Not long ago, I was reading a fascinating anthropological book that was using remains of architecture and artifacts, and maintenance of that architecture, as the only evidence to piece together the continuing story of a community - numbers, its economy and productivity. Goa came to mind.
There is a period when a community is prosperous. This is reflected in many and grand public and private buildings. In tough economic times, or pestilence when there is population migration, there is not enough economic activity to MAINTAIN these buildings. The structural decline, and its remains, writes the final chapter of that society for posterity. As residents of Goa know, with its weather and heavy monsoon, one sees structural decay within a decade without prompt and adequate maintenance. Portuguese Old Goa has a lot of deterioration and destruction of its monumental architecture, even while the Portuguese were in power, but the population moved (due to malaria and other out-breaks) and the local economy declined. So a lot of destruction in Goa (and India) may be by nature and human neglect rather than invading forces of conquering armies be it, Portuguese, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhists, Jain etc. In Old Goa and elsewhere, including today across America (e.g. Detroit), the grander the buildings, the more expensive they are to maintain them and earlier they decay in tough economic times. Regards, GL ---------- Rajan P. Parrikar wrote: Did Albuquerque destroy it or did the Muslims destroy it? I remember a paper on this by Gritli Mitterwallner but unfortunately I seem to have left it back in Goa. ... - The above quote has some ambiguity - "...prior to the Portuguese conquest there was a temple on the hill..." which could lead one to conclude that Albuquerque ordered that it be taken down to build his hermitage. But given Albuquerque's favourable relations with the Hindus, that makes it unlikely. Most likely it may have been the Muslims. At any rate, that an existing Hindu temple was destroyed is not in dispute.
