Team Herald
ponda: Advocate Amrut Kansar, representing the Marcaim villagers in the Navdurga idol case, argued before the Ponda District Court that there was no evidence of the Mahajans building the Navdurga temple and installing the idol, while it was certain that the villagers had been visiting the temple since ancient times.
He also stated that the exact age of the temple was not known and that the idol was unique, which warranted its preservation by the government.
It may be recalled that Marcaim residents had challenged the Navdurga temple committee’s decision to replace the old Navdurga idol with a new one as cracks had developed on the former.
Kansar stated that Deccan College of Archaeology, Pune, traced the idol back to the 14th century, while villagers claimed it was installed during the Kadamba Dynasty rule.
He said that merely creating a Comprimisso in 1910 under the Mahajan Act that members of the temple committee belong to a higher class did not establish their right over the temple.
He said that the Mahajans had to display documents to prove who had constructed the temple and in which year, and that Article 1 of the Comprimisso of Marcaim Temple as well as the Kundaim Navdurga Temple had falsely claimed that the idol was shifted from Gavshi Dongrim in Tiswadi.
Kansar further said that every Navdurga temple committee across Goa, except for Marcaim, consisted of Mahajans from different castes, which proved that the deity was worshipped by all Hindus. He stated that the Marcaim temple committee claimed the temple was private property despite the villagers offering donations and performing rituals there.
