History Doesn't seem to add up >From blog of Divar
Before the coming of the Portuguese, Divar was the site of two particularly important temples – the Saptakoteshwara Temple (moved across the river to Bicholim when the Portuguese began to persecute the Hindus), as well as a Ganesh temple that stood on the solitary hill in Piedade. The former contained a powerful Shivalingam (phallic symbol representing the god Shiva), which was smuggled during the Inquisition to Naroa on the opposite side of the river, just before more than 1500 Divar residents were forcibly converted to Christianity. It’s likely that the Ganesh temple, meanwhile, was destroyed by Muslim troops near the end of the 15th century, since the first church on this site was built in around 1515. --------------------------------------------- GL responds: Con kindly posted the blog on Divar recently on Goanet. The author points out that one of two temples was "was destroyed by Muslim troops near the end of the 15th century." The Muslim continuously ruled Goa from their capital in Bijapur for 150 years prior to Portuguese; who conquered this small island of Tiswadi in early 16th century (1510) after three totally separate bloody land-and-sea battles. It is likely nothing (living or structural) survived on this island in that period; which to begin with was desolate and marshy (much worse then than now)! The inquisition was introduced in Goa in 1561 (mid-sixteenth century). Clearly the above statements and the dates of historical events do not add up. This account of Goan history does not surprise me. The latest Wikipedia account of Goa's Inquisition makes a mishmash of Portuguese military actions; consolidation of colonialism (military and civilian); and the religious inquisition; with very little factual data (names of individuals and places and dates of events). To add more spice and drama, the author(s) of the Wikipedia article also pile-on unrelated bits and pieces of events and the inquisition in Portugal and Spain to the "history of Inquisition in Goa". Whoever wrote the Goa Inquisition article in Wikipedia (Goan or non-Goan) deserve(s) some failing grades for lack of focus. Regards, GL
