Goa has a number of temples of Goddess Shantadurga, but currently it is the temple at Kavlem that is attracting the largest number of devotees. The temple committee is celebrating 450 of the installation of the idol at Kavlem and as part of the celebration of the divine migration, a purely religious atmosphere prevails in the village with hundreds of devotees visiting the temple and almost around 530 Brahmins daily engaged in performing religious rituals for the historical event.
The commemoration programme commenced on November 25 and will conclude on December 4 with various cultural programmes.
The original idol of Shantadurga had been installed at a temple at Quelossim village in Salcete where she was known as Santeri. It was shifted to the present location at Kavlem when the Portuguese rulers in Goa threatened to raze to the ground all Hindu temples existing in the territory soon after they acquired possession of the land.
This migration of the idol of the Goddess to a safer location at Kavlem in Ponda taluka is believed to have occurred between January 14, 1566 and November 29, 1566. Ponda taluka was not under Portuguese rule at that time but was under the rule of Muslim ruler Adil Shah. The Shah’s representative in the area was a person known as Sardesai from a Hindu family and this instilled a sense of security in the devotees.
Thus, devotees from Quelossim crossed the River Zuari along with idol of the goddess and came to Kavlem. The place selected to install the idol happened to have some dalits living, who for the blessings of the goddess vacated the place and set up a new settlement in the village.
The idol was ceremoniously installed at the present spot in November 1566. The new structure came into existence between 1713 and 1738 and it is the same structure which still stands, though there have been frequent renovations carried out over the centuries.
The Shantadurga temple at Kavlem is situated around 3 kms from Ponda, around 33 kms from Panjim. The beautiful temple attracts tourists and pilgrims and, true to her name, visitors after a glimpse of the goddess claim that their troubled minds have quieted down.
Atop the tower (ghood) of the temple sits the crest (Kalasha) appearing as if it intends to touch the sky. In front of the temple is a huge lamp tower (DeepStamba) and ahead, lower down the temple courtyard (prakara), is the water tank and above the imposing main entrance is the drummers hall (Nagarkhana).
To commemorate the migration of the idol, the Shantadurga Temple Committee has been organising programmes. According to Temple Committee President Riddesh Sukhtankar, the celebration includes several religious rituals, anushtan, cultural programmes and Mahaprasad daily. All the four heads of Gaud Saraswat Samaj Mutt’s, which includes Gaud Padacharya Mutt, Gokarn Mutt, Kashi and Chitrapur Mutt will be present on December 2 to grace the occasion.
How the goddess played a role of peace is an interesting story. According to mythology there was a battle between Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu over which of them is superior and more powerful. The battle was so fierce that God Brahma prayed to Goddess Adishakati (original form of Shantadurga) to intervene, and after the intervention of Goddess Shantadurga the fight ended as she pacified both of them. Since then she has been known as Shantadurga.
The temple town of Ponda has a large number of temples and is also blessed by Goddess Shantadurga, who people believe is the Goddess of peace. The temple in scenic and peaceful village of Kavlem, culturally known as Antruz Mahal, is also a major tourist destination.
Adjoining the temple of Shantadurga Devi, stand the temple Narayan Dev. Installed on the principal seat of that temples are an idol of Narayan Dev and a little ahead a smaller one of Shree Ganapati.
