Oral history has it that Our Lady of Perpetual Succour church, in Socorro, Bardez, was built in the general vicinity of where a Hindu temple once existed in a ward called Zoswado (probably a corruption of the original "Joshivaddo"). The temple was not razed to construct the church on the exact spot. However, most of the "Gaonkars" (original inhabitants and landowners) converted to Catholicism and it was the Gaonkars who constructed the church close to their old place of worship.
I gather that Hindu temple being no longer used or needed fell into dis-repair and eventually disappeared. The village was overwhelmingly Catholic for many years. Most of the hindus currently residing in the village, came in as field hands (Mundkars), with their surnames revealing their original village, and built temples sometimes side by side to serve different castes or different deities. One temple in Socorro, Porvorim however has remained at its original site (close to Highway 17). Catholics have excellent relations with the priests of the Temple, and are invited to special occasions. To say that Hindu temples were razed to construct Catholic churches in their place is disingeneous, and a bait to raise communal tensions. I read somewhere that one or some of the churches in Old Goa was constructed on the site of a Muslim masjid. History is replete with religious sites or structures being converted to serve the predominant religion in the locality, such as the Sophia Church in Istanbul (Constantinople), which is now a Masjid. So what ? Do we worship buildings or do we worship God ? ########################################################################## # 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 # ##########################################################################
