Hundreds, if not thousands, make their way all through the year to a temple dedicated to Lord Brahma in Pushkar, Rajasthan.
Less than a couple of temples across the planet are solely dedicated to the present Hindu god of creation, resulting in a fascination with the location at Pushkar.
But only a couple of devotees, or perhaps the casually curious lot, must remember that if they followed a linear path down India’s western region from Pushkar, they are set to land at the location of another Brahma temple in Goa.
In the interior of Sattari taluka in North Goa, near the village of Nagargao, drowned within the sounds of nature, stands the house of Shree Brahmadev, within the hamlet of Brahma-Karmali.
Inside the sanctum sanctorum stands the idol of a sharp-featured bearded man, decorated with details typical of Kadamba-era art.Legend has it that Brahma the creator of the Hindu holy trinity was to possess only one temple at Pushkar, in Rajasthan.
However, little known to several , there’s another Brahma temple, this one tucked away during a remote village of Nagargao in Valpoi, Goa.
“The Brahma statue during this temple stands tall and stylish . The statue of Lord Brahma blesses all those that come to ascertain him. The beautifully chiseled image of Brahma is dated to the Kadamba period and belongs to the 12th century.
The importance of this temple and Brahma idol lies within the incontrovertible fact that it’s the first piece of sculpture chiseled out of a black stone during the Kadamba period.
Inside the temple the idol of Lord Brahma stands at the middle and wears a beard. Brahma is shown in Trimurti form that is the trinity of Brahma – Vishnu – Mahesh.
According to historians in Goa, it was in the 16th century when the island of Tiswadi was conquered by the Portuguese and there was a fear of destruction of the temple.
Hence in 1541, the devotees of Brahma smuggled the deity out of Karmali village in Old Goa and during a clandestine manner, carried it to the Sattari taluka which then had not come under Portuguese rule.
Sattari taluka came under the Portuguese rule as late as 1781. The devotees then took the idol to Valpoi village and from there to dense forest area of Nagargaon and installed the image during a small shrine on the banks of a stream.
This small hamlet later came to be known after the deity Brahma and therefore the village of its origin Karmali (in the Tiswadi taluka) and hence the name Brahma Karmali.
