The Red Jewel

In the depths of a wildlife sanctuary in the Western Ghats, Vithal C Nadkarni chances upon Goa’s oldest surviving temple at Tambdi Surla

- Vithal C Nadkarni

In Konkani, which is spoken in Goa, tamb-do stands for ‘red’. So Tambdi Surla means ‘Red Sur-la’. That’s the epithet for Goa’s most ancient and sole surviving temple from its pre-colonial past. The Tambdi Surla Mahadev Devil survived the Portuguese Inquisition probably because it was tucked away in the dense Western Ghats forest near Sanguem, now protected as the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary.

We are tramping in the sanctuary towards the Ragado River on whose banks stand this superb 12th-century shrine built by Queen Kamladevi of Kadamba monarch Shivachitta. Troops of graceful bonnet macaques follow our jungle yatra with interest. The younger simians scamper down mossy trunks to snatch at the small yellow bananas that our driver holds out.

During our hike through the sunlit jungle, we also encounter giant trees crowned with blazing-red inflorescences. These are kings, winged myrobalans, from the Rangoon Creeper family, which is prized for its crimson-and-white papery flowers. We wonder if that was the reason the forest village got named ‘Red’ Surla.