PANAJI
In a comment which may stoke a fresh round of controversy, Goa's Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar on Tuesday hinted that sites where temples were demolished in Goa during the Portuguese regime, may also have Shivlings in the vicinity, just like the Shivling which was discovered in the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.
Speaking to reporters Dhavalikar also said that the Archaeological Society of India should specifically explore Goa to locate these Shivlings, even as the discovery of the Shivling at the Gyanvapi mosque has triggered a nationwide debate.
“Archaeological Survey (of India) department has to work in that regard. I personally feel that there could be such ‘Shivlings’ at the sites, where the temples were demolished after 1510 century.
Shivlings may be there somewhere in Goa and could be found definitely at such sites,” Dhavalikar told reporters here.
Dhavalikar, who has been a strong votary of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's temple restoration initiative for which Rs 20 crore has been set aside in the State budget, also said that there was popular opinion backing the temple restoration initiative.
“Chief Minister's decision is final. Many want to rebuild such temples,” Dhavalikar said.
The Goa government's Department of Archives and Archaeology has already started an exercise to identify specific temples destroyed during the Portuguese era for sake of restoration.
According to Minister for Archives and Archaeology Subhash Phaldesai, restoration would be carried out only in sites which are non-controversial and at sites without active religious structures present on it currently.
