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Ruckus over move to replace idol at Marcaim temple
Idol has developed crack which cannot be repaired
THE GOAN NETWORK
PONDA
Some members of Shri Devi Navdurga Pratishtna (SDNP) at Marcaim have appealed to the Archaeology department to preserve the old idol of the goddess at the temple, after voicing concern over plans by the temple committee to replace the old idol with a new one.
SDNP president Shailendra Panjikar along with like-minded villagers addressed a news conference in the panchayat hall at Marcaim, claiming that "the mahajans are unnecessarily trying to replace the idol, which has hurt the sentiments of people."
He informed that residents had earlier passed a resolution in the gram sabha to stop the Shri Navdurga Sausthan (SNS) from replacing the old idol.
The resolution claims that the Marcaim Panchayat had mentioned that the Shri Navdurga temple of Marcaim became a public temple as per a Supreme Court judgement dated September 10, 2001, “since a temple offering paid service (seva) puja and participation of public in temple festivals is a public temple.”
In his reply to the Marcaim panchayat and to administrator of the devalaya, who is the mamlatdar of Ponda, the SNS president Vallabh Kamat stated that “the judgement of the Supreme Court cited by the panchayat was not applicable to the Mazania of Shree Navdurga Saunsthan, which is governed under the devasthan regulations 1933, it being a private association of mahajans and has never accepted any donations from the general public.”
Kamat added that the ‘Compromisso’ of Shree Navdurga Saunsthan had been approved by the government as per Devasthan regulations, 1986.
Speaking to The Goan, Kamat accused Panjikar of trying to misguide the people.
“The old idol has developed a crack and it cannot be repaired. Hence, we decided to replace it. Moreover, it is not that the idol is being replaced for the first time. The original idol was replaced twice,” Kamat said.
Kamat claimed that the majority of villagers have supported the move to replace the idol.
