa-kashi-of-the-konkan/
Goa called 'Kashi of the Konkanï' by
the Hindus who hold it sacred came to be considered the Rome of the East for
its beautiful churches. (Kashi, now called Varanasi or Benaras is associated
with Lord Shiva and is one of the holiest cities on the banks of the Ganges
River of the Hindus.)
Since ancient times Goa has for the Hindus,
been a seat of Vedic and Sanskrit learning and a center of pilgrimage. Fr.
Francisco da Souza, the Jesuit historian testifies in his 'Oriente Conquista'
(1699): "The island of Divar was as much venerated by the Hindus as the
Holy Land is by us on account of a temple of many indulgences and pilgrimages.
And even at present on a certain day of the year, the Hindus hopefully flock
there to bathe themselves in the margin of the river facing the locality where
the temple was formerly situated, so that they might not lose their plenary
indulgence".
According to Leonardo Paes in his 'Prontuario
das definicoes Indicas', there was hardly a place where a Hindu temple couldn't
be found in Goa. "These idol - worshipping people have some houses where
they install their Gods or idols. So many are these temples that there is
no place in their land where these don't exist. As the cities, villages and
wards are not sufficient for them, temples are found even on the highest hills
and on any island or cliff formed by the sea".
After the original temple on Divar Island
was destroyed by the Portuguese, it was relocated at Narve in Bicholim sub
- division. The original site is now known as 'Porne Teertha' (Old Holy Site)
by the Hindus. In 1668 it was rebuilt by Shivaji the Maratha King. Called
Shri Saptakoteshwar Temple after the seven sages who did severe penance, it
is dedicated to Lord Shiva who was pleased and agreed to make the island his
abode.
Various 'Mutts' (Vedic Hindu colleges) of
Goa like Kavle, Shankar and Partagali still carry on the tradition of Vedic
and Sanskrit learning. The Shri Kaivalya Mutt at Kavle that traces an unbroken
line back to the founder of the Advaita School of philosophy, Shri Gaoudapadacharya,
the grand guru of Adhishankarcharya, was originally situated on the banks
of the Zuari River at Kushasthali (Cortalim). Shri Ramchandra Teertha was
the founder of Partagali Jeevottam Mutt and was sixth in line from Shri Narayana
Teertha, the founder of the first Vaishanava Mutt in 1475 at Bhatkal.
With temples being dedicated to most of the
prominent deities of the Hindu pantheon, Goa over the years has been the land
of many dynasties and cults. Some of these which have temples dedicated to
them are Surya, Brahma, Ganapati, Nagesh, Ramanatha, Kartikeya, Chandranatha,
Mangesh, Rama, Somanatha, Narayana, Durga, Mallikarjuna, Chamunda, Vithala
and Datta, Parashurma, Narasimha, Kamaxi, Hanuman, Krishna, Mahalaxmi and
Mahamaya. Also there are aboriginal deities like Vetal (the head of spirits
of ancestors), Sateri (Mother Earth in the form of a termite hill) and Ravalnatha
(an incarnation of Shiva) which are worshipped as the presiding deities of
villages.
Swami Vivekanand, the great Hindu spiritual thinker during his India tour
visited Goa. He stayed at the Rachol Seminary to study Christianity and also
at Nayak House in Margao.
With the return of deities to their original
sites from where they were uprooted, renovation of old temples and construction
of new temples and mutts, the awesome Hindu heritage of Goa is now seeing
a revival.
