Shri Shantadurga Kunkalikarin Temple

Shri Shantadurga  Kunkalikarin Temple is located at Fatorpa of Quepem taluka in South Goa and is one of the oldest temple of Goa . It is also one of the famous place for foreigner to visit in Goa .This temple is dedicated to Goddess Shri Shantadurga which is originally from cuncolim village in Salcete taluka . That why this temple is called as Shantadurga kunkalikarin temple

The temple complex is on the foothills of a mountain chain surrounded by greenery in all sides. At the entrance of this temple there is a massive doorway called “Mahadwar” . The annual zatra of this temple falls in the month of Dec-Jan. Every year many visitor  visit to see the zatra of this temple. At one side of the temple there are guest houses to accommodate   the visitors .

Shri Maruti Temple

The Maruti Temple is situated on top of mountain hill overlooking the Curchorem city. It is dedicated to lord Hanuman , the monkey god and enshrine lord hanuman as the presiding deity. The Maruti temple is also beautifully lit up at night and as it is brightly lit the temple is visible from a distance.

Lord hanuman is a Hindu deity who is an ardent devotee of Rama. A general among the vanaras, hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a follower of lord Rama in the struggle against the demon king Ravana.

The Maruti Temple is one of the most beautiful temple in curchorem .From here we could see the greenery and beautifulness of entire curchorem city. Saturday is the day of lord hanuman. On that day there is a pooja of lord hanuman at morning and bhajan and also palki during night time. The Major festival in this temple is Hanuman Jayati which is celebrated in  the month of April.

Shri Nagueshi Temple

Shri Nageshi temple or Nagueshi temple is an ancient hindu temple located at Donshiwado of  Ponda  Taluka in North Goa .This temple is dedicated to lord Naguesh an incarnation of lord Shiva . This temple is one of the oldest in Goa and considered as one of tourist spot to visit in Goa.

The Nageshi temple was built in 1413 , when the region was under the rule of king Veer Pratap Devaraya of the mighty Vijaynagara Empire .The major attraction of the temple are five –storied lamp tower and the historic old water tank. This tank was built in such a way that standing at a certain point around the tank one can see the reflection of  the idol of lord Naguesh and the lighted lamps in the inner sanctum . A stone sculpture of the Nandi Bull is set at the entrance of the main temple.

The most important festival celebrated at this temple during the month of November is the Anguish satrap. Also the 8 day Kartik poornima ,Chaitra poornima and Mahashivatri are celebrated at this temple .Also the annual zatra of this temple falls in the month of April.

Shri Dakshana Devi's Temple

Shri Dakshana Devi’s temple is my kuldevta’s (family deity) temple. This temple is located at Dandolem of Kevona village in South Goa. This temple is not very famous but many people visit here for doing photography.

In this temple the Satyanarayan Mahapuja is celebrated on the 1^st May of every year, also in the month of February a Vardapan day or the anniversary day is celebrated . Few months before a new Sabhagarh or the hall in front of temple was constructed at this temple.

At one side of this temple there is another  temple that we normally called as “60 Purvaja’s” (60 ancestors) temple .In olden days it was said that there were 60 stones in memory of the  Purus or the rotector  in front of this temple and if by mistake somebody’s leg touches to that stones than there will be possibilities that some bad thing was happen with that person . This 60 stones are called as 60 purus. Now to avoid this we have constructed a small temple and put those 60 purus in that temple that’s why this temple is called as 60 purvaja’s temple .

Vimleshwar Temple

                                Pic by  : Nikita Nayak

Vimleshwar temple is located in Rivona village of Sanguem Taluka in the state of Goa. Vimleshwar is a form of Shiva and is worshipped in the form of Shivalinga.

The Prabhu Dessai  family of Rivona and Brahmins with surname Rivonkar are the mahajans of this temple. In this temple many other affiliated deities are there such as Kamleshwar , Mahalaxmi, Maruti ,Purush and Ravalnath .Many festivals are celebrated in this temple such as Dasara, kala, Pindikotsav,Shigmo , Shivratri and so on

The Dushera festival of this temple is very famous in Goa .During Dushera festival one day before 4 Tarangas ( wooden plank decorated with sarees like umbrella as seen in the picture) are made to stand during night time and they remain standing till this festival ends .On Dushera at evening time the Palnquin of goddess Shri Shantadurga from Colomba comes in this temple and after doing pooja and all, two devotees get into  a trance or get possessed what is locally termed as bhaar happens . One is devoted to Lord Ravalnath and another is of goddess Shantadurga .For watching this, many people of Goa visit this temple.