With images of beaches and the sea being synonymous with Goa in India, it comes as an added surprise to find that this this state of Goa in India also has numerous temples doted all around. Once you visit these temples in Goa, one is washed with a sense of purity and sanctity.

HOW GOAN TEMPLES SURVIVED As history goes, after the Portugese established power in Goa, many Goan temples were destroyed giving way to unique form of expression of western Portuguese Baroque. But the Indians then, especially the Tamilians in Goa during that era, were able to preserve some of the oldest Dravidian culture; The Gujaratis-craftsmen of consummate finesse served as links between the arts of the Deccan and the Indo-Gangetic plain. Apart form this, the Bengalis as well as the Maharashtrians had an appealing influence on Goa. It is only the Konkanis of Goa who were culturally absorbed into the Latin world.

SARASWAT TEMPLES IN GOA
However, the Saraswat Hindu Temples in Goa, India, managed to survive the Portugal regime. Uprooted from place to place, the presiding deities of these temples in Goa, India, were preserved and worshipped, at times, even in the houses of the pujaris, till they were ultimately ensconced in their present day abodes. Some such old temples of Goa which are noted for their natural beauty and simple architecture have certain basic features, as in the days of yore, of being surrounded by betel nut trees, coconut groves and lakes of pure water. When you visit any of these temples of Goa you are welcomed by the sentinels-the great pillars of light.

Among the oldest Saraswat Temples in Goa are the Mangeshi temple of Priol, the Shanta Durga Temple at Kavele, the Ganapati temple at Khandole, the Maha Laxmi temple at Bandewade and the Sri Nagesh Maharudra Temple at Bandora. Of these, unlike all other ancient deities of Goa, the Sri Nagesh Maharudra did not move from Bandora (Bandiwade) even during the period of the Portuguese inquisition.

Atrunja Taluka in Goa is now called 'Ponda'. It is a land of valleys and mountains. An ideal abode for the Gods amidst coconut and arecanut groves, Ponda is full of Hindu temples, the Sri Ganapati temple at Khandole village being one of the most prominent and oldest of them here.

A peculiar feature of the Saraswat temples of Goa is the priority given there to the local Christian devotees who are said to flock to these temples. Irrespective of having embraced Christianity, many of the present day Christians still hold on to their pre-conversion surnames and still sponsor and support the deities of their Hindu brethren. It is a measure of how deep their roots run, despite all the Portuguese influence that had been thrust upon them.