Hindu Temple of the Mount on the Isle of Goa - Tiswadi. Above was a thread on Goanet few months ago in which I participated. One issue on the topic left me pondering - the destruction of a mountain-top Hindu temple in Tiswadi, whose existence was well documented.
One respected goanetter was of the opinion that Albuquerque being friendly to Hindus would not have destroyed this prominent Hindu temple on the mountain top. The author attributed / suggested the likely destruction of the temple to the prior owners of the island - the Muslim Sultan of Bijapur. Another respected goanetter had previously attributed destruction of Hindu temples to Portuguese and Christian missionaries; as an anti-Hindu campaign to force conversions. These views proceeded to claim the goal of temple-destruction was "to build a church on top of the temple". This writer, on goanet, claimed this practice of Christians targeting temples and using their building materials to build their own place of worship as occurring prior to 1540 - i.e. prior to Portuguese acquiring any territory beyond Tiswadi. So the views of these Goan writers contradict each other. And if Goans are confused, the "bhaile" / foreign writers are left to form their own theories; which may be recycled by native journalists. Some may be keen to know who these and other writers were. The more important issue is the contents of the post than its author. Yet if any one should insist on getting the name of the writer(s), they are welcomed to do their own research of the goanet archives. Seeking the quest for the right facts 500 years ago is always difficult. From a scientific investigation perspective, the best sources would be an eye-witness account of a unbiased observer, who documented these facts in real time. Preferably one would seek corroborative real-time accounts from MULTIPLE independent sources based on INDEPENDENT data of cause and effect. This is as opposed to conclusions based on one person's opinion, which may be biased or poorly informed; which is then referenced and quoted by other authors. Unfortunately 500-year old facts on Goa do not meet the above stringent criteria. Recently shown on Goanet, many "statement of facts" on closer scrutiny are based on the individual's "speculation" and "intuition". One writer was honest to admit to a lack of facts to support his "speculation" In the absence of hard data from 500 years ago, we are left with piecing together clues for a reasoned-unbiased reader to draw their own conclusions. My Eureka moment (Part 2) Regards, GL
