As tribute to temple destroyed during Portuguese rule, Goa Cabinet approves corridor at Divar island

“The corridor at Divar will be a devoted space that preserves the memory of Goa’s temples…once destroyed and lost in history…as a lasting tribute to faith and heritage,” he said.

Sawant said the government has formed a high-level committee chaired by the secretary of archaeology to plan, execute, and oversee the development of the corridor, adding that the work will be carried out through the Goa Infrastructure Development Corporation. “After the original temple was destroyed, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had constructed the Saptakoteshwar temple in Narve [Bicholim]. However, a temple was not rebuilt at the old site,” Sawant told the media after chairing the Cabinet meeting.

“It was everyone’s opinion that if so many temples were demolished…this kind of a corridor will be established and a big temple will be built on 10,000 square metres of land by the government so that we have a memorial where people can worship,” Sawant said.

According to historical records, the site of Saptakoteshwar temple at Naroa in Divar existed during the Kadamba dynasty (10 th to 14 th century). The rock cut tank of the temple was called ‘Koti-Tirth’. The temple was destroyed during the Bahmani rule and it was subsequently rebuilt in 1391 by a minister in the Vijayanagar kingdom. The Portuguese destroyed the temple in the 16 th century. The deity’s idol was shifted across the river to Bicholim, where Shivaji established a new temple in 1668.

The Goa government had formed an expert committee in January 2023 to scrutinise applications for consideration and selection of suitable sites for reconstruction and restoration of temples destroyed during Portuguese rule in the state. The government had made a budgetary provision of Rs 20 crore for rebuilding temples destroyed during Portuguese rule.

In its report to the archaeology department, the expert committee observed that “more than a thousand temples were destroyed” and recommended a temple memorial (Smarak Devalaya) to be built in the erstwhile Old Conquests areas.

“Keeping in mind the large number of temples and deities which existed in Goa during the pre-Portuguese period which were destroyed by the Portuguese at the behest of the recommendations of the Provincial Councils, the committee recommends a temple memorial to be built, anywhere in the erstwhile Old Conquests, consisting of the modern Salcete, Bardez and Tiswadi talukas, which bore the brunt of the temple destruction spree of the Goa Inquisition and colonial policies during which more than thousand temples were destroyed and re-establishing those deities whose original sites have been usurped by the colonial rule,” the report said.

Sawant added: “We will have to sit with the committee again to take everyone into confidence before going ahead. The area has been finalised. There will be only one such memorial at this place”.

During its site-visit to Divar island, the committee had said that the site of Saptakoteshwar (locally known as Porne Tirtha) is one of the notified sites under the department of Archaeology. “The committee visited the hillock opposite the site of the temple of Shri Saptkoteshwar and found several dressed stones which appear of the earlier structure which existed there; depression in the earth level in the vicinity needs to be checked archaeologically to explore the possibility of a water tank,” it said.

The committee had recommended that the archaeological potential of the site be checked for future conservation, preservation and restoration and “may be considered for re-construction of the temple of Shri Saptakoteshwar once the archaeological potential is explored.”