Is the March over? By Mario Cabral e Sa, Hindustan Today, October 1997 URL: http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1997/10/1997-10-20.shtml
Gilbert's Response: Thanks Sachin for putting the article on the net. The article and specially the historical quotes make very important points. I have copied below the second paragraph of the article for you AND ALL GOANS TO ANALYZE. The 1567 letter of the CAPTAIN OF RACHOL FORT TAKES FULL CREDIT for demolishing the 280 Hindu temples. There is NO MENTION of the Catholic church undertaking or assisting the demolition. Certainly no mention of the demolition of the temples for constructing the churches over them. You don't imagine that the Catholic Church just overnight went out and starting building churches EXACTLY OVER these burnt temples? I would think the physical remains of the burnt structures itself make it difficult for someone building a new building and instead push to choose a new site. Wouldn't you, if you were going to build a building? Clearly the goal of this carnage was to instill fear into the Hindus and hopefully to drive them out of their ancestral lands. This act was not even to covert them. As anyone (with 2 functioning brain cells) would tell that one cannot convert the mind and the heart of others by engaging in these barbaric acts. In fact the acts of this Portuguese captain and his soldiers were counterproductive to the work and goals of the Catholic missionaries as their intended audience left the Portuguese territory. With the Portuguese no longer in Goa it has become easy for improvised remarks by Goans (specially Catholics) to make the Catholic Church guilty for the colonial actions. Hindus fleeing the lands (and taking their idols with then) perhaps did themselves a favor by saving themselves from the sermons of the priests and maintaining their faith. As Chandrakant Keni very right said these brave souls converted their "temporary setbacks into permanent victories." Gilbert. Sachin Phadte <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I was surfing the net, and I came across this interesting article. If this had been posted on Goanet earlier, my apologies. Is the March over? By Mario Cabral e Sa, Hindustan Today, October 1997 URL: http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1997/10/1997-10-20.shtml In 1567 the Captain of Rachol Fort in South Goa bragged to his Portuguese king back home, "For nights and nights went on the demolishing, demolishing, demolishing of 280 Hindu temples. Not one remained in the happy lands of our division." Jesuit historian Francisco de Souza jubilantly praised the feat, "It is incredible--the sentiment that the gentile were seized of when they saw their respective temple burning." The astonishing but true fact is that every temple was soon relocated and rebuilt by my countrymen; the murtis, and in some cases the sacred fire, were heroically rescued and reinstalled. Chandrakant Keni, a leading Goan poet, says that although Goa's Hindus were put to severe tests as conquerors marched over their lands, they had the resilience to convert "temporary setbacks into permanent victories." ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
