PANAJI
The State government has finally identified Divar Island to locate the Koti Tirth Corridor it intends to build as a memorial for the temples demolished during the Portuguese colonial era.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said that the cabinet has approved a 10,000 square metre parcel of land currently in possession of the Archives and Archaeology Department at Divar exactly where the ruins of the Saptakoteshwar temple exist for the project.
Sawant said it will be executed by the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) and will be a memorial for the 1,000 temples destroyed during the Portuguese era where people with devotion and a sense of belonging to their respective deities of the destroyed temple can visit.
“The temple will belong to the whole of Goa. The cabinet approved the project today," Sawant said.
The Archaeology Department was tasked with documenting the details of the temples destroyed during the Portuguese era and a committee of academics was formed. The report of this committee had listed 1,000 such temples.
The committee had also recommended the construction of this memorial in addition to a museum to showcase ancient temples of the State.
The Saptakoteshwar temple whose ruins lie on the Divar Island was originally built during the Kadamba dynasty's reign and was demolished in the 16th century. The committee had recommended its reconstruction since the site is already in government possession. On assuming power after the 2022 elections, the Sawant-led dispensation had earmarked Rs 20 crore for temple restoration in its first budget.
