Ghant, not Ghat. + Kitem? Spoliation! Brahma. So art history "defines" deeds? Apol ani sontran.
V On Tue, Dec 25, 2018 at 6:41 PM Frederick Noronha < [email protected]> wrote: > Why bells from Portuguese-era churches ring in temples across Maharashtra > > Originally taken as trophies, > many still bear emblems like a > cross, or a pierced heart. They > are part of our shared > heritage, says priest and > researcher Fr Francis Correa. > > > Rachel Lopez > Hindustan Times > > PHOTO: A bell at the Nimgaon > Khandoba temple in Pune > district with a crucifix on it. > > In rural Maharashtra, when the bells ring at some Hindu > temples, they echo the sounds of the churches they once > inhabited. > > A research team has found that in 34 temples across nine > districts of the state, stand 38 bells that once hung in > churches in the Portuguese territory of Bassein (in and round > present-day Vasai, just north of Mumbai). > > Some are almost 400 years old, like the one at the Tulja > Bhavani temple in Osmanabad, and are integral to the temple - > mass weddings are conducted below it. Others, like the one in > Shikhar Shignapur in Satara, enjoy a place of pride -- a > shrine has been built around it. And in Jejuri, near Pune, a > former church bell installed at a temple would ring out so > loud and clear that locals complained of the noise and > eventually relegated it to the temple warehouse. > > Church bells show up in temples as far apart as Nashik, > Kolhapur, Ahmednagar, Ratnagiri and Mahabaleshwar. They > honour Shiva, Lakshmi and Khandoba. How they all got there is > a mystery that took one Catholic priest and his team three > decades to uncover. > > SOUNDS FAMILIAR > > The Vasai-based priest Fr Francis Correa, now 78, says he'd > been fascinated by the idea of Hindu temples holding on to > Vasai's church bells ever since he heard about it in the > 1970s. Books on local history mentioned it, and there were > local legends. > > "There's a village called Ghatghar near > Vajreshwari," he says. "Ghat is the Konkani word > for bell and the villagers believed that they had a > massive bell that was taken from their church by > the 18th century Maratha general Chimaji Appa." The > Naroshankar temple in Nashik is surrounded by an > 11-ft-high fortification with a huge Portuguese > bell at its centre, called the Naroshankar Ghanta. > > Correa started making a list of every such story he heard. By > 1995, he had enough leads to make an exploratory trip to > Aurangabad with a group of enthusiasts. Sure enough, the > temple bells there showed evidence of having originally > belonged to churches. > > On some, there is a cross still etched in metal relief work. > On others, a little Mary, or Jesus, or both. Many have been > painted over in saffron, or covered in marigolds, but the > signs are there if you know what to look for. > > Correa has made several trips across the state, > with amateur historian and Vasai-fort expert Pascal > Lopes, and Vasai-based researchers Joseph Pereira, > Berina D'Silva, Dr Afigin Toscano and husband > Augustine, documenting and photographing as much as > they could. > > "What we've found is fascinating," says Lopes. "The bells are > actually war trophies. They were taken from the churches > inside the Vasai fort when Chimaji Appa [Peshwa Bajirao's > younger brother and military commander] reclaimed the Konkan > territories from the Portuguese between 1737 and 1739." The > bells -- huge, beautiful, sturdy, made possibly in Macao or > Lisbon, with a clear sound that carries across land -- were > ideal victory symbols to distribute among the army. And where > better to display and deploy them than at the local temple? > > In 2016, the team documented their findings in Correa's book, > *Old Ambassadors of The New Era*. But given that the > Portuguese established as many as 80 churches in Maharashtra, > with an average of two bells each, their work is far from > done. > > So how do you tell if a bell is of > Portuguese-Catholic origin? Correa and his team > relied on some simple clues. Church bells are > larger, louder and heavier, designed to be > suspended from a tower. > > "We also look for at least one symbol of Christianity," says > Pereira. "Perhaps a Latin inscription, the cross, the > initials IHS [Latin for Humble Society of Jesus or Jesus, > Saviour of Men] or AM for Ave Maria. And of course, the year > of casting, if inscribed, had to be before 1739." > > In the warehouse at Jejuri, two dusty bells were cleaned up > to reveal an icon of swords piercing a heart, the same as > those at a Portuguese church in Dahanu. > > Of the trophies taken from Vasai, only one bell has been > discovered to hang in a church. "At the St Francis Xavier > Church in south Mumbai... it was given voluntarily to the > British in gratitude for the gunpowder received to help fight > the Marathas," Correa says. > > The empty bell tower at the abandoned St Joseph's Church in > the Vasai fort. "Seeing the bells for the first time, I > initially felt like it was my community's property and that I > should work on restoring them to the church," says > Vasai-based priest Fr Francis Correa. "But over time I've > realised that in Hindu temples, they've been given a new > life, with new missions to perform. They are our shared > heritage." > > Correa says discovering the bells has broadened his view of > India. “Seeing the bells for the first time, I initially felt > like it was my community’s property and that I should work on > restoring them to the church,” he says. “But over time I’ve > realised that in Hindu temples, they’ve been given a new > life, with new missions to perform. They are our shared > heritage.” > > Dr Toscano adds that on every one of their trips, the temple > authorities and local people were friendly and cooperative. > "There was a spirit of religiosity and it was peaceful," she says. > > > https://www.hindustantimes.com/more-lifestyle/why-bells-from-portuguese-era-churches-ring-in-temples-across-maharashtra/story-YYcaRl2vQ7rlULOu1oztzI.html?fbclid=IwAR2d9HWKiM853ny7ha_tCoExg9RiFMAkZtXXXp0csLVILO8vmaWEGZ69dtw > > COMMENTS VIA FACEBOOK > [Indo-Portuguese history group] > > Ishaan Jajodia: Came across this yesterday. The article fails > to mention that spoliation and reuse is an integral part of > any art history -- the Roman emperor Constantine spoliated > panels from other older emperors' triumphal arches to adorn > his own in a projection of primacy. The ethics of the > practice are different from the practice itself. > > Pascal R. Lopes: We as a team have written this book [under > the] leadership of Fr. Francis Correa. I was part of the > research team along with Dr. Afigine Tuscano, Augustine > Tuscano, Joseph Perreira and Bernida. The Governor Of > Maharashtra had invited us to understand the subject. >
