Thursday, October 11, 2007

The Assolda Shrine

On an isolated and scenic hillock in Assolda on the Salcete-Quepem border lies a mysterious Hindu shrine. Little is known of its past. As the hillock is only a few kilometers from the ancient city of Chandrapur, the shrine was most likely built over the ruins of a much older Hindu edifice. The presence of extensive laterite blocks, strewn all over the hillock, gives credence to this theory. The edifice might have been demolished during the early phases of Portuguese rule, when all vestiges of a Hindu past were erased. It is possible, however, that this was done centuries earlier when Muslim troops sacked and destroyed Chandrapur. Whatever the cause, the hillock has survived the ravages of time to remain a sacred site.




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