Goddess ShantDurga Temple, Goa
This temple is dedicated to Goddess Durga, one of the most powerful of all Hindu deities. The main idol has the idol of Lord Shiva on one side and Lord Vishnu on the other. Lores have it that while Goddess Durga brought a ceasefire between the two, bringing peace to the world. Owing to this, she was named as Shri Shantdurga , which means peace in Hindi. It was built over a course of years from 1713 AD to 1738 AD. Shantadurga is the mother Goddess worshipped by our countrymen since times immemorial. She takes various forms and shapes. In Bengal, she is the Durga, in Gujrat she is the Amba. She is the Dravidian Goddess who was incorporated in the Aryan pantheon. In fact in Goa, she was worshipped as 'ant¬hill' (roinn) by the pre-historic Goan people. The Shantadurga deity was brought to Goa by the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins who are supposed to have migrated to Goa from especially the Gaud region of Bengal, Tirhut (Trihotrapur) in Bihar. Tirhut, being the original place from where t...