PORVORIM: Even though the State government has made whopping Rs 20 crore budgetary provisions for restoration of temples destroyed by the Portuguese, the Department of Archaeology has no data on such structures.
The Minister for Archives and Archaeology Subhash Phal Desai informed the State Legislative Assembly that the list of religious or heritage sites destroyed by the Portuguese is not available with the Department of Archaeology.
“However, several historians have published relevant research on this topic which is available in the public domain,” he said.
Congress MLA Altone D’Costa and GFP MLA Vijai Sardesai had raised a joint question seeking the list of all such sites which were destroyed during Portuguese rule and whether they were relocated.
The minister said that a budgetary allocation of Rs 20 crore is made towards the restoration of these temples for the current financial year.
Sawant had first raised the issue before the Assembly elections. In December 2021, speaking at the inauguration of development infrastructure at Mangueshi in Ponda, he said, “Temples destroyed during the Portuguese rule need to be rebuilt in the 60th year of Goa’s liberation.”
He followed this up by earmarking Rs 20 crore in this year’s budget.
