The historic temple of at Narve in Bicholim is craving for attention with people asking the government to utilise some funds to develop the area.
It may be stated that the temple situated about 12 kms from Bicholim is a historically important place and is famous, especially for Shivratri festival. Thousands of devotees come to this place to pay their tribute to goddess Shiva.
The administrator of the temple, Gopal Morajkar, is not very happy with the state of affairs of the temple and its surrounding.
“Every year mahashivratri is celebrated here with great pomp and this temple is famous throughout the state and people from other states also visit this temple as Chatrapati Shivaji maharaj had renovated this temple on April 6, 1668,” Morajkar said.
The people are upset as they feel that the government is not paying attention to the place. “There are no proper facilities near the temple. There should have been proper toilets and other facilities for the public and it becomes a problem during any festival,” said a local.
The temple history dates back to 14th century. As per the information available on Wikipedia, in 1352, when the Kadamba kingdom was conquered by the Bahmani Sultan Allauddin Hasan Gangu, Goa came under the rule of the Sultan for about 14 years. A number of temples were destroyed during this period and the linga at the temple was dug up by the troops.
In 1367, the army of Vijayanagar King Harihararaya defeated the Sultan’s troops in Goa and managed to restore most temples to their former glory including that of Saptakoteshwar. Later the temple was demolished in 1560 by the Portuguese which was revamped in 1668 by the Shivaji Maharaj.
“Besides this temple there is a need to restore the nearby lake and the agrashala. The government should take some steps and look into this matter,” said Deelip Dhargalkar a teacher by profession.
