Revisiting Rock Art of Goa
Posted by: nt May 8, 2016 in Panorama
It was a very warm and bright day, Sunday, May 9, 1993 when the search party comprising this author, Ponda based architect Kamalakar Sadhale, his son Abhijeet, former director of Goa archives
Prakashchandra Shirodkar, archaeologist Mangesh Deshpande, horticulturist from Khandola Kalidas
Sawaikar reached the banks of Kushavati or Paroda River. In February, during a function in Ponda Sadhale told me that he would try to arrange a visit to the site in south Goa where some strange figures have been found inside the river. “I have heard about them from former MLA Ranu Prabhudessai and Quepem based lawyer Vallabh G Dessai during an excursion of Goa
University in 1991 joined by the Vice Chancellor. But we were getting late so could not visit the site” I informed him. Finally Sadhale coordinated the visit with Sawaikar who owns a farm close to the site at Kolamb and got in touch with Shirodkar who picked me on the way as we discussed excitedly what we could find throughout the tiring journey.
By evening when we returned, history of Goa had changed. The legend of Lord Parashurama having created the land of Goa had been rendered invalid.
The claims of some Maharashtrian and Indo-Portuguese historians about Goa’s ‘dark ages’ were
proven false as a new chapter in world prehistory was opened. There was some confusion about name of exact location– first it was thought to be Usgalimol but later it was changed to Panasaimol. On May 9, 1993 our team made the first discovery of validated and accredited pre-historic rock art gallery of Goa at Panasaimal, Kolamb, Rivona, on the bank of Kushavati or Paroda River.
A crude replica of this rock art location can be seen in front of Goa Museum at EDC Patto Plaza, Panaji. We are eagerly waiting for Shirodkar’s coffee table monograph on rock art of this region and in this regard amateur archaeologist Satish Lalit who was instrumental in discovering Kudopi rock art in Konkan informed me that he has extended necessary co-operation to Shirodkar by providing details of his discovery.
World rock art research has expanded in past 23 years and it has been shown that rock paintings and
carvings date back to 40-60,000 years. After discovery of 150 forms at Panasaimal, petroglyphs were
found at Cazur, Quepem, Mauxi, Sattari, cupules at Mauxi, Sattari, Banaulim and Bambolim, geoglyphs of Vaghurme. Some archaeo-astronomical claims from Cabo de Rama fort area are yet to be validated. The rock art forms of Goa do not include paintings because rock shelters which could support such creations. of ancient homo-sapiens are yet to be found. Archaeologists have neglected the limestone caves of Bhimgadh-Krishnapur. Exploration of these prehistoric human shelters, especially the habitation layers of cave floor would yield rich data on arrival of first homo-sapiens in Goa. Ignorance of scientific archeology has led to identification of rock art forms of Goa as mere superficial bruising or etchings instead of stylistic, deliberate, intentional, pre-planned carvings which they are, as evidenced by depth of the lines which make the shapes of a variety of anthropomorphs, zoomorphs, phytomorphs, entomomorphs, mycomorphs and geometric shapes. The lines are found to be two to five centimeters deep and for such depth we can’t use terms like “bruising” or “etchings”.
Now what do we make of the distribution of rock art forms in Goa? When superimposed with maps of routes of prehistoric human migration, chronology of sea level fluctuations, patterns of changing
weather, paleobiodiversity of animals and plants, studies of DNA sequences and other supporting data –it can be shown that rock art from Kudopi to Waynad, Kerala is deeply linked to various phases of human migrations, settlement and emergence of later trade routes connecting the Arabian sea, the west coast to the Deccan. The temporal sequence places evolution of Konkan-Goa-Malabar rock art within the ecospatial continuum of unfolding spectrum of nomadic human shelters from Mesolithic to Megalithic periods. The Mauxi bovids (carvings of Wild Zebu bulls) is the real transition point separating southern Konkan forms from Goa-Malabar ones. Mauxi bovids and Cazur bovids appear on an interesting intersection in two major river valleys – Mahadayi and Zuari. These bovids carved on monoliths of different shapes and sizes were eco-geographical territorial markers for the first nomadic cattle herders in central Western Ghats. These bovids indicate a clear transition from hunter food-gatherer society to an agro-pastoral lifestyle. The scenario changes at Panasaimal which truly deserves to be declared by UNESCO as world heritage site. Panasaimal site is a virtual encyclopedia of prehistory of Goa carved on rock. This gallery of rock art is monumental evidence of the rich shamanistic eco-theological traditions of the Kushavati people and their prehistoric material and spiritual culture. Incorrectly identified as triskelion, I showed in 2005 the archaeological and spiritual importance of petroglyph of Pansaimal labyrinth in local history seminar. World labyrinth experts have now identified the Panasaimal labyrinth as one of the oldest if not the oldest of such forms on Earth. So one could imagine where it places Goa as a cradle of the magico-artistic impulse of prehistoric human society.
Posted by: nt May 8, 2016 in Panorama
It was a very warm and bright day, Sunday, May 9, 1993 when the search party comprising this author, Ponda based architect Kamalakar Sadhale, his son Abhijeet, former director of Goa archives
Prakashchandra Shirodkar, archaeologist Mangesh Deshpande, horticulturist from Khandola Kalidas
Sawaikar reached the banks of Kushavati or Paroda River. In February, during a function in Ponda Sadhale told me that he would try to arrange a visit to the site in south Goa where some strange figures have been found inside the river. “I have heard about them from former MLA Ranu Prabhudessai and Quepem based lawyer Vallabh G Dessai during an excursion of Goa
University in 1991 joined by the Vice Chancellor. But we were getting late so could not visit the site” I informed him. Finally Sadhale coordinated the visit with Sawaikar who owns a farm close to the site at Kolamb and got in touch with Shirodkar who picked me on the way as we discussed excitedly what we could find throughout the tiring journey.
By evening when we returned, history of Goa had changed. The legend of Lord Parashurama having created the land of Goa had been rendered invalid.
The claims of some Maharashtrian and Indo-Portuguese historians about Goa’s ‘dark ages’ were
proven false as a new chapter in world prehistory was opened. There was some confusion about name of exact location– first it was thought to be Usgalimol but later it was changed to Panasaimol. On May 9, 1993 our team made the first discovery of validated and accredited pre-historic rock art gallery of Goa at Panasaimal, Kolamb, Rivona, on the bank of Kushavati or Paroda River.
A crude replica of this rock art location can be seen in front of Goa Museum at EDC Patto Plaza, Panaji. We are eagerly waiting for Shirodkar’s coffee table monograph on rock art of this region and in this regard amateur archaeologist Satish Lalit who was instrumental in discovering Kudopi rock art in Konkan informed me that he has extended necessary co-operation to Shirodkar by providing details of his discovery.
World rock art research has expanded in past 23 years and it has been shown that rock paintings and
carvings date back to 40-60,000 years. After discovery of 150 forms at Panasaimal, petroglyphs were
found at Cazur, Quepem, Mauxi, Sattari, cupules at Mauxi, Sattari, Banaulim and Bambolim, geoglyphs of Vaghurme. Some archaeo-astronomical claims from Cabo de Rama fort area are yet to be validated. The rock art forms of Goa do not include paintings because rock shelters which could support such creations. of ancient homo-sapiens are yet to be found. Archaeologists have neglected the limestone caves of Bhimgadh-Krishnapur. Exploration of these prehistoric human shelters, especially the habitation layers of cave floor would yield rich data on arrival of first homo-sapiens in Goa. Ignorance of scientific archeology has led to identification of rock art forms of Goa as mere superficial bruising or etchings instead of stylistic, deliberate, intentional, pre-planned carvings which they are, as evidenced by depth of the lines which make the shapes of a variety of anthropomorphs, zoomorphs, phytomorphs, entomomorphs, mycomorphs and geometric shapes. The lines are found to be two to five centimeters deep and for such depth we can’t use terms like “bruising” or “etchings”.
Now what do we make of the distribution of rock art forms in Goa? When superimposed with maps of routes of prehistoric human migration, chronology of sea level fluctuations, patterns of changing
weather, paleobiodiversity of animals and plants, studies of DNA sequences and other supporting data –it can be shown that rock art from Kudopi to Waynad, Kerala is deeply linked to various phases of human migrations, settlement and emergence of later trade routes connecting the Arabian sea, the west coast to the Deccan. The temporal sequence places evolution of Konkan-Goa-Malabar rock art within the ecospatial continuum of unfolding spectrum of nomadic human shelters from Mesolithic to Megalithic periods. The Mauxi bovids (carvings of Wild Zebu bulls) is the real transition point separating southern Konkan forms from Goa-Malabar ones. Mauxi bovids and Cazur bovids appear on an interesting intersection in two major river valleys – Mahadayi and Zuari. These bovids carved on monoliths of different shapes and sizes were eco-geographical territorial markers for the first nomadic cattle herders in central Western Ghats. These bovids indicate a clear transition from hunter food-gatherer society to an agro-pastoral lifestyle. The scenario changes at Panasaimal which truly deserves to be declared by UNESCO as world heritage site. Panasaimal site is a virtual encyclopedia of prehistory of Goa carved on rock. This gallery of rock art is monumental evidence of the rich shamanistic eco-theological traditions of the Kushavati people and their prehistoric material and spiritual culture. Incorrectly identified as triskelion, I showed in 2005 the archaeological and spiritual importance of petroglyph of Pansaimal labyrinth in local history seminar. World labyrinth experts have now identified the Panasaimal labyrinth as one of the oldest if not the oldest of such forms on Earth. So one could imagine where it places Goa as a cradle of the magico-artistic impulse of prehistoric human society.
