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A short note on Jainism and Buddhism in Goa

The following comments on Buddhism and Jainism are taken from Ph.D. thesis ( now published
as book by Institute Menezes Braganza) of late Dr. V.R. Mitragotri
(A socio-cultural history of Goa from the Bhojas to the Vijayanagara by Mitragotri, V. R.
Publication: Panaji, Goa Institute Menezes Braganza 1999 . 271p)

During period of Bhoijas of Chandrapur, The Hiregutti plate of Bhoja Asankita praises Lord
Buddha in the invocatory verses of his charter as well as makes grants to the monks of the
monastry. Bhoja Prithvimallavarman appointed a Buddhist called Buddhadasa to write the said
charter. This shows that the followers of Buddhism converted themselves to Brahmanical
religion and as an inducement they
were offered jobs in the administration. Asankita made use of the elephant the vehicle of Buddha
as his insignia on the seal of the charter. This shows that during the time of the Bhojas
Brahmanism and Buddhism was accepted by the rulers The rulers of the Konkan Mauryas which
ruled over Goa extended patronage to Buddhist monks by providing land grants to the
Mahavihara situated in Sivapura during the time of Chandravarman which could be located at
Harvalem or Siroda. The Kadambas extended support to tantrick Buddhism. The pedestal at the
Pilar museum of the Goddeses Chamundeswari who is now installed at Pilgao, Bicholim has the
word Vajra inscribed on it which shows the connection with tantrick Buddhism

Jainism:
When did Jainism come to Goa? We do not have any inscriptional evidences in Goa but there are
monuments in the surrounding regions of Uttara Kannada. The only evidences available is in the
form of sculptures and structures such as the Jaina sculptures in the museums of Goa, Jaina Basti
of Kudne, Jain shrine of Jainkot of Naive and Neminath Jain Basti of Bandivade throws light on
the existence of Jainism in Goa.
Jainism was also existing based on the Jain stone sculptures of trithankara found by Henry Heras
at his excavation of Chandor, the Kothambi village at Bicholim, three Jain stone sculptures in the
temple of Chandreshwar and the Trithankara, Kubera and Yakshi present at the Goa State
museum and the stone sculpture of Kudne all belonging to the Shilahara period throw light on
the existence of different forms of religions and the religious tolerance of the rulers. During Goa
kadamba period-it did not flourish during this period but owing to their importance as mercantile
community, the Jainkot, at Narve, Bicholim belonging to 1150 A.D came to be established.
Besides an image of Suparsvanath at the Goa State Museum dated around this period throws
light on the existence of Jainism.
Jainism didnt receive any patronage from Vijayanagara emperors.
 And here is what Rajendra Kerkar has contributed in Goa edition of Times of India on
November 1, 2014:-
The copper plate of the Konkan Maurya ruler, Chandra Varman of 500 AD mentions the grant
of land to the Buddhist, Mahavira of Shivapur. Some scholars have identified Shivapur with
Aravalem and the rock-cut caves as Buddhist. There are others who believe that Shivapur was a
locality in Shiroda of Ponda taluka. Bhoja ruler Asamkita had patronized Buddhism and his
copper plate refers to the grant of Sundarika of Dipaka Vishya. Sundarika has been identified as
Sunder Peth and Dipaka Vishya as Dicholi (Bicholim). Lamgao means the village of Lamas or
Buddhist monks and the second rock-cut cave has been considered as the abode of Buddhist
monks. The Lamgao cave is now surrounded by intense mining activities, plagued by air and
noise pollution. Though, it has been listed as a state-protected site, its entrance is covered with
wild vegetation and has slowly morphed into an abode for wild boars, porcupines and other
animals. Gritli von Mitterwallner, a German historian who had studied Goan heritage sites
mentions that the second cave of Lamgao very likely could have been a Buddhist excavation.
This would imply that Buddhism did exist in Goa. During the pre-Portuguese era, Buddhism had
reached the coast of Goa through Buddhist merchants. In 1930 Fr Henry Heras discovered a
stone sculpture of Buddha at Mushirwada, Colvale in Bardez. He dated it to 400 AD. The
sculpture at Colvale appears to have been installed in a Buddhist establishment known as 'Tambo
das Rendas de Salcete e Bardez' in 1647 AD. This gives reason to believe that there was a shrine
or a temple of Gautama in Colvale. In Colvale, the site where Buddha's sculpture was discovered
is now a human settlement with a number of concrete structures and no vestige of its glorious
past or as a heritage site. During his expedition, Shenoy Goembab presumed that the natural cave
of Rivona in Sanguem was used by Buddhists. Panchwadi in Ponda has been identified by some
historians as the centre of Mahayana Buddhists and later developed into a Vajrayana centre. The
historian is of the view that Buddhist monks residing in Goa, besides practicing and preaching
Mahayana, were engaged in iron smelting. In many places in Goa, earthen pipes with
encrustation of iron were discovered. The pedestal of Chamundeshwari that belongs to
Vajrayana cult of Buddhism has Vajra incised on it. There is a possibility that there were
monasteries at Colvale, Lamgao and Rivona that might have been used by Buddhist monks. The
Rivona cave is lying in a state of total neglect and attracts wild animals at night and cattle and
buffaloes during the day. In the house of Mhamai Kamat of Panaji, a bronze head of Buddha was
found. Some Buddhist merchants might have brought it to Goa during the Bhoja period. Dadu
Mandrekar, a social activist and Buddhist from Mandrem says, "At one point in time, the
humanitarian ideas and ideals of Gautam Buddha flourished in Goa. There were several places
known for Buddhist shrines and sculptures. Today, many of these have been destroyed and
degraded. Whatever remnants are lying too is also not protected. The young generation is also
unaware about the Buddhist heritage of the land."

My comments on above:-
Caveat:- Much of archaeological evidence was first destroyed during iconoclastic raids of
Khilaji, then Bahamanis and later by the Portuguese, so we need to dig out indirect evidence
1. Jainism entered during Tirthanakara Parsvanatha ( 877 BC) as shraman-dharma in
Konkan/Goa before Buddhism mainly due to the trade routes connecting Arabian sea
ports to markets in Deccan. This is proven by Motichandra in his book Sarthavaha
tracing ancient trade routes and role of Jain Vanik Sanghas or merchant guilds. It
received a boost during early years of Mauryan rule.
 So Jainism in Goa prevails from 877 BC for almost 2800 years! Srhi Ganeshay Namah,
Om Namah Siddam was the first lesson given in Goa before we began with our Marathi
alphabets. There needs to be some explanation of this-Why siddam? and why in
association with Lord Ganesh? (Sidda=Jain tirthankar)
And what was composition of Jain community in Goa from ancient period to 14 th
century?
I. Commodity traders 2. Dealers in Gold, semi precious stones and Jewelers 3.
Horse traders 4. Artisans 5. Spice merchants 6. Textile merchants 7. Monks (
many switched over later and got integrated among Hindus as gurav
community)

2. Buddhism entered Goa during Imperial Mauryan period due to Emperor Ashokas work
and patronage to the monks who migrated from ports of Goa for their missionary activity
in south East Asia. The alchemists among the Buddhist monks were also extracting Gold
from river sands of Goa and were involved in smelting Iron using lime and charcoal (
traces found in Rivona caves). The designation of Sunaparanta is based on Gold found
in river sands of Goa ( in Pali Suna+aparant means Golden Aparant or a region of Gold
deposits) .
Buddhism in Goa is at least 2300 years old !
Composition of Buddhist community in Goa- 1. Monks 2. Metallurgists 3. Sailors 4.
Royal scribes
3. Ashokas inscriptions if any which could have existed in Goa must have been eroded or
destroyed or yet to be located. I found a rock similar to Ashokas edict at Gulem,
Canacona on way to Agonda. But I did not have enough time to minutely scan it for any
eroded inscriptions. You may view the suspected Rock edict from Gule, Canacona
herebut please dont discuss it as it may get vandalized if we write or publish about it
before detail scientific scrutiny
4. As you can see from map below, Goa is interestingly sandwiched between various
southern locations of Ashokas rock edicts- Sopara on west coast of Maharashtra in
Konkan and Karnataka (Sannati, Gulbarga, Palkigundu and Gavimath,
suvarnagiri/kanakgiri, Koppal, Brahmagiri, Chitradurga district, Jatinga-Rameshwara,
near Brahmagiri, Siddapur, near Brahmagiri, Maski, Raichur district, Nittur, Bellary
district, Udegolam, Bellary district). These locations were well connected to ports in
Konkan and Goa.
Also view this- http://karnatakatravel.blogspot.in/2015/05/major-and-minor-rock-edicts-
of-ashoka.html
Similar work needs to be done in Goa
5. Role of Goas Buddhist colonies (Mushir, Colvale; Lamgao, Bicholim; Rivona,
Sanguem) in ancient metallurgy ( the following excerpts are taken from my article in
Navhind Times, 30 August 2015- Ancient Alluvial Gold Mining in Goa)

We detected very high concentration of pure gold particles and gold containing minerals
in the Colvale river sand, which is famous for its quality in the construction industry. But,
1600 years ago the Buddhist monks, who had knowledge of alchemy and metallurgy,
already knew the importance of gold in the Colvale river sand. Professor, Department of
Materials Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, R K Dube,
has written a wonderful paper Alluvial Placer Gold Mining in India through Ages: A
Historical Perspective. He writes: The Pali text Aguttara Nikya (3.10.10) in its
Pansudhovaka Sutta has narrated the process of the recovery of gold dust or particles
from alluvial placer gold deposits. The description of this process was used beautifully as
an allegory in explaining the removal of various evil thoughts from the mind in order to
retain only the thought related to Dharma (i.e. religious or moral virtue). According to
another scholar Pande the dates of the composition of the Nikyas fall between the 5th
and 3rd centuries BC. The gangue present in the alluvial placer gold deposit was a
mixture of coarse, medium and fine size material. A series of successive panning
processes were used to remove these materials in steps starting with coarse size material
first, followed by medium and fine size materials. The reference stated the fine size
gangue also contained black coloured fine particles. In all probability these could have
been magnetite. The mining of the auriferous sand and gravel, and the subsequent
recovery of gold from it was carried out by the same person. The ancient Sanskrit word
for the alluvial placer gold miner-cum-gold washer is pnsudhvaka. The literal
meaning of the term is the one who cleans or washes sands. It is no wonder that the
Buddhist who named Goa and the surrounding Konkan region as Golden Aparant had
set up riverside camps to exploit alluvial gold resources. One such camp existed in a ward
of the Colvale village, known as Mushir. There is reference to a Buddhist shrine in
Colvale in the AD 1647 Portuguese document Tambo das Rendas de Salcete e Bardez.
When Jesuit historian Fr Henry Heras was surveying this area in 1930 on basis of local
information he discovered a stone sculpture of Buddha which he dated to AD 400.
Examination of the sculpture indicates that the Buddhist colony was significantly large
and was definitely sustaining itself by mining readily available alluvial gold. Magnetite is
dominant in sands of Colvale so the references indicated in Aguttara Nikaya match the
composition and quality of gold containing sands of Colvale. The process of separating
gold particles from lighter fraction of the sand also matches the process followed at
Mushir, Colvale. After removal of organic silty fraction, Colvale sand becomes enriched
in auriferous material. Buddhist pnsudhvaka then used the principle of high density of
pure gold particles in serial washing to remove the lighter sandy fraction and capture the
heavy gold grains. Such processes are universally followed even today in many countries
as can be seen from educational videos available on this very useful website
http://www.wheregoldis.com/.

The bronze bust of Buddha in gandhara style found in garden of Kamat Mhamai
residence in Panaji, kept at Goa museum is testimony to contacts of Buddhists as the bust
is supposed to come from a sunken ship. It was dated to A.D. 4- 5 th century.