Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday blamed the Portuguese, who ruled Goa for over four centuries until 1961, for destroying temples in the state while calling for wiping away the signs of the former colonial rulers in the region. He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is planning the state’s new journey.
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“At least after 60 years, we should wipe away the signs of the Portuguese...need to begin a new manner of going forward ...we are celebrating the 75th year [of India’s independence]... What is Goa going to be when India is celebrating 100 years [of independence]... we are thinking of that now,” he said at a function commemorating the 350th anniversary of the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who founded the Maratha Empire in the 17th century.
He said the Maratha ruler first mooted the idea of swaraj or self-government in the country. Sawant claimed the Portuguese began destroying temples in Goa and that the practice ceased after they signed a peace pact with the Marathas. He added that the treaty mandated the Portuguese will not destroy temples.
Sawant said that the Maratha ruler came to Goa and rebuilt the Saptakoteshwar Temple and warned the Portuguese against destroying temples. He added he was proud that the temple destruction stopped after that. “This is why we say the major credit for saving the Hindu culture goes to Shivaji and [his son] Sambhaji,” he said at the commemorative event at the 17th century Betul Fort built on the orders of the Maratha ruler.
{{/usCountry}}Sawant said that the Maratha ruler came to Goa and rebuilt the Saptakoteshwar Temple and warned the Portuguese against destroying temples. He added he was proud that the temple destruction stopped after that. “This is why we say the major credit for saving the Hindu culture goes to Shivaji and [his son] Sambhaji,” he said at the commemorative event at the 17th century Betul Fort built on the orders of the Maratha ruler.
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Sawant promised the fort will be notified as a state monument and restored.