Goa was 'Kashi of the Konkanï'

Goa was 'Kashi of the Konkan'

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.



By Sanjay Agarwal
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2M6Y3UGQ0K4KE

Most Indians believe that Goa was settled by Portuguese. This is what
the history text books have taught them. But the facts are quite
different. Goa (Gomantak) was a bustling place, settled by Indians
continuously from at least 1200 B.C. It was a famous pilgrimage, often
known as Kashi of West.

Till the Portuguese missionaries came. They launched an aggressive
program of converting native Hindus and Muslims to Christianity.
Hundreds of Hindu temples were destroyed, and Brahmins were chased
out.

Many converted as a result of this. The new converts were ordered to
give up their 'heathen' practices. However, when friendly methods
failed to keep the newly converted within the flock, inquisition was
called in. The Goan inquisition has often been called the worst in the
history of Christianity. It continued for about 250 years from 1570's
till 1812, when the British mercifully put an end to it.

Incidentally, the Goans did not take this lying down. According to the
World Book encyclopedia, Goa witnessed 400 revolts in the 400 years of
Portuguese occupation.

The book gives a scholarly, dry narrative of the excesses of
inquistion. Properly speaking there is no narrative as such, rather
sections, such as in a thesis. It is really more of a documentation
effort, as stated in the title. There are lots of references of
sources and footnotes, which add authority to the book.

It also reproduces some accounts of the inquisition written by a
Frenchman named Dhillon, who managed to escape it with his life. Some
photographs, sketches, and maps are included. he location of the 'big
house' (called 'orlem ghor' in Goanese), where thousands were interred
is also shown in a map. There are sketches showing auto da fe (where
victims were burnt alive) and some of the more popular tortures.
However, the maps are quite old, and it is difficult to locate the
ruins in Old Goa, where even the museum staff are ignorant about the
site or history of inquisition.