Stone sculptures of Lajja Gauri at Kudne, Tillari found to be identical

KERI: In Kudne region of Goa, stones carved with forms of Lajja Gauri, the goddess of fertility, sexuality, and abundance, can be found. Now, similar carvings have also been identified in Patye, Maharashtra, which throws light on the socio-cultural life of the Goa-Konkan of the past.
Recently, members of the Vivekanand Puratatva and Itihas Mandal of Keri, Sattari, visited the Tillari reservoir. As Patye near Dodamarg in Maharashtra, which was submerged in the dam waters, surfaces during the summer, the stone panel with the carvings with Lajja Gauri is visible.
On the ruins of the temple of Kelbai, Lajja Gauri, a form of the mother goddess, is found, where the aspects of her fertility have been shown with her legs spread open and the genitalia visible. A blooming lotus replaces her head and neck.
This discovery of Lajja Gauri in the stone sculptures has added a new dimension to the study of the history and heritage of the Goa-Konkan region, which was once under the same political rule for a long period before Goa, as we know it today, came under the Portuguese rule.
In the Lajja Gauri form, the mother goddess is invoked for fertility and good progeny.
“Remnants of the old Kelbai temple, which is open after the water receded in Patye, has brought to our notice this unique piece of Lajja Gauri along with other panels displaying erotic scenes and socio-cultural aspects of life in the past,” said Sanjay Natekar from Dodamarg.
This temple earlier displayed the royal emblem with the lion of the Goa Kadamba rulers at the entrance, said Sanjay Sawant, a heritage lover. “There is a need to protect all these assets of heritage lying in neglected condition at the earliest,” he said.
Besides Patye, earlier Dattaguru Amonkar, a researcher of Goan history, during a field study came across the stone sculpture of Lajja Gauri in Kudne village in Bicholim.
“A sculpture of the goddess in a pure folk style is present at Kudne, with seating posture and hands like Lajja Gauri. The position of hands seems to be like Lajja Gauri of the Western Chalukyan period found in Aihole of Karnataka,” said Amonkar.