Panaji: The first archaeological evidence ever in the Konkani language was uncovered in Goa, found as an inscription at the back of a stone sculpture of Kalbhairav. Until now, archaeological explorations did not throw up any inscriptions in Konkani, with any found across the Konkani-speaking belt in India only being in either Kannada, Marathi, or Sanskrit.This latest inscription, dated 1583 CE, now stands confirmed as being in Konkani by the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) epigraphy branch in Mysuru, after the writing was deciphered by collecting an enstampage of the inscription.The statue was retrieved in 2010 due to its heritage value from the temple tank of Shree Chamundeshwari temple in Vargao, Bicholim. Professor Rohit Phalgaonkar, under whose supervision the sculpture was salvaged from the temple tank, later included it as an artefact on display at the museum set up at his college at the Sant Sohirobanath Ambiye Govt College in Virnoda, Pernem.“We carried out an exploration in 2010 of the Shree Chamundeshwari temple tank, supported by Tushar Tople, who was the temple committee president. That is when we found this sculpture of Kalbhairav with the three-line inscription behind it. It was when we opened the museum and started the study of all the sculptures in it that we began to gauge the real value of this inscription,” said Phalgaonkar.When the museum officially opened last year and epigraphist Aditya Singhi Reddy from ASI Mysuru’s epigraphy branch visited, it was decided to use an enstampage of the inscription, realising how the writing was a vital link of Konkani heritage.“The closest we came to an inscription in Konkani is the one near the Gomateshwar idol in Shravanbelagola, Karnataka, but experts are yet to say definitively that it is Konkani, and doubts remain. The inscription we found now was made specifically for Piligao, Bicholim. What is special about the inscription on this sculpture is that, for the first time in the history of Konkani, words like ‘Goyem’ and ‘Goyaantu’ were found, which are very commonly used in the Konkani language even today to refer to Goa,” Phalgaonkar said.All earlier inscriptions referred to Goa only by the names of Gopake, Gove, or Gopakapattanne. Now, a reference to ‘Goyem’ was found.“This is very important evidence for Goa’s history. Attaching ‘tu’ to say Goyaantu is something unique to modern-day Konkani and proves the inscription to be in Konkani beyond any doubt,” said Phalgaonkar.The inscription mentions the date of the sculpture as ‘1505 sake’ as per the Hindu calendar, which corresponds to 1583 CE.As the inscription was difficult to decipher with the naked eye, the enstampage process was used, which showed that a person named Govind Shet installed the statue of Bhairav and Govnath.“A second date of 1579 CE is also mentioned, possibly showing that this was the year the sculpture was taken up and it was installed in 1583. Basically, the inscription speaks about a sculpture made and installed, which is very common and found on many sculptures. The use of the words Goyem and Goyaantu is special, which are used twice in the inscription and therefore cannot be dismissed as a mistake,” said Phalgaonkar.A paper on the inscription was presented at the Golden Jubilee event of the Epigraphical Society of India in Kolkata and will subsequently be published in the society’s journal.
