History of the temple
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The Lord Shiva is a form of the universal god worshipped by Hindus.
He is also called Shivnath Ravalnath in Konkani as a mark of reverence.
"Shivnath Ravalnath “which means " He whose eyes awaken desire, or He who has beautiful eyes".
Kuladevata is the hereditary or family deity and usually is Shiva, Devi or Vishnu. Each Daivadnya Brahmin family has its own family god or goddess. Daivadnya Brahmins usually have their family deity temples in Goa, very few were shifted to neighboring states of Karnataka and Maharashtra during inquisition period. Daivadnya Brahmins families usually make a pilgrimage to the Kuladevata temple to attain blessing of the god during festivals and after an auspicious occasion such as a wedding.
There are various historical stories which explain the birth of Shri Ravalnath and its establishment. Few believe that Shri Ravalnath is another form of Khandoba or Jyothiba who is widely worshipped in Maharastra. Presently the Ravalnath temple in Shiroda, Goa is one of the few renowned temples. Long back the village was named as Shrivade, which later was called as Shiroda. This village was abundant in greenery, lots of paddy fields and always rich in resource, truly exemplifying the presence of “Shri” in the village. A close study regarding the origin of the Ravalnath idol in shiroda gives an insight to our culture and our past generation.
If one studies the various caste and creeds in Konkan areas, we find that we are descendants from North India. There is town called Ravalpindi on the banks of river Raavi.The god of Raval is called as Ravalnath. “Ravalu” in Telgu means respected officer, hence god of respectable people is Ravalnath. Most of the followers of Ravalnath are from Kasyap gotra. sage Kashyap is son of Brahma and different stories regarding his power are known in purans and vedic scriptures. Sage Kasyap had settled in self built place called Mihir in Himalayas which is now called as Kashmir [Kasyap’s Mihir] The people from this town moved alongside the riverbanks of Ravvi and later settled in the town of Ravalpindi. This town once rich in resources lost its charm and people started migrating down south of India. Some of the people like skilled goldsmiths and artisans settled in goa brought their deity Shri Ravanath to Shrivada, goa.
Goa was ruled byKhiljī. In 1472, the Bahāmanī Muslims attacked, demolished many temples, and forced the Hindus to convert to Islam. To avoid this religious persecution, several Śeṭ families fled to the neighborhood town Karwar. The sect belonging to Kasyap gotra migrated to Karwar with their deity and established the idol at Sonarwada baad, Karwar. In 1840 few members belonging to Kailwadekar, Anavekar and Shirodkar family brought the “divya Jyothi” to Sonar wada, Baad Karwar.
For most of the years the Shri Ravalnath existed in the form of Divya Jyothi and not in the form of idol. In 1935 late shri Ghanshyam Shet, Late Shri Vasudev Shet and Late Shri Govind Shet undertook the temple construction project and the idol of Shri Shivnath Ravalnath came to existence as present in today’s form
The Lord Shiva is a form of the universal god worshipped by Hindus.
He is also called Shivnath Ravalnath in Konkani as a mark of reverence.
"Shivnath Ravalnath “which means " He whose eyes awaken desire, or He who has beautiful eyes".
Kuladevata is the hereditary or family deity and usually is Shiva, Devi or Vishnu. Each Daivadnya Brahmin family has its own family god or goddess. Daivadnya Brahmins usually have their family deity temples in Goa, very few were shifted to neighboring states of Karnataka and Maharashtra during inquisition period. Daivadnya Brahmins families usually make a pilgrimage to the Kuladevata temple to attain blessing of the god during festivals and after an auspicious occasion such as a wedding.
There are various historical stories which explain the birth of Shri Ravalnath and its establishment. Few believe that Shri Ravalnath is another form of Khandoba or Jyothiba who is widely worshipped in Maharastra. Presently the Ravalnath temple in Shiroda, Goa is one of the few renowned temples. Long back the village was named as Shrivade, which later was called as Shiroda. This village was abundant in greenery, lots of paddy fields and always rich in resource, truly exemplifying the presence of “Shri” in the village. A close study regarding the origin of the Ravalnath idol in shiroda gives an insight to our culture and our past generation.
If one studies the various caste and creeds in Konkan areas, we find that we are descendants from North India. There is town called Ravalpindi on the banks of river Raavi.The god of Raval is called as Ravalnath. “Ravalu” in Telgu means respected officer, hence god of respectable people is Ravalnath. Most of the followers of Ravalnath are from Kasyap gotra. sage Kashyap is son of Brahma and different stories regarding his power are known in purans and vedic scriptures. Sage Kasyap had settled in self built place called Mihir in Himalayas which is now called as Kashmir [Kasyap’s Mihir] The people from this town moved alongside the riverbanks of Ravvi and later settled in the town of Ravalpindi. This town once rich in resources lost its charm and people started migrating down south of India. Some of the people like skilled goldsmiths and artisans settled in goa brought their deity Shri Ravanath to Shrivada, goa.
Goa was ruled byKhiljī. In 1472, the Bahāmanī Muslims attacked, demolished many temples, and forced the Hindus to convert to Islam. To avoid this religious persecution, several Śeṭ families fled to the neighborhood town Karwar. The sect belonging to Kasyap gotra migrated to Karwar with their deity and established the idol at Sonarwada baad, Karwar. In 1840 few members belonging to Kailwadekar, Anavekar and Shirodkar family brought the “divya Jyothi” to Sonar wada, Baad Karwar.
For most of the years the Shri Ravalnath existed in the form of Divya Jyothi and not in the form of idol. In 1935 late shri Ghanshyam Shet, Late Shri Vasudev Shet and Late Shri Govind Shet undertook the temple construction project and the idol of Shri Shivnath Ravalnath came to existence as present in today’s form