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THE PRE-PORTUGUESE INHABITANTS OF SALIGAO AND THEIR DEITIES...I KONKANAKHYAN, an historical poem in Marathi, narrating the history of the Saraswat Brahmins was written in 1721 by Shripad Vyankatesh Wagle under the name Raghunath . Threin describing about Sallganv he states:’ Kashyapa, Vatsa Brahmins lived in in Sallganv// and the god( they worshiped) was Vetal’.( Kashyap Vatsa Sallganvi Bhraman// Deva Vetal Paim Tethem//, Vide, Konkanakhayan, stanza, 15, page 23). Kashyap and Vatsa were two ‘ gotras’ ( clans or families) that dwelt in Saligao. These families were Brahmin Porob Sallgaokar ; Brahmin Naik Sallgaokar, Brahmin Sinai Salgaokar, Brahmin Dhondd Salgaokar .These were also original 4 ‘vangodds.’ Ravindra Patkar in ‘ Gaud Saraswat Samaz Parichay Granth’ says, besides the families of two gotras mentioned above, there were clans of other gotras like Bharadwaja, Kaundinya and Kutsa( the family surnames of these gotras, I will deal in my next posting), and their main deities were Shri Vetal Shervani. The temple belonging to this deities is located in Advalpale, in Bicholim Taluka, since the XVI century. The affiliates are: Mahadeva, Rawalnatha, Santeri, Damodhar, Purman, Purvouna and Bhuleshwar( Vide GOMES PEREIRA, Rui, in ‘ Hindu Temples and Deities’, No. 63, p. 79 and No. 121( C), pp 116-117). Perhaps the most ancient reminder pertains to the Hindu deity, Santeri or Shantadurga, worshiped under the name of Shri Xervani or Saravoni Devi—The Mother Godess, represented by an ant-hill shaped mound of earth, in Salmona( Sormonnem). It is on account of this temple in Sormonnem that the surrounding area came to be known as ‘ Divlacho Patto’. The temple of Shri Vetal was located in Mollebhatt and the property around was called’ Diulacho Sorvo’. Besides these, each of the families of ‘KULAVI MAHAJANS’ had its ‘ KULADEVA’or family deity under the following designations: ‘Bapp’ was the deity of Porob Salgaokar; ‘ Somanath’ that of Naik Salgaokar; ‘Matsar’ of Sinai Salgaokar ; ‘ Brahman ‘to which ‘Vanadevi’was added of Dhondd Salgaokar. Besides the above 4 there was Sudra Petkar Salgaokar whose deity is ‘ Balvouna’. The Petkars would in future be known as the 5th vangodd. After much debate and recourse to courts in Goa, Portugal etc. the ‘Sudra Petkar Salgaokar community was recognized as the 5th Vangodd( vangor) in 1966 and the Statutes were approved by the Order of 13th October, 1966( Vide, ‘Official Gazette’, Government of Goa, Daman and Diu, 3rd November, 1966, pp. 387-395) . When a few years back I visited the temple of Shri Shervani-Vetal at Advalpal, the ‘pujari or bhott’( temple priest) told me the following oral story. He said in the XVI century when the Mhajans left Sallganv , Bardez, Goa, they were well received by the Head of Sawantwaddi and allowed them to fix themselves with the deities in Asganv and Aroso. In Asganv they had a temple dedicated to Shri Shervani and in Aroso to that of Shri Vetal and the distance between these two temples were 8 kilometres. However feeling nostalgic about Goa they came to Advalpal, with their gods. This part of the territory was not under the Portuguese Rule then. Here they bought a place called Sallgao-vaddo, for a price much below the actual price of the land and settled themselves till this day. As the story has no historical evidence this is just a traditional legend. To be continued. Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas Vasco da Gama,11-06-2004. |
