Saptakoteshwar Temple at Narve

On a whim we decide to go to Old Goa, walk the ancient Rua Direita, maybe catch an auction, just as we are admiring the Viceroy’s Arch, we see the ferry crossing over to Divar, we look at one another, lets?  We nod and run to the ferry, such peace and calm.

At Divar bus stop a woman tells us there are so many ferries you can take, one that goes to Narva, lets?

A drive through Divar and we are at Narva, the driver says

 ‘What about the Saptakoteshwar Temple?’

‘It is Maha Shivratri’, we breathe in the peace and calm, Saptakoteshwar Temple it is.

We are told it is but a short walk, but……..we arrive tired and very hungry at Saptakoteshwar Temple, so many people, we can see Brahmins from Karnataka and Maharashtra clad in their beautiful silk dhoties of deep purple, muted scarlet. Strangely, we do not feel we are intruding although everyone can see I am Catholic.

Food is what I need, tea and bhajis are definitely not lunch. I crave a nice, simple thali!

And then I see the dining hall, and I enter it with no thought in mind except the delicious food I see, I fail to register the surprise and concern on the serving lady’s face, the look of utter stupefaction on the faces of some young boys. We are in place where food is cooked by Brahmins and I a Catholic…… The lady says;

‘Just a minute, I will ask Kaka’ and she says ‘Kaka, they want food, they have come from Margão’(as though it would make me less of a Catholic) Kaka looks at me for an instant and adds with authority

‘Today, food for everyone’

Oh, how the lady beams at us, she bustles to serve us. ‘Pot bhor jevat’ she says, eat your fill, can I get you kheer. We are full of food and kindness.

We are blessed on this day of Maha Shivratri.