By Abhideep V Dessai
Any oppressor can kill human bodies but not the souls. The souls remain in one form or another, telling tales of their suffering. tales of their bravery, and with time these tales become legends.
During the period of the Goa Inquisition, several sacred sites faced suffered assaults. The old conquest which was under their domination in the most critical hour of religious frenzy, saw no stone left unturned. At all costs Portuguese’s aim was to eradicate Hinduism and form a new society of hybrid and mixed people by crossing Europeans with the locals, this idea was a predominant feature of the Portuguese colonial policy.
But they did not fully succeed in uprooting Hinduism from Goa due to some strong resistance. like chieftains of Cuncolim, Ranes of Satteri, and by Maratha forces under Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.
Besides the strong-armed resistance, there were few small-scale resistances by natives, which were small in intensity but have great significance. Mostly forgotten by mainstream history but hidden deep inside the folk.
One such story is that of Shree Fatereshwar of Anjuna and its connection to the Goa Inquisition.
Today at Chiunvar ward of Anjuna village there is a small shrine of Shree Fatreshwar, considered to be the protector deity. Two broken portions of the pillar are under worship in this shrine. But if u closely look at the pillar one can find the inscription on it. The inscription in Portuguese. Yes in Portuguese..!!
Surprising right? What is a Portuguese inscription doing in Hindu shrine?
The reason behind this takes us back to 17th century Goa when Goa was under the dark era of the holy inquisition. In the year 1628 the Franciscan rector or church named Jeao de Oliveria ordered one Hindu widow who was pregnant, should be sent to the Church. To baptize the child that would be born to her, in accordance with the Royal Order. During the period of the Inquisition, it was compulsory on Hindus that if either mother or father of a child dies, the child must be converted to Christianity and handed over to the College of St. paul.
When the news of the order reached the inhabitants of the ward Chiunwar where that woman resided, they lost their temper and when Francisco de lisboa visited the settlement the locals physically assaulted him. This was considered as a great treason under Portuguese rule, and they soon acted over it.
Portuguese authority ransacked and destroyed houses from this ward, the land was deliberately salted, rendering it infertile, and captured all the Hindus living in that locality, and incarcerated them.
As an indelible remainder of this, a ‘Padrao’ Which means stone pillar with the following inscription was erected in the ward as warning
“D. Fr. Luiz Brito, ruling this state in the year 1628 of Our Lord Jesus Christ, ordered the Relacao (High Court of Justice) to ransack, destroy and mix with salt the ruins of the houses situated in the Chiunvar-Grande ward and to punish the Hindus who lived there by sending them to the galleys for having come out of those houses and violently assaulted the vicar of the Church of this village. In memory of the punishment inflicted, this pillar has been erected and no person shall remove it from this place under penalty of more severe punishment.”
Many years later this pillar collapsed and broke in two pieces. The Hindus of the village and passersby started lighting candles on this stone in memory of the HINDUS victim of Portuguese brutality. Today u can find Shirne by the name “Fatereshwar” which means stone God.
One of the symbols of colonial power is today’s symbol of Shradha. This is an example of how colonial power, came to unroot Hinduism from GOA collapse and Drama rose up from ruins!
Ref.
- Pg. 8, Goa Hindu Temple and Deities
- GOA inquisition – A K Priolkar
The Writer is a teacher by profession. He is also an orator and founder of Yugaantar Goa. The page Yugaantar Goa is dedicated to throwing light on the history and culture of Goa.
Dr Janki Thaker