Kadamba Temples - Opa And Khandepar

Some pre-Portuguese temples which generate considerable interest are found in Ponda Taluka, one of them being the Opa temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, a magnificent rock cut temple originating from the 13th century. It is very simple in its design, consisting of only the entrance hall and sanctuary, with pillars made of basalt, ceiling and the door frames respectively. It has a distinctive two storeyed lamp tower shaped in the form of a lantern and has a small dome. The entrance hall is covered by a sloping tiled roof with the door well carved. The temple has a luminous metallic linga which shines in the darkness. Just nearby, there are four rock cut sanctuaries at Khandepar dating back to the 10th or 11th centuries, which was generally the period of structural temples. The sanctuaries have been excavated from a slope on the hillside leaving only the solid blocks of rock.

Three of the sanctuaries are similar in pattern with 2 cells while the fourth is single celled. They are actually simple and very much common in appearance except for the presence of pyramid shaped shikharas added up by building up horizontal slab layers. Overall ,the interior and exterior decoration is exquisite especially the lotus ceiling decoration. The rock cut feeling gives them a Buddhist origin and some of the inscriptions are enough evidence of this. However, possibility of Hindu temple features, such as shikharas cannot be ruled out. Ponda has increased manifold in terms of its population then what it was before with just 3500 inhabitants. It was mostly under Muslim influence after the Portuguese arrival in Goa and retreat of Bijapur rulers. The strong Muslim influence in this area can be known from the fact that there were 27 mosques at Ponda in the 16th century and to add to this, it was a place of conflicts which was the main area of defence for the Muslim rulers against Portuguese attacks.


There are ruins of an old fort namely Mardangad which underwent renovation a number of times under the Maratha and Portuguese rule. Within the fort ruins is the Dargah or tomb of a Muslim saint, Hazrat Abdul Khan. The festival URS is celebrated each year in February in memory of the saint. There is yet another ancient mosque found on the outskirts of the town on the road back to Panjim also known as the Safa Shahouri Mosque.