Hindu Central Courtyard Houses of Goa

An article by Mohan Pai

The Lost Spaces

Traditional Hindu Central Courtyard Houses of Goa

 

“It takes centuries of life to make a little history

and it takes centuries of history to make a little tradition”
– Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan

‘Central courtyard’ -Courtesy Dempo family, Panaji. Pic by Mohan Pai

Traditional Hindu Homes of Goa

The Hindu traditional houses of Goa reflect several millennia old Indian Architectural heritage. Structures created after the devastation during the Muslim and Portugese regime still reveal some of the rich features of the heritage that has survived in Goa, even though they have disappeared in other parts of India.

In spite of the destruction, the local Hindus showed a remarkable instinct for survival and stuck to their beliefs and tradition like a leach. The Goan Hindu is more conservative and more deep rooted in traditions. To quote Romesh Bhandari:

“Goa has a special role in the practice of Hinduism. It was the Aryans who first brought Hinduism as we know it today to Goa. The Hindus in Portugese Goa however remained insulated from what was happening to their co-religionists in other parts of India. The Goan Hindu is therefore of relatively greater purity than Hindus elsewhere. This relates to religious rites, practices and of the observance of customs, rituals and festivals.”

Goa has had a very long and tradition of Vedic and Sanskritic learning. Goa has the ancient site of Konkan-Kashi (at Diwar Island) considered by the Puranas holier than Kashi itself. The institutions of Agrahara, Brahmapuri and Maths as eminent centres of learning which existed for centuries and the fact that the majority Goan Hindu population still follows Puranic pantheon based on the broad philosophy of Vedanta, all of which is indicative of Goa’s pre-eminence as a nerve centre of ancient Indian Vedic culture.

 

Agraharas, Brahmapuris and Maths

 

These were the three most important institutions consisting of communities of learned Brahmins whose profound scholarship attracted students from far and near. The Agraharas constituted the real universities of medieval India. Where as Brahmapuris which were the settlement of learned Brahmins in parts of towns and cities differed from the Agraharas.

The third agency that played an important role in cultural life was the Math. It was a typical Indian monastery with monks, ascetics and students living within its precincts which also served as a free boarding house.The Math tradition of Goa has survived with Goa having three key Maths of Goud Saraswat Brahmin community – Kavale Math, Gokarn-Partagali Math and Kashi Math. In order to enable these institutions to carry on their work, they were richly endowed by Kings, Chieftains and philanthrophic and wealthy citizens.

Historical records of the 11th century AD describe Govapuri “as beatiful and pleasing city, the abundant happiness of which surpassed the paradise of Indra”. The prosperity continued till the arrival of the Portugese in the 16th century. During the Golden Age, the indigenous architect found expression not only in mansions, houses and temples but varied complexes like Agraharas, Brahmapuris and Maths”
 

Gokarn-Partagali Math, Partagali, Goa

 

Duarte Barbosa was a Portuguese factor at Cannanore and Cochin in between 1503 and (about) 1517 and had left behind an interesting account on trade and political events of the southeast including Bengal. About Goa, he says:

“This town was very large, with goodly edifices (Temples ?) and handsome streets and squares, surrounded by walls and towers. There is a very good fortress in it, and in the environs many gardens and orchards of fine trees and fruits, and many pools of good water.”
Tom Pires, a Portugese apothecary, who came to India in 1514 after Albuquerque conquered Ilhas mentions in his writings that there was a very large Hindu population and he gives the following description which obviously is that of the Hindu brahmin elite of the time:

“There are a great many heathens in the kingdom of Goa …Some of them very honoured men with large fortunes; and almost the whole kingdom lies in their hands, … Some of them are noblemen with many followers and lands of their own and are persons of great repute, and wealthy, and they live on their estates which are gay and fresh … They have beautiful temples of their own in this kingdom … There are some very honoured stocks among these Brahmins … These Brahmins are greatly revered throughout the country, particularly among the heathens… They are clever, prudent, learned in their religion. A Brahmin would not become a Mohammedan (even) if he were a king.”

Saraswats in Goa

Among the Brahmin communities of Goa, the Goud Saraswat Brahmins have always played a dominant role in religious, social, cultural and economic role of Goa.

According to some sources, the first migration (700 BC) to Goa by Saraswats was directly from the Sarasvati river banks via Kutch and southwards mostly through sea routes. The three main groups who came to Goa were the Bhojas, the Chediyas and the Saraswats and maintained connections with the Kutch, Sindh and Kashmiri Saraswats. The second wave of immigrants settled at Keloshi (Quelessam) and Kushasthal (Cortallim) and were named after those villages as Keloshikars and Kushasthalikars. From here they spread to other villages. The main deities which also came along with them were Mangirish, Mahadeo, Mahalaxmi, Kamakshi, Mahalsa, Shantadurga, Nagesh, Saptakoteshwar besides many others. Gomantak region is dotted with so many Kuladevata Temples of Saraswats which testifies to this fact.

The first group of Goud Saraswat immigrants from Trihotrapura (around 1000 AD) settled in two different parts of the Gomantak region. Thirty families were grouped in one commune and sixty six in other. The first commune was known as Tiswadi meaning 30 villages (modern Tissuary), and the other Shashatis meaning 66 (modern salcette). The Tiswadi commune was migrants from Kanyakubja and Shashatis was from Mithila. There is a view that these settlements together were 96 and referred as Sahanavis (Saha means six and Navi means ninety) and later as Shenvis. Once settled down, they continued in their traditional professions of administration and education and some got royal patronage and positions in governance in due course of time. Some enterprising Saraswats branched out into the practice of trading. The successes of these pioneering Saraswat traders encouraged many other Saraswats to whole-heartedly adopt trading as a main-stream profession.

There is another version of the story that, Sri Parashuram brought 96 families of the Panchagauda Brahmins from Trihotra (in Bihar) and settled them at Panchakrosha in Kushasthali of Goa. Such stories are also narrated about settlements of brahmins in Konkan Kanara Coast. This is considered to be more mythology than history. Legends say that Lord Parasuram, shot an arrow from the Western Ghats in adjacent Konkan and the arrow (Baan) landed at the site of Benaulim town. Benaulim also known as Banavali about 40 km from Panaji and 2 km south of Colva is today a beach resort. Even if the legends are considered only as myths, today a temple of Parashuram exists in Poinguinim village of Canacona Taluka in South Goa.

 

Sage Parashuram – A painting

Should Indus Valley be called Sarasvati civilisation ?

Recent researches based on the satellite photographs have now established the fact that what was called Indus Valley Civilization or Mohenjodaro-Harappa Civilization should be factually called Sarasvati Civilization. Hundreds of remains of these settlements have been discovered, the depth of the underground flowing Sarasvati determined and voluminous reports on these have been published.The Indus Valley civilization was so named because the first site discovered by Sir John Marshall in the 1920s, Mohenjo Daro or “mound of the dead,” happened to be situated in the Indus Valley. Thereafter, more discoveries were made and eventually as many as 2600 sites were unearthed between Iran in the west, Turkmenia, Bactria and the Pamirs in the north, beyond Delhi into western UP in the east, up to the Godavari in Maharashtra in the south, encompassing over one million square kilometers.

The culture goes back to around 7000 BC in Mehrgarh (Pakistan), which shows evidence of a strong agricultural economy and the presence of granaries for storing surplus grain. In its mature phase, this culture spawned the great cities of Mohenjo Daro, Harappa and Lothal, around 2600 BC.

Location map of the Indus-Sarasvati civilization

 

The more recently discovered Dholavira created elaborate stone gateways and water harvesting structures, and is deservedly renowned for creating the world’s first sign-board in the Harappan script. Lothal had a port with a dockyard and granaries. Yet by1900 BC, the Indus-Sarasvati cities were being abandoned and an eastward shift in population took place. This is reflected in the Sanskrit literature, with increasing importance bestowed upon the Ganga and Yamuna. Saraswat Brahmins preserve a tradition of their southward migration, while Gaud Saraswat Brahmins say they came South via Gaud (Bengal) after the Sarasvati disappeared.

Human settlement patterns have always been closely intertwined with the fundamental economic activities that they support. Thus in the prehistoric period the pattern was migratory, moving with the growth seasons and the animal herds, and the house form corresponded to those needs. It was mobile, light, simple, and protective. A fundamental change in the economic system–the advent of the agricultural revolution, wherein early humans discovered that they could intervene in the reproductive cycle of edible plants and thus control and manage their food supply–brought a corresponding change to the human settlement pattern. No longer was a migratory pattern desirable. Instead, a more sedentary, more permanent form emerged. As agriculture developed further, human groupings were able to produce a surplus of food, and from this single fact grew division of labour and ultimately towns and cities.

Did Central Courtyard architecture originate in the Indus Valley ?

These changes occurred most rapidly in very specialized climatological areas. The first urban agricultural centers emerged in areas blessed with benign and year-round growing seasons combined with the ready availability of rivers for irrigation purposes. Major permanent concentrated populations arose and probably originated in the Thar Desert crossed by the Indus River in what is now India that gave birth to Mohenjo-Daro and Harappan civilization which now dates back to 7,000 BC. where the Central courtyard architecture may have originated and subsequently spread to other regions like the Tigris Euphrates region of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt of the Nile. Iran and China also had adopted courtyard architecture as far back as 3000 BC. In all these arid-region urbanized agricultural centers, the courtyard house emerged as the basic house form. Today, throughout the arid regions of the world, the courtyard house remains a sensible, satisfactory, and preferred solution. A wide range of courtyard house solutions emerged in such cities as Monenjo-Daro, Ur Kahun, and Athens, which formed the essential prototype that spread ultimately from the Spain of the Moors on the west to the valley of the Yellow River on the east. With Columbus’s voyages from Spain to the new world, the house form continued further west.

It should be noted that the courtyard house emerged as both an urban and rural prototype. Its key characteristic, however, is not its context but rather that it represents a fundamentally different conception of space. In the courtyard house, outdoor space is captured and included in the residential volume and ultimately becomes the heart of its morphology. This is an arid region concept that serves its climate well.

Courtyard Houses in India

The first courtyard houses, according to historical evidence, appeared to have originated in India probably around 6500-6000 BC. Evidence of the earliest village is from Mehergarh (6500-6000 BC). The settlement consisted of an irregular scatter of mud brick houses and the material for house construction The idea of settlement planning was well established at Harappa at a very early phase, Kot Diji (prior to 2600 BC). The basic overall layout of the settlements is distinguished by the orientation of the streets to cardinal points.

Most private houses had rooms arranged around a central courtyard. Doors and windows opened out into side lanes. Stairs led up to the roof or the second storey. Windows had shutters and latticework.

Sir John Marshall describes the courtyard houses as follows:
“To the right of the porter’s lodge a short passage led to the central courtyard of the house, which was open to the sky and provided light and air to the rooms grouped about it on both the ground and upper floors. And here, let me say parenthetically, that the principle of the open court encompassed by chambers was just as fundamental to -planning at Mohenjo-Daro as it was throughout the rest of prehistoric and historic Asia, and as it has continued to be in India until the present day.”

Sir Johh Marshall in ‘Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization’ (1929).

Courtyard house architecture in India was not just an architectural style. It was a way of lifeCourtyard style architecture which eventually spread from north to south India is called by various names – haveli, wada, deori or nalukettu. If we look at the courtyard houses of India, they are indigenous and matched the climatic requirements. The spatial and formal elements fell into a wonderful introverted blueprint. It reflected the society of its times. Even the simplest courtyard homes have an air of elegant character. The Indian courtyard houses was a remarkable form of residential architecture. The courtyard was this style’s quintessence and its relevance to the home was apparent as well as subtle. It was the structure’s core.

The courtyard ordered other spaces by context in an abode where space was not rigidly fixed but could be adaptable depending on the time of day, season and exigency. It obliquely controlled the environment inside and served the needs of its inhabitants. Its mood changed with varying degrees of light and shade, and with them the ambience of the abode. Centrally located, it imprinted the domain of the dwelling like a visual anchor. Around this courtyard space the rest of the structure seamlessly coalesced by the play of peristyles and gallery spaces. It was the spatial, social, and environment control center of the home. The courtyard ordered other spaces by context in an abode where space was not rigidly fixed but could be adaptable depending on the time of day, season and exigency. It obliquely controlled the environment inside and served the needs of its inhabitants. Its mood changed with varying degrees of light and shade, and with them the ambience of the abode. Centrally located, it imprinted the domain of the dwelling like a visual anchor. Around this courtyard space the rest of the structure seamlessly coalesced by the play of peristyles and gallery spaces. It was the spatial, social, and environment control center of the home.

Haveli of the northern India

 

Sri Chakra is the Yantra of the Cosmos. It is believed that the Angan represents the four corners of the Universe.
 

This form of architecture met with the requirements of the traditional joint family system as well as the climate. The courtyard functioned as a convective thermostat and gave protection from extremes of weather. A dust storm could pass overhead with little effects on the inmates. The courtyard moderated the extreme effects of the hot summers and freezing winters of the Indian sub continent , and averaged out the large diurnal temperature differences. It varied from being a narrow opening to a large peristyle one in the interior zone of the house, with perhaps another or more near the entrance and the rear section. The total number of courtyards in one residence could sometimes be five to six. The courtyard house in India was not based on blind conformity and there was tremendous innovation over the intervening centuries.

Chettinad central courtyard house

Nalukettu

Traditionally Nadumuttom or central open court yard used to be their in bigger houses of Kerala.They is an open area usually square shaped in the exact middle of the house dividing the house in its four sides. Due to this four side division of the house by having a Nadumuttom. Houses with one Nadumuttom used to be called as Nalukettu house. Similarly there was Ettu kettu and Pathinaru kettu which are quite rare.

Central Courtyard Houses of Goa

 

The Hindu heritage or traditional houses of Goa that have survived today, have a backdrop of millenia years of history, starting with Mohenjo-Daro and Hararppan civilization and settlements. Most of the surviving Hindu traditional houses are central courtyard houses, the origin of which lies in the Indus Valley Civilization. The Indus valley Courtyard architecture which probably originated as far back as 6500-6000 BC spread gradually not only to the other parts of India but also to other ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. It is matter of conjecture, with some basis, that the Central Courtyard Culture was probably adopted and brought to Goa by Saraswat Brahmins when the first wave of their migration settled down in Goa around 700 BC and the subsequent waves of migration. The Central Courtyard design dominates the architecture of the Hindu traditional homes of Goa. Considering the highly traditional, conservative and custom bound way of life, Saraswats who migrated to Goa, continued the ancient architectural style of residence for their residence in Goa, especially since the Central Courtyard (Angan, Rajangan) with Tulasi Vrindavan was considered a ‘sacred’ space by the householder.

Goan domestic architecture is a combination of biodegradable building material and an exposure to the elements may have been responsible for the collapse of older constructions. The main stock of houses that have survived appear to be those built or refurbished between the middle of the 18th and the 20th centuries, a period when the region was under Portuguese governance. The year 1750 was a turning point in Goa’s political and social history. It is this turning point that was also responsible for the exuberance and ostentation in architectural wealth that we see in the houses of Goa built subsequently.

Illustration: courtesy Mario Miranda

During the middle of the 18th century the gold rush in South America had begun a few years into the reign of King João V and following this wealth came into Goan hands. The proclamation by the powerful Marquis de Pombal, Prime Minister to the King, declaring all colonial subjects to be Portuguese further emboldened Goans. They began to express themselves (and their Goan identity) through music, dance, sculpture, painting, food and folklore. It was around this time that Goans first began to use their homes as vehicles of this expression.

Hindus of Goa also began to use their homes to display personal wealth, unthinkable after the arrival of the Portugese. Most grand houses that we see today are the homes of Goan Christians. A few may belong to Hindu families as well but these are town houses originally built for the entertainment and luxury of European guests who could not be entertained in the more tradition-bound country homes where religious taboos disallowed the serving of prohibited foods and where women followed seclusion regulations. Conversion to Christianity turned ‘inward-looking’ houses into ‘outward’ looking ones. Small windows (rarely fronting the street), blind walls and open courtyards in the interiors of Hindu homes were transformed to create ornamental homes with balcaos fronting the street where men and women could sit together and ‘see and be seen’. Homeowners who claim that their homes can be dated to before the arrival of the Portuguese in Goa have refurbished their homes to such an extent that it is difficult to find evidence of their antiquity.

Architecture

The courtyard house of Goa harks back to a long tradition of dwellings with a central space open to the skies circumscribed by rooms on all sides, a model as much functional in keeping the house cool in the hot climate, as of sacred inspiration. Along the famed Konkan coast, we find references to courtyard houses from the later medieval period onwards. Indeed, in order to find a suitable precedent to the patio house of Goa we need look no further than the domestic and monumental architecture of Vijayanagar. While the churches and sacred buildings of Goa have been the focus of a majority of studies on the built heritage of Goa, in more recent times, there has been increasing awareness that the resplendent houses of Goa are as deserving of careful attention.

‘The Chowki’ – Courtesy Sawakar family, Borim, Goa. Pic by Mohan Pai

 

The architecture of Goa is a combination of Indian, Mughal and Portuguese styles. Since the Portuguese ruled for four centuries, many churches and houses bear a striking element of the Portuguese style of architecture. Goa was also under the Mughal rule and thus one finds monuments built in the typical Mughal style complete with the domes. By the end of the 18th century, there was a change in the style of the buildings of Goa. Though the Portuguese essence remained, there was an overdose of colors and usage of tiles increased. Blue and red turned out to be favorite colors with many houses being painted in bright blues and the roofs being covered by red tiles. The houses are usually large and have spacious rooms with windows for ventilation.

The height of Goa’s glory was mutually linked with the Portuguese, but the Goan grandeur predated the Portuguese. Chieftains, kings and a host of Indian dynasties had made this little jewel glitter with royal pomp. The inscription of around A.D.1000 (when Shashtadeva of the Goa Kadamba dynasty sat on the throne), describes the early splendor of the capital: ‘Gardens on every side. White plastered houses, alleys, horse stables, flower gardens, markets, harlots’ quarters, and tanks.’ In his son’s reign, Goa is reputed to have commanded a powerful fleet and traded with fourteen foreign lands. In essence, it was a coveted land with the most sought after port in India before the arrival of Muslims and Portugese.

The elaborate entrances and openness of Catholic houses, the best of which retain the courtyard, combine Indian tradition with new European influence both in structure and lifestyle within. Most of these houses came into existence during the later part of the 18th century after the Marquis of Pombal brought in the changes in the Portugese outlook of its colonies.

Ancestral Hindu houses in the town are plain, closed structures which conceal the illustrious tradition of the inhabitants. A step or two lead into quiet entrances, with small windows opening out on to the street. The house reveals its beauty only indoors – rooms converge on to the courtyard with ‘Chowkis’ which is the centre of family activity; light flows in hidden from the public gaze. It is a protective and private space.

 

Naik Mansion, Margao – Courtesy Naik family. Pic by Mohan Pai

 

The Rajangan or just Angan was a large space with internal court open to the sky; roofs from all sides of the house drained into it. The focal point of the central courtyard is the Tulasi Vrindavan in the centre. The four sides were open like an internal verandah (Chowki), quite often with special ornate columns, brackets, beams, etc. Column and their brackets are pre-Portugese features that depict the progression of the architectural style in ornateness and refinement. The Puja room is always located on the left side of the house. Apart from being a place of activity and the centre of the house, ‘Chowki ‘served as a dining area on festive occasions, for large number of guests.

Sopo, a cowdung finished mud masonry in the houses of lower class and lower middle class people, figured in upper-class homes as a built wooden or masonary seat and as a stylised balcao in the house of a Christian landlord. Though commonly termed as an Indo-Portugese feature, balcao or Sopo is very much an indigenous concept.

 

Layout

Goan traditional Hindu houses have the following standard features:

 

Rajangan or Angan (courtyard with a Tulasi Vrindavan)

Chowki

Deva kood (a place for daily prayer and other rituals)

Saal (a hall) Raanchi kood (a kitchen with a door which is called Magil daar)

Balantin kood (A room special meant for pregnant and nursing mothers.)

Kothar (store room)

Pooja Hall (A hall specially meant for celebrating Ganeshotsav)

Vasri (Dining Hall)

Soppo

Gotho (Goshala)

Manne (Bathrooms located next to the well)

It is very difficult to assess the age of the old Hindu houses that have survived. One can only put together information available from bits and scraps.

The grand Hindu mansions like that of Kundaikar, Gaunekar and the Dempo house in Santa Cruz were built much later during late 18th and 19th century retained the introspective character but added a couple of chandeliered salas and western furniture in keeping with their status as leaders of the Hindu community within the Portugese colony.

Among the few pre-Portugese surviving houses, the oldest is perhaps the Pundu Camotim’s house located about 3 km from Old Goa. It’s a vast house and according to its present owners it is at least 580 years old. The family appears to have lived in the house even before the Portugese arrived at the beginning of the 16th century. Filipe Nery Xavier , administrator and historian has recorded the grandeur of the house of Rucuminim Camotim as the first of three most important business houses of Goa in the first quarter of the 18th century.

The next house is that of Mhamai Camotim at Panaji next to Idalcao Palace which is a late17th century house built after they returned to Goa. The earliest detail relating to Mhamai Camotim family is a loose document found by Teotonio de Souza who was perhaps the first to trace their history. When the Mhamai family moved to Panaji it was partly inhabited by Portugese fidalgos and Goan merchants as a suburb of Old Goa.
 

Mhamai Kamat Mansion, Panaji. Courtesy Mhamai family. Pic by Mohan Pai

 

The age of Malbarao Sardesai’s ancestral house in Savoi Verem is uncertain. But it is a vast and sprawling construction with as many as 3 inner courtyards. The house has an elaborate gateway and a flight of steps leading into a large porch with sopes, long seats, to lie or sit on.
 

Casa Dempo, Panaji. Courtesy Dempo family. Pic by Mohan Pai

 

Casa Dempo in Panaji, the second house of Dempos was built after they returned to Goa and when the capital was shifted from Old Goa to Panaji during the mid-eighteenth century. This house has been partly refurbished over a period of time. Their first house was located in Panvelim near Old Goa when they returned to Goa in the late 16th century. Dempo house in Santa Cruz was built much later and markedly different from the older house in Panaji.  

 

 

References: ‘Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization’ by Sir John Marshall (1929), Raj Chengappa ‘The Indus Rddle’ in India today, ‘Goa – A daughte’s story’ by Maria Aurora Couto, Houses of Goa (Architecture Autonomous)

 

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(Traditional Hindu Central Courtyard Houses of Goa)

The Flight of Gods 30. Damodar Sal, Margao

The Flight of Gods
by Mohan PaiDamodar Sal
Margao

 

photo by Mohan Pai

After the wholesale destruction of the Hindu temples in Mathagrama (Margao) there were no Hindu temples left in Margao.photo by Mohan Pai

Naik Shankahwalkar family of Margao consecrated a coconut brought from their gramadevata, Lord Damodar from Zambaulim, to be worshipped in the Sal of their ancestral house.

Damodar Sal became the centre of the religious life of the Hindu community in Margao until Hindu temples were built in the town at a later stage. However, Domodar Sal today is both sacred and a public place of worship.photo by Mohan Pai

An association of Hindu elders formed the Hindu Kaivari Sabha, later called the Mathagramasth Hindu Sabha held their regular meetings at the Damodar Sal and the old family house on Rua Abade Faria is still the base for social, cultural and religious activities.Old family house of Naik family that houses Damodar Sal – photo by Mohan Pai

Swami Vivekananda on a visit to Goa in 1898, (to acquaint himself with Christian teaching and seminary education) prior to his departure for Europe was a guest of Naik family at Damodar Sal.

The Flight of Gods 25. Mahadev Temple, Tambdi Surla

The Flight of Gods

by Mohan Pai

Sri Mahadev Temple

Tambdi Surla

This was a lost temple, rediscovered sometime around 1935. Its remote location, deep inside forest even some distance from any village had made it in accessible for centuries and its survival is largely due to its location. Even until recently, the temple was still relatively in accessible.

The Temple Complex – photo by Mohan Pai

The temple that survived the ravages, is situated about 12 kms from Molem in the Anmod Ghats (the Western Ghats), almost on Goa’s border with Karnataka amidst thick forests where a beautiful stream flows with lush greenery all around.

A beautiful stream near the temple – photo by Mohan Pai

The temple was built in the 13th century AD and was built by the Goa-Kadamba dynasty and is in Kadamba style. It is built of black basalt stone, not locally available and which was obviously transported from a considerable distance.Shrine to Sri Vishnu – Phto by Mohan Pai

This is a comparatively small temple and consists of Garbhagriha, Antarala and Nandi Mantapa. In the garbhagriha there is a small Lingam mounted on a pedestal.Shrine to Sri Ganesha – photo by Mohan Pai

There is a slab roof design over the main hall and behind this rises typical Dravidian-style Shikara in a pyramid over the sanctuary. The central ceiling is beautifully carved in an eight-petalled lotus pattern with rosettes.

Central Ceiling in 8 petal lotus pattern – photo by Mohan Pai

There are four niches on the rear wall of the mantapa. In one of the niches is a standing idol of Vishnu. In the second and third niches there are coiled Nagas and in the fourth there is a standing Ganesha. These niches have a fascinating framework with four main columns topped by a replica of the temple Shikara.

The temple is an archaeological monument and being preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India.

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The Flight of Gods 3. Gaud Saraswat Saga

The Flight of Gods

by Mohan Pai

 

GOUD SARASWAT SAGA

Goud Saraswat Brahmin community called the ‘Bamans’ in Goa is the largest Brahmin community in Goa that has dominated the Hindu religious and cultural scene in Goa.
The history of the GSBs goes back to several millenia and the history is hazy. According to some sources they migrated to Goa around 700 BC but some historians push back there settlement in Goa to around 2,500 BC.
With the advent of the Aryans, the original settlers – Gauddes, Kunbis, Mhars, Dhangars, Velips etc. were subjugated and treated as Shudras. The coastal society characterised by the administration of their lands within the village communities, the ‘Gaoponn’- belonging to and managed by the community. The GSBs assumed control of these institutions and established their hegemony over the economic resources and socio-ritual pratices of the society.
The GSBs claim their origin to the Vedic civilisation on the banks of Saraswati, now the extinct river of the Punjab and their name is derived from the river Saraswati. The exact origin of the GSBs is difficult to ascertain. According to the Puranas, they are Aryan migrants from the Central Asia who came to the Indian sub-continent through the Hindu-Kush mountains to the south in about 5,000-2,000 BC. Vedic texts mention that the Rigvedic people lived on the banks of the Saraswati. The Saraswat Brahmins are mentioned in the Vedas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata and the Bhavisyottara Purana, deriving their lineage from the great sage Saraswat Muni who lived on the banks of the river Saraswati.

Drained by seven rivers (Sapta Sindhu), the region of Brahmavarta is referred to as the cradle of Indian civilisation. This ancient civilisation of India had an extended period of development from 5,000 to 2,000 BC when a great period of drought seemed to have put an end to it. The river Saraswati also dried up during this period forcing the Vedic people to migrate to the east, the west and the south. The three main groups migrated to Goa were the Bhojas, the Chediyas (Chardos) and the Saraswats who are supposed to have come via Trihotra in Bihar. It is also claimed that they moved southward mostly through the sea routes on the west coast coming down via Sindh and Gujarat. They settled in Gomantak region of Keloshi (Qulossim) and Kushasthal (Cortallim). Thirty families were grouped into one commune and sixty in another. The first commune was known as Tiswadi meaning 30 villages, and the other Shasasthis meaning 66 (Salcette). Together the settlements which amounted to 96 and referred to as Sahanavis (meaning 96). The name Shenvis or Shenoy is probably derived from here.

LEGEND OF PARASHURAMThe mythical creation of Goa is ascribed to Lord Parashuram, the sixth incarnation of God Vishnu.
According to this legend in Goa, Lord Parashuram, the axe-wielding avatar of God Vishnu is the son of Jamadagni and Renuka. Jamadagni is murdered by the despotic Kshatriyas because he refuses to part with ‘Kamadhenu’, his wish-fullfilling cow. In revenge Lord Parashurama traverses the earth twenty one times and wipes out all the Kshatriyas. Parashuram, struck by remorse tries to expiate his sins by performing yagnyas during which he gifts away all his lands to Sage Kashyapa with no land even to build an hermitage for himself. Varuna, the Sea God comes to his rescue and offers him to gain as much land that he could span by shooting an arrow into the waters. Lord Parashuram goes to the highest peak in the Sahyadris and shoots an arrow into the sea. The spot where the arrow fell is the present day Banaulim (bana is arrow in Sanskrit and halli means village in Kannada). To his new reclaimed land in Goa Lord Parashuram brought 96 families of the Panchagouda Brahmins from Trihotra and settled them at Mathagrama (Madgaon), Kushasthali (Cortallim) and Kardalli (Keloshi). There still exists a ‘Mountain of Ash’ in Harmal of Pernem taluk which marks the site of Lord Parashuram’s Ashvamedha Yagnya.
There is a temple for Lord Parashurama at Poinguini village in Goa. It is one of the rare temples to Lord Parashurama. There are only two other places in India where the temples of Lord Parashuram exist: one at Parashuram Pethe near Chiplun in Maharashtra and the other in Payannur in Kerala.We see mention of GSBs in the inscriptions clearly from

 

A painting of Lord Parashuramat Parashuram temple in Poiguini

 

as early as the tenth century onward because of their names which are common among GSBs. They might have received grants and positions in the agraharas even earlier, but we are not in a position to identify. The names of Sangalya Pai and his son Anna Pai appear in Silhara copper plate of 997 AD in north Konkan. The Marcella plates of Goa Kadamba ruler Chatta or Shasta II dated 1038 AD mention the names of officers like Pradhana (Prime Minister) Shriya Pai, Dama Pai, Mav Pai, Mahalla (Mahalkar), Kallapai and Sanvigrahi (Foreign Minister) Mallapai. The first record of the Yadavas of Devgiri, the Sinner plates dated 1,000 AD mentions grants given to twenty one bragmins and donees include Maalpaiya, Dandapaiya, Bhikkapai, Vachach Pai – mostly GSBs.
AGRAHARASIn olden days agrahara or Brahmin settlements were founded by kings and rulers by donating land grants and providing them with houses so that they could engage themselves in their six-fold duties. The lands granted were ‘Sarvamanya’ – free from revenue payment. Brahmins did not till or cultivate these lands, but enjoyed a part of its products and earned their livelihood. Goa had hundreds of agraharas in which the Brahmin communities were settled. GSBs were invited by various rulers to settle down in Gomantak, beginning perhaps with the Satvahanas (2,000 years ago) to the Goa Kadambas in the tenth century.

 

The Brahmins who received such grants were called ‘mahajans’. Salgaon (from Shalagrama) was an agrahara; Marcella or Mashel (from Mahashala), Salvali, Saleli, Sal, Odshel (Hodli Shala) Madgaon or Mathashala etc. are some of the names which clearly indicate their being centres of learning or agraharas. Apart from performing religious functions, they also taught and guided the community in all its persuits like agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, etc. The Mahajans of the agraharas were learned men and specialised in Ayurveda, Pashuvaidya, astronomy, astrology, metallurgy, botany, etc.

The settlers of the agraharas, over a period, probably multiplied to such an extent that the lands granted to the families several centuries ago were insufficient to support the families and the young men of the family had to find other avenues like trade and government service. So they became merchants, village accountants, clerks, interpreters and even higher officials like the Desais, ministers and administrators as they were the literati and the community prospered.

The GSBs also brought with them their family deities and built their temples and also accepted the various local gramadevatas into Hinduism. The temples were built within or in the vicinity of the agraharas and became the prime religious and social centres for the local Communities.

Tom Pires, a Portugese apothecary, who came to India in 1514 after Albuquerque conquered Ilhas mentions in his writings that there was a very large Hindu population and he gives the following description which obviously is that of the Gauda Sarswat elite:“There are a great many heathens in the kingdom of Goa …Some of them very honoured men with large fortunes; and almost the whole kingdom lies in their hands, … Some of them are noblemen with many followers and lands of their own and are persons of great repute, and wealthy, and they live on their estates which are gay and fresh … They have beautiful temples of their own in this kingdom … There are some very honoured stocks among these Brahmins … These Brahmins are greatly revered throughout the country, particularly among the heathens… They are clever, prudent, learned in their religion. A Brahmin would not become a Mohammedan (even) if he were a king.”

By the middle of the sixteenth century all the villages in the “Old Conquest” had become Catholic. The Hindus remained only in the townships. There was an exodus of the Hindus. Thousands of families fled from the horrors to the areas outside the Portugese control to the northern Konkan and to the southern coast and settled down all along the coast in the towns of Karwar, Gokarna, Kumta, Honavar, Bhatkal, Kasargod, Calicut and Cochin.
The Hindu elite, mostly the Gaud Saraswats, who stayed behind earned profits through their collaboration with the Portugese and these profits were used by the Hindus for the reconstruction of the temples of the migrant deities outside the reach of the missionaries, in the Antruz Mahal in particular. The Portugese discovered that the Christian Goa was encircled in an arc by the resurrected Hindu temples towards which they had indirectly contributed and this rankled and frustrated the missionaries to no end.

For centuries, the Goud Saraswat Brahmins had established their economic hegemony over Goa through colonisation of the low-lying saline coastal lands. In the face of an aggressive proselyting European colonial power, with their grit and determination, they seem to have triumphed. Dispossessed of the lands that they had developed, the GSBs assumed a controlling position in the coastal trade and still played vital role in Goa’s economy. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, these same traders bailed out the Portugese Government by arranging finance when the Government coffers were empty.missionaries considerably abated and especially when Marquis de Pombal, the liberal Prime Minister came to power there was definite change in the policy towards the Hindus and he even banished the Jesuits. A number of Hindu families who had fled the old conquests returned during this period. But, by the 19th century, both the ruling country and the colony had become archaic survivors.

The Gaud Saraswat Brahmins in particular and other Hindu communities in Goa remained insulated from what was happening to their co-religionists in other parts of India. The Goan Hindu is therefore of relatively greater purity than Hindus elsewhere and have guarded zealously their religious rites, practices and of the observance of customs, rituals and festivals. At the same time, they were the ones who by their own grit and intelligence managed to survive the dark period of the inquisition by making themselves indispensable.

The Portugese would have continued this fanatical evangelism movement relentlessly till the total extermination of the non-Christians was achieved but for the rapid collapse of Portugal’s eastern commercial empire with its inevitable effect on Goa which faced moral and economic decadence and the initial religious zealotory.

Hindu Communities of GoaBRAHMINS
Among the other smaller groups of Brahmins are 1. Karhades 2. Padhyes 3. Bhattaprabhu and 4. Kramavant Joshis
Karhade Brahmins speak Marathi and were probably natives of Karad in Maharashtra. The Silaharas of Kolhapur as well as the Southern Silaharas and the Kadambas patronized Karhade Brahmins. Karhades claim that they were among the earliest Aryan migrants to Goa. Padheye Brahmins are believed to be a section of Karhade Brahmins. They also speak Marathi and their sttlements are mainly concentrated in Ponda taluka and they own large ‘Kulagars’ (betel-nut and coconut plantations). Bhattaprabhu community originally belongs to Bori and Siroda of Ponda taluka. Although there is a considerable similarity in the social conditions of Bhattaprabhu and Padheyes, unlike Karhades and Padheyes, Bhattaprabhus speak Konkani. Kramavant Brahmins is another small but separate group who mostly performed rituals after the death and hence they were called Kriyavant, a term corrupted to Kramavant.

 

GURAVAS
Like the above groups of brahmins, the guravas is also a small community in Goa. Guravas were the worshippers of Lord Shiva. There are Gurava priests in the temples of Chandreshwae-Bhutanath, Saptakoteshwar and Mhalasa and were priests in the shrines of Gramadevatas scattered all over Goa.

PANCHALA BRAHMINS
The artisas such as gold-smiths, black-smiths, carpentars, sculptors (Shilpis and Stapatis), copper-smiths were called the Panchala Brahmins. It is believed that along with Goud Saraswat Brahmins, Panchala Brahmins were also brought to Goa by Lord Parashuram about 2,500 BC to assist the priests in performing sacrifices.

SHETS (Goldsmiths)
The Goldsmiths probably arrived in Goa during the Gaud Saraswat migration with other artisans. They call themselves Daividnya Brahmins and probably inherited their arts from the Bhojas. The local goldsmiths, Shets or Chalims as they are referred to in Portugese documents, constituted a powerful economic presence in the sixteenth century Goa, for the exquisite expertise of their craft which has earned them rich accolades at home and abroad. Some of them even went to Portugal and worked their for the king. The economic power that the Shets wielded during that time enabled them to live and work in Goa on their own terms, or emigrate with their religion in tact and claiming higher status in the early medieval period.

The other groups in this section included Sculpters (Stapathis) and Architects Carpenters and Blacksmiths whose work can be seen in the carved wooden pillars and decorative wood ceilings of Goa temples. After the Portugese atrocities, most of these groups migrated to Uttara Kannada region.

VAISHYAS (Vanis)
The Bhojas were the first rulers to have established an administrative machinery in Goa and they also controlled the piracy and gave impetus to increased commercial activity.
There is reference to Adityashreshti in Siroda copper plate of Devaraja. It is evident that merchants were engaged in trade and commerce as early as 400 AD in Goa and there were probably their settlements on the banks of the Mandovi and Zuari and the trade routes. Vanis were called Shresthis and the family name Shirsat may have originated from the word Shreshti. Vaishys come next to Kshatriyas in the four-fold division of the society (Chaturvarna).

KSHATRIYAS/CHARDOS
Kshatriya families migrated from the North to the Deccan in pre-Christian and early Christian era. Some scholars consider Chardos of Goa to be Kshatriyas. Some scholars identify Marathas with Kshatriyas and they may have reached Goa during the period of the Badami Chalukyas. It is mentioned that Rashtrakutas and Silaharas were Marathas.

RANES OF SATTARI
The Ranes claim their descent from the Rajputs of Rajputana. They were thesardesais or hereditary fiefholders of Sanquelim and Guilloilem, holding under their feudal sway, the territory of Sattari – the land of seventy villages.The Ranes have been well-known for their attempts to dislodge the Portugesefrom Goa. In all there were about fourteen rebellions out of which the most successful one was organised by Dipaji Rane.Kushtoba Rane is a well-known historical personality and an immortal hero of the folk and popular songs.

GAVADE-KUNBI
Gavades are known as “Mull Goenkar” or the original inhabitants of Goa and they form a large part of the rural population estimated to be around 3 lakhs.

Kunbi Woman

VELIPS
The Velip community is found mostly in the talukas of Canacona and Quepem. In comparison with the Gavades, they are fair and handsome. The Velips are credited with discovering the Linga of Mallikarjun and hence, the Velip acts as a priest for three months every year. Velips are generally forest dwellers and practiced the ‘Kumeri’ (burn and slash) method of shifting cultivation.

DHANGARS (Gavalys)

Gavalys originally came from Maharashtra and are mostly found in Sattari and Sanguem talukas. Dhangars are strictly a pastoral tribe.

 

Old traditions die hard – Syncretism

The Hindu practices or activities were very much part of the new converts. For example, the edicts publihed by Goa Inquisition in 1736, after over two centuries of Catholisism in Goa, list out 42 so-called Hindu pratices and customs which were prohibited through the edicts. As many of the prohibited customs still survive today, it is clear that the Inquisition was unable to shake off the Hindu quality of Goan Christianity. Goa has Brahmin and Chardos Christians and Christians of lower caste. The main fact remains is that the caste mechanism was in effect transferred in its essence to a casteless religion because of the transfer of classes with essentially the same productive relations. Caste appears to be a stronger source of bonding than religion.The syncretism has established a common meeting point between the Hindus and the Catholics in terms of devotion and ritualistic practices. Requests for miraculous cure, prasada (oracle), vows, offerings, temple feasts, etc. draw a section of the local Catholic community to Hindu temples. The umbrella festival of Cuncolim is a classic example when in the month of March, the image of Shanta Durga is brought by solid silver palanquin in a vast and colourful procession from Fatorpa to Cuncolim. Each umbrella is different and stands for one of the twelve Chardo clans from Cuncolim area. A large number of Catholics attend this event.In the villages of Cuncolim, Assolna, Velim, and Veroda, Catholic and Hindu Chardo clans openly cooperate as kin, standing against lower caste invasion of their traditional privileges. In this case, common religious belief in the goddess Shanta Durga strengthens the feeling of common kinship and history.

Dhalo

According to the Gazeteer of the erstwhile Union Territory, 1979, the Gavade belong to Astraloid race and were the first to settle in Goa even before the Dravidians and the Aryans. After the invasion of the Aryans, they adopted Hinduism as their religion, but continued their own form of worship and rituals.The Hindu Gavade worship Bali, Bhima and Mallikarjun.The Portugese forcibly converted some of them to Christianity in the 17th century. In 1928 the “Shuddhi” movement by Masurker Maharaj reconverted some of them to Hinduism and they are called Nav-Hindu Gavade. These reconvertees, unfortunately not accepted by either the Hindu or Christian Gavades, maintain a separate identity.

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The Flight of Gods 2. The Portugese Episode

The Flight of Gods

THE PORTUGESE EPISODE

 

“Almas e especiaria” (We come to seek Christians and Spices) said Vasco da Gama, who landed at Kappad beach near Calicut in 1498 after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, the first to negotiate the sea route from Europe to India. Following his epic voyage, the Portugese built bases at Anjediva Island near Goa and at Cannanore.
Portugal was the first European country to establish its colonial presence in India and the last to leave its shores. They were ruthless conquerors and proselytism was their main aim. They came “Cujus regio, illius religio” – Sword in one hand and the Cross in the other – a policy of fanatical evangelisation especially after the introduction of the “rigour of mercy” (rigor de misericordia) in 1541.

Memorial to Vasco da Gama at Kappad Beach, Kerala – Pic by Mohan Pai

Afonso Albuquerque succeeded in capturing the island of Ilhas (Tiswadi) with 20 ships and 1200 men after two attempts a bitter fight with the forces of Adil Shah. His main collaborators were Timaji, the Vijayanagar Admiral and Mhall Pai Vernekar, the Sardesai of Verna. It was at the invitation of Goan Hindus that Afonso Albuquerque decided to attack Goa. The Hindus were considerably disturbed by the activities of the Navayats who were brought by Adil Shah to Goa from Honavar and Bhatkal and who indulged in frequent acts of harrassment against the local Hindus. The militarygovernors under the Mohamedans, themselves local men, called the Desais were hated for their autocratic behaviour, which wen as far as forcing their formal equals to work as menials in the household, and treating the communal land as feudal if not private property. Afonso Albuquerque, during this attack put to death over 6,000 Muslims without showing any mercy..By 1543, the Portugese had annexed from the Bijapuris the adjoining lands of Bardez in the north and Salcete in the south. These three territories of the Ilhas (Tiswadi), Bardez and Salcete were designated as the “Old Conquests”.

Blue-tiled murals which line the entrance hall of the Menezes BraganzaInstitute. It’s a uniquely Portugese art form ‘azulezos’ which depictscenes from the great poem by Luis de Camos, ‘The Lusiads’ whichtells the story of the adventure of the Portugese Empire in the east.

It was not until 1764 that the ruler of Sonda threatened by the invasion of Hyder Ali, sought an asylum with the Portugese and placed his territories of Ponda, Sanguem, Ouepem and Canacona in the custody of the Portugese. Between 1781 and 1788 the Portugese succeededin negotiating and acquiring the northern areas of Pernem, Bicholim and Sattari from Bhonsales of Sawantwadi. Thus by 1788 the present boundaries of Goa were in place under the Portugese.

The proselytising of the local Hindus began in real earnest with the appointment of Miguel Vaz Coutinho as the Vicar-General of Goa in1941 who is credited withthe launching of concentrated and oppressive attacks on the local Hindus. Their temples destroyed, lands confiscated and their revenues and the material of the destroyed temples made available for the construction of churches and other ‘pious’ works. Again the decree of 1559 sanctioned the emolition of Hindu temples and idols, prohibited making of such images, banned the celebration of Hindu feasts, prohibited cremation of the Hindu dead and exiled Hindu priests.In 1560, ‘celebrating’ fifty years of Portugese occupation, the horrors of the Inquisition were inflicted on Goa. Described as “the Terrible Tribunal for the East”, the inquisition brought in its wake a fresh wave of religious persecution for the Hindus who were forced to convert or be damned to a life of harassment or emigration and as a result rapid and extensive conversions were achieved. Many were converted by fear of physical force, others from moral cowardice and quite a few to avoid loss of their property. This caused a general emigration of higher caste Hindus, and the tradition was that one brother of an extensive joint family would stay behind to be converted with his wife and children, for the sake of the land, while the rest fled.

This led to a breakup of what would have been the final type of patriarchal family. But the subsidiary effect was curious, in that henceforth Goa had “Brahmin Christians” and Christians of lower castes, the caste mechanism having been transferred in its essence to a casteless religion. Between 1541 and 1568 all the existing Hindu temples in the Ilhas, Bardez and Salcete were completely destroyed by the Portugese and according to the record there were 116 temples in the Ilhas, 176 in Bardez and 264 in Salcete. The Arch of the Viceroys, which once was the main gateway to the city was built by Vasco da Gama’s great-grandson. On taking office, all Viceroys made their processional entrance with great ceremony through this archway where they were presented with the keys of the city.

The Arch of the Viceroys , Old Goa – Pic by Mohan Pai

By the end of the sixteenth century all the villages in the “old Conquest” had become Catholic. The Hindus remained only in the townships. There was an exodus of the Hindus. Thousands of families fled from the horrors to the areas outside the Portugese control to the northern Konkan and to the southern coast and settled down all along the coast in the towns of Karwar, Gokarna, Kumta, Honavar, Bhatkal, Kasargod, Calicut and Cochin.

At the end of the seventeenth century it is estimated that out of a total population of two hundred fifty thousand in the Old Conquests, only twenty thousand were non-Christians. These included a large number of traders and visitors who were in Goa for temporary stays.

The Portugese would have continued this fanatical evangelism movement relentlessly till the total extermination of the non-Christians was achieved but for the rapid collapse of Portugal’s eastern commercial empire with its inevitable effect on Goa which faced moral and economic decadence and the initial religious zealotory of the missionaries considerably abated especially when Marquis de Pombal, the liberal Prime Minister came to power there was definite change in the policy towards the Hindus and he even banished the Jesuits. A number of Hindu families who had fled the old conquests returned during this period. But, by the 19th century, both the ruling country and the colony had become archaic survivors.

“GOA DOURADA”

Buddhism came to Goa in 2nd century BC and the reference to Goa in the Buddhist documents is made as ‘Suvarnabhumi’ and ‘Sunaparanta’ meaning the ‘Land of Gold. The Portugese did not create the “Golden Goa”. On the contrary it was the prosperity, opulence and fabulous wealth of an already legendary “Golden Goa” that drew them to possess it. Goa was already a fabled realm around which “ Tales from the Arabian Nights” were woven. When the Portugese came, the city and port had shifted to the north, to the banks of the Mandovi. But by all accounts, it was by then even more important and splendidly prosperous. Goa had remained a major entrepot for centuries – under the Kadambas, under Vijayanagar and under the Bahamanis. Ships still sailed from Sumatra (even China), Aden and Hormuz. Overland caravans brought the fabled riches of the central and south India from Devgiri (Daulatabad) and Vijayanagar(Hampi) to be traded for horses and muskets.

With the Portugese came mal-administration, rampant corruption, religious bigotry and brutal persecution. The public treasury was depleted and consuming public epidemics and perhaps more than anything else, the forced conversions and the black practices of the Goa Inquisition hastened the end of prosperity and the “Golden Goa”.

During the seventeenth century the religious fervour was at its peak showing no signs of flagging, in the face of degeneration in other aspects of Goan life. It was a ‘museum’ of 16th century imperialism, more plentifully supplied with churches than trade and with monks than soldiers. With progressive deterioration in civil administration, the ‘monks’ assumed considerable importance and influence, and the conversion process continued with frentic vigour. A great surge of ecclesiastical building had followed the arrival of the religious orders after 1540 and religious fervor backed by the accumulated wealth of Goa’s commercial heyday, now carried this architectural exuberance throughout the period of economic and political disarray on even a grander scale than before. This was the time when the great churches of Goa were completed and the city itself continued to present a brave social front, flaunting ostentation and luxury in defiance of economic circumstances.

Se Cathedral, Old Goa – Pic by Mohan Pai

The Se Cathedral is one of the largest in Asia and took nearly 90 years for completion after the church was ordered to be built by the King of Portugal in 1562. This was the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in Asia inthe 16th and 17th centuries. It was built in the Renaissance style with some traces of Portugese Gothic. The famous “Golden Bell”, the largest bell in Goa is housed here.

The ‘gold’ of Goa Dourada refers not only to the sixteenth century glitter of churches and the prosperity of city of Goa but to its being European – the ‘Rome of the East’ possessing distinctly Lusitanian flavour. But the real Goa was ‘Goa Indica’, an essentially the eastern looking mode of cultural expression that sought religious, cultural and economic affiliation to the mainstream India.

Goa continued to languish under the Portugese colonial rule as a decadent province with a ruined economy and they did little besides maintaining order. Economic development was minimal, educational opportunities were lacking for the majority of people and political liberties lagged far behind those in the British territories across the border. These conditions turned Goa into a land from which its people migrated and went into exile and sought work and higher education in Bangalore, Belgaum, Calcutta, Karachi and above all, Bombay. Many Goans moved out of India to British colonies in East Africa and onto passenger ships as stewards, cooks and crew.

Portugal became a Republic in 1910 which liberated the Hindus of Goa from centuries of discrimination and repression. Immediately they flooded into schools, formed associations, started journals and libraries and took active role in public life as teachers, members of government councils and administrative officials. But by the year 1926 Salazar regime was established and this imposed fresh restrictions.

After World War II, Portugal tried to hold on to the fragments of her Indian empire By belatedly encouraging industries like mining and by turning Goa into a duty-free port.

The Portugese colonies of Goa, Daman and Diu were finally liberated from the decadent colonialism by Indian armed forces on December 19, 1961. The Portugese had clung to these pockets for 451 years.

In the year 1851 the Christian population of Goa amounted to 64.5%, mostlyThe converted masses from the Old Conquests. By the year 1910 the Christian and the Hindu population were almost equal (50% each). In 2003 Hindus areIn majority (66%) followed by the Christians (26%) and Muslims (7%).

The major Hindu groups are represented by the Brahmin communities (Gaud Saraswats, Karhade, Padhye, Battaprabhu, etc.), Shets (Goldsmiths), Vaishyas(Vanis), Ksahtriyas, Guravs and a large population of the original Pre-Dravidian and Dravidian settlers represented by Gauddes, Kulawadis, Kharvis, Kulambis(Kunbis), Velips, Dhangars, Gavlis. Mhars, etc. who were absorbed into Hinduism.

These tribes made Goa a place of rich and Vibrant culture as represented by ‘Gaunkaris’, their folk dances and songs like the Gaudde Jagor, Kunbi Naach, Dhalo, Gudulyan geet, Perni Jagor and their folk deities – Vetal and Santer cults which are the original cults of Gauddes and Kunbis.

by Mohan Pai