The committee has assured to preserve the old idol in the temple premises until the verdict is declared, and to reinstall the old idol if the court rules in favour of the villagers.
Advocate Amrut Kansar, who is representing the villagers, has asked the court for a day to think about the proposal. He will submit his reply on March 15 at 2.30 pm.
Meanwhile, Adv Kansar argued before the court that it was the ST communities along with other Bahujans who had settled in Goa in the pre-Aryan era, and it was they who had founded temples and established villages. He further stated that with the invasion of the Aryans in the 12th century and later the Portuguese, the STs had lost their land, temples and idols, and struggled to retain their identity. Kansar claimed that as per the Mahajans Act, nowhere it was mentioned that Mahajans were owners of the temples, but they were only managers. He said that since the Higher Class communities were in the administration, they inserted their names as owners. Further, he claimed that the government was in control of the temple accounts and financial matters.
He further said that nowhere was it written that Mahajans are owners, and the Portuguese did not define anywhere in the Act what was meant by ‘temple’.
As per the definition of Mahajanias, they are bodies of Hindus Associations to look after the accounts and administrative management of temples and not into religious matters, said Kansar, adding that rituals and customs were not mentioned anywhere in the Act.
He said that mere acknowledgement of the temple bylaws by the government did not mean that they were private temples. He also said that the Marcaim Temple was ancient and the mere insertion of the Mahajans names in the temple bylaws did not make them owners.
It may be recalled that Navdurga Temple Committee’s decision to replace the old idol with a new one was challenged by Marcaim villagers, who stated that the committee had no right to do so. They also stated that the idol was ancient and their sentiments were attached to it.
