Long-forgotten gold treasure could be buried at several-century-old temple sites in Goa

NAEW DELHI: While Goa has at least three submerged temples, two of which are undocumented and not well-known among locals, the third one is familiar, says filmmaker Maneesh F Singh who is an authority on submerged relics in India. Other land-based, long-forgotten temple ruin sites in Goa could have buried gold and other treasure or antique artifacts, he predicts.

According to Maneesh F Singh, who has directed a crossover film on the subject, there are several long-forgotten temple ruins which are more than 5-6 (or more) centuries old and not documented at all.

The remains of an ancient temple of Shree Ganesh at Kurdi, which are known and visited by hundreds of visitors during summer features in his film. The other two temples, which are also over 150-200-years old are not even known to locals, claims Singh, who has extensively researched the subject.

Kurdi is a village near Ponda that lies submerged in water round the year. The entire village was evacuated when the Selaulim dam project covered huge tracts of land under water about 30 years ago.

While the villagers were rehabilitated, the temple remained with its idols and every summer when the water abates and dries up, the village surfaces for about 20 days, only to be inundated under water again as soon as the monsoons set in.

Original inhabitants (or their descendents) of the village who visit the remains of what was once their home, once stumbled on the idol of Lord Ganpati during one of their annual visits to the site during summer when the village resurfaced.

“More explorations and searching led the people to the relics of the ancient temple. The idol of the deity is made of stone, and probably dates back to over a century. Some claim it could be more than two hundred years old, says Singh. Nobody knew a temple existed in this village, not even the old timers who resided here. This suggests that the Shree Ganesh temple may have been razed or disappeared at least over a century ago,” adds Singh.

There were no records of this ancient submerged Hindu temple with the state department of archaeology or any other government bodies (at least till a few years ago) – one of the main reasons why it has not got any official status as a heritage location.

Reports claim the ruins went unnoticed by the Kurdi villagers as the site was covered by mounds of earth, debris and thick vegetation that sprouts up as the water abates and dries up.

The submergence of the village, and the subsequent relocation of the villagers, led to the ancient temple ruins slipping into oblivion, before a chance discovery brought it into focus. Now Singh claims there could be buried gold or other treasure in the vicinity.

The ruins of the ancient Shree Ganesh temple are located less than 500m from the ruins of the relatively well-known ancient temple of Shree Someshwar, the presiding deity of Kurdi.

The relics of the Someshwar temple, along with the vestiges of the entire submerged village, resurface during the summer months of April and May, before going under water once the monsoon sets in.

The villagers of Kurdi and Selaulim, over 3,000 in number, were displaced after their villages came under the reservoir submergence of the Selaulim irrigation project.

The Selaulim irrigation project including a dam were planned in 1965. Work began on the dam in 1977 and the villagers left their hearths and homes to be rehabilitated in the remote Valkini and Vaddem villages.

In addition to the Ganesh temple at Kurdi, there are two more lesser-known submerged temples in Goa, one of them being at Betul and the other one on the banks of the Netravali river, Singh says.

The remains of the original century-old temple is in disarray and underwater, while another temple on the banks of the river, which was built later on, also gets submerged during the monsoon. While he is not sure of the exact location, Singh is ready to bet his last penny that the buried treasure does exist some where in the ruins.