Most people who visit Goa think its history began in 1510.
That was the year the Portuguese arrived, defeated the Bijapur Sultanate and established the colony that would last 451 years. They left behind extraordinary churches, elegant colonial architecture and a cultural legacy that defines the Goa the world knows today.
But Goa's history did not begin in 1510. It began two thousand years before that.
And the most dramatic chapter of the story that most foreign tourists never discover is not about what the Portuguese built. It is about what they tried to destroy and could not.
The Goa Inquisition, one of the most severe in history, led to the destruction of hundreds of Hindu temples across the region. The Portuguese made it illegal to practice Hinduism openly. Ancient Goa temples were demolished and their stones used to build the very churches that tourists photograph today. Communities that had practiced their faith for centuries were given the choice of conversion or exile.
And yet three ancient Goa temples survived.
Not by luck. By strategy. By courage. And in one extraordinary case, by being so completely hidden in the jungle that the Portuguese never even found it.
In this episode we tell the complete story of these three extraordinary ancient Goa temples. We explore the Kadamba dynasty that built them, the 800-year Hindu kingdom whose artistic tradition the Portuguese tried to erase from the landscape of Goa forever. We stand at the Tambdi Surla Mahadev Temple, the oldest intact Hindu temple in Goa, hidden so deep in the Western Ghats forest that it was not rediscovered until 1935. We tell the story of Saptakoteshwar, the temple whose deity was rescued from Portuguese destruction by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj himself in one of the most heroic acts of cultural preservation in Indian history. And we visit the Mangeshi Temple with its extraordinary seven-storey Deepastambha lamp tower, the ancient Goa temple that disguised itself as a wedding venue to survive the Inquisition.
This is not the Goa the brochures promised. This is the Goa that existed long before the brochures. And it is the most extraordinary Goa you will ever encounter.
What You Will Discover in This Episode
The full story of the Kadamba dynasty and the 800-year Hindu kingdom that built Goa's ancient temples before the Portuguese arrived, whose Kadamba-Yadava architectural tradition produced some of the most refined temple buildings in South Indian history
The Goa Inquisition that began in 1560 and lasted until 1812, one of the most severe in history, during which hundreds of ancient Goa temples were demolished and their stones recycled into churches, and communities were given the choice of conversion or exile from the land their families had inhabited for centuries
The Tambdi Surla Mahadev Temple, Goa's oldest intact Hindu temple, built in the 12th century from basalt carried across the mountains from the Deccan Plateau and fitted together without a single drop of mortar, hidden so completely in the Western Ghats jungle that the Portuguese never found it and it was not rediscovered until 1935
Why the Tambdi Surla temple is the only surviving specimen of Kadamba architecture in basalt stone in all of Goa, with its extraordinary pyramidal shikhara, its bas-relief figures of Shiva Vishnu and Brahma, and the ancient stone steps and flowing river that create one of the most atmospheric heritage encounters available in any Indian state
The black cobra that is said to permanently inhabit the inner sanctum of the Tambdi Surla temple as its guardian, the headless Nandi whose story is one of the most poignant details of the entire ancient Goa temple visit, and why walking to the temple across the river bridge in the early morning silence with only the birdsong and the water is unlike any other heritage experience in Goa
The full story of Saptakoteshwar, the chief deity of the Kadamba kings, destroyed by the Bahmani Sultan in the 14th century, partially restored by the Vijayanagara kings and then rescued from Portuguese destruction by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj himself, one of the most heroic acts of ancient temple preservation in the entire history of Indian cultural survival
Why the intervention of Shivaji Maharaj in the rescue of the Saptakoteshwar Shiva linga gives this ancient Goa temple a dimension that no other Goan heritage site possesses, connecting the story of Goa's Hindu religious survival directly to one of the greatest military and cultural figures in Indian history
The Mangeshi Temple and the extraordinary act of cultural camouflage by which this ancient Goa temple disguised itself as a wedding venue when the Portuguese forbade the practice of Hindu customs in the region, one of the most creative and most poignant stories of religious survival in the entire history of the Goa Inquisition
The Deepastambha of the Mangeshi Temple, the seven-storey lamp tower whose rows of oil lamp niches when fully lit create a column of fire visible for kilometres, one of the most photographed architectural elements in Goa and the single most visually spectacular feature of any ancient Goa temple in the state
The extraordinary Chandor Grand Mansions of Goa, where private Hindu shrines hidden behind Catholic facades inside Indo-Portuguese family homes tell the most intimate parallel story of cultural survival to the ancient Goa temple heritage you encounter at Tambdi Surla, Saptakoteshwar and Mangeshi
The 9000-year-old rock art at Usgalimal on the banks of the Kushavati River, petroglyphs carved by prehistoric communities that represent the oldest surviving human artistic tradition in Goa, eight millennia older than the ancient Goa temples on this tour, accessible with the same archaeologist guide on the Ancient Rock Art Bubble Lake and Cave tour
How to plan your complete ancient Goa temple tour with 5 Senses Tours, what is included, how the archaeologist guide brings every site to life and why this experience is unlike anything else available in Goa from any tour operator in India
Experience the Ancient Goa Temples With 5 Senses Tours
The three ancient Goa temples are waiting. The Tambdi Surla forest is as quiet today as it was when the Portuguese failed to find it. The Saptakoteshwar Shiva linga rescued by Shivaji Maharaj still receives the same daily devotion it has received since the Kadamba kings made it the chief deity of their kingdom. And the seven-storey Deepastambha of Mangeshi still rises above the surrounding landscape as the most extraordinary visual statement available at any ancient Goa temple in the state.
Our Forest Shrine and Magnificent Temples of Goa tour covers all three ancient Goa temples with an expert archaeologist guide throughout, private vehicle, hotel pickup from anywhere in Goa and all entry fees included. This is the most comprehensive and most deeply contextualised ancient Goa temple experience available from any tour operator in India. Book at
https://5sensestours.com/tour/forest-shrine-magnificent-temples-of-goa/The Panjim Heritage Walk takes you through the Latin Quarter of Fontainhas, the Mint House, the extraordinary St Sebastian Chapel with the only open-eyed crucifix of Jesus in India, and the complete story of how Goa's capital evolved from a sleepy Portuguese retreat into one of the most characterful cities in India. Book at
https://5sensestours.com/tour/panjim-heritage-tour/For walking tours of Panjim and Old Goa with expert guides who bring every lane and every facade to life with the complete story behind it, our Goa walks with 5 Senses Walks are available at
https://5senseswalks.com/goa-walks/The Chandor Grand Mansions tour takes you inside the Braganza House and the Sara Fernandes House, lived-in family homes whose private Hindu shrines hidden behind Catholic facades tell the most intimate story of cultural survival in Goa in direct parallel with the ancient Goa temple heritage of the forest shrine tour. Book at
https://5sensestours.com/tour/chandor-grand-mansions/The Ancient Rock Art, Bubble Lake and Cave tour takes you to Usgalimal where 9000-year-old petroglyphs represent the oldest surviving human artistic tradition in Goa, led by the same archaeologist guide who brings the ancient Goa temple story to life. Book at
https://5sensestours.com/tour/ancient-rock-art-bubble-lake-cave/