Yes, many churches and chapels in Goa occupy erstwhile Hindu temples are are built on the sites of those demolished.

It was not a question of lack of real estate but rather of supremacy: Psycologically, nothing surmounts to a greater degree the paramountcy of the latest comer/invader than their God/gods lording it over those that the subjugated peoples deified.

For a certainity, the Igreja da Nossa Senhora dos Milagres, Mapu�a and the Igreja do Espirito Santo, Margao took over the existing temples. The bell tower of the Milagres proves that.

In Loutulim, our ancestral Capela da N. S. dos Milagres, in Vanxem, is a converted temple.

Mario Cabral e Sa, among others, will have many more examples.

Alfred de Tavares

From: "Gilbert Lawrence" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Goanet]Church built on Temple?
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 20:47:16 -0500

Sachin's question still stands on whether Catholic churches were built
over Hindu Temples in Goa. It is very unfortunate that individuals who
made the original statement and those who repeated it cannot (once
again) back up their statements with specific examples or numbers.

Most religious leaders in their agitated and provoked state look down on
another religion with scorn. Hence to build one's sacred place on top of
a 'damned place' would be unusual. Logic would suggest the motive one
religious establishment would be built on top of another religion's
building would be in an over-crowded place like in the middle of a big
city or on a prized possession like on top of an auspicious hill or an
island. My guess in Goa including Goa Velha, there was plenty of land
for the colonialist to build their buildings.

I have read reports of Hindu temples being destroyed during the colonial
period. I have not read of any reports of churches being built on
destroyed temples. In Goa where there are a limited number of churches
and where the history of many of the churches are known, individuals who
made the above statement should be able to back their statements with at
least one example. I am not saying this event did not occur but logic
would point to the contrary. Those who make the statements have the
responsibility to prove their assertion. Or else it is one of those "off
the cuff" Goan remarks. Gilbert

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