GOA'S SACRED ART KAAVI

Published in the August 2016 edition of Art & Deal Magazine, commissioned by Lina Vincent.

Shri Maruti Temple, Advalpale, Bicholim after restoration, Image Courtesy: Anubhuti Chandna/Charles Correa Foundation.

Goa (N 15 13' E 73 37') would probably topple over if you tried to fit it on a pinhead on the map of western India. Best known for its beautiful beaches where the crunchy white sand actually squeaks under your bare feet, rich landscape that typically includes vast tracts of paddy fields outlined with coconut palm trees and a predominantly sweet-and-sour cuisine that bears the heavy saucy influence of its Arab, Portuguese and British visitors, Goa is an epitome of how tourism is a misnomer for crass commercialization, bad urban planning and skewed image branding.

Goa was under Portuguese rule for 451 years and has imbibed the influence of its colonizers in its food, dress, language, architecture and civil administration not to mention the way Goa's inheritance law courts function. Although Goa was liberated from Portuguese Rule by the Indian Army in 1961, Goa's society is still perceived as "being Portuguese" by visitors to Goa. The state government capitalizes on this perception and in fact promotes its "European-ness" in which its "European-ness" blurs with its being "Westernized". As a result, Goa is perceived, wrongly, as being liberal and even libertine, its beach culture (confined to a few kilometers of its tourist belt) and highly visible Catholic presence (defined by its high pitched Catholic churches, chapels and wayside shrines)

reinforcing this notion. In a blind attempt to promote beach tourism and to support the builder's lobby in Goa, the government of the day in fact reiterates this image giving it currency in its promotional material.

The truth is, there is another Goa that is stable, steadfast and culturally far superior to what is currently being perceived and promoted by the state. This is the Goa of the villages, of the oral history and culture that stays out of the tourist brochures and the rich little known architectural art that has stood on its walls, ceilings, doors and windows, arches and panels for centuries. Not all of Goa's architectural art is unknown.

If you visit the churches located at the World Heritage Sites of Old Goa (Velha Goa) you will see a rich variety of architectural art rendered on its walls. The chapel dedicated to Santa Monica at the Santa Monica Convent is a fine example where various art forms may be seen all together in one go. Azulejos (blue tiles), stencils, sgraffito, pointillism and murals

vie for space in the rich panels on the walls. Like all Catholic art and architecture in Goa, there is a great emphasis on visibility and the iconic reaffirmation of religious faith.

Is all art not highly visible then? Is it possible for an art form to be almost invisible? Apparently, yes. Unknown to most visitors to Goa and even to most of its own residents, Goa has architectural art forms that only a few scholars and interested artists know about. This absolutely exquisite art form is considered sacred and is known by the name of kaavi or kao (colloquial) throughout Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka Kaavi art is rendered on walls of Hindu temples and in sacred spaces of Hindu homes and almost always monochromatic. The traditional method of rendering kaavi on walls is both simple and inexpensive. The first step is to plaster a wall with lime plaster and then etch or scratch the desired design out with a steel bodkin. The etching is then filled with kaav, a paste prepared with fine red soil, charcoal and a binding agent (reputedly made with crushed leaves, flowers and the sap of the liana creeper). The design is then fine tuned with a finer steel bodkin with the expression in the eyes of the drawn figure done as a final touch.

Kaavi motifs can be grouped into three main categories. One, a running border typically a graphic rendering of waves and dots or an upturned lotus bud; two, heavy full-bodied figures, usually male or animals with some divine attributes and three; floral patterns either in the shape of a medallion or a running length. What is clear from all the

kaavi properties and sites seen so far is that it is a sacred art and it is not simply a decorative art form. Some researchers believe that the soil for the kaavi art is collected from anthills or termite mounds, believed to be sacred in Goa. Kaav, therefore is a sacred material with some divine or medicinal properties and kaavi, the art, defines sacred space. Kaavi then takes on a multi-dimensional aspect and unlike the other architectural art forms seen in Goa is not simply decorative.

For reasons reiterated earlier, anything that does not serve the tourism machinery tends to get thrown by the Goan wayside. An architectural art form is by its definition rendered on architecture, on walls, windows, doors, arches and ceilings of buildings. The art form is in a highly endangered state right now and is in danger of being lost to posterity. To save the art, one would have to save the entire structure on which it is rendered. There is little doubt that the loss of this art form would be a huge and permanent cultural loss for the state and for the country. It is an art form that has its origins in Goa and from where it has spread to Maharashtra and Karnataka. It is Goa's unique and inclusive gift to the art world.

A few of these tragic losses have already been lost completely. The temple of Brahmanimaya, for instance, was demolished completely after heritage conservationists had a meeting with the village heads in a bid to educate the community on the value of the art form. The Shri Saptakoteshwar temple at Narve, a state protected monument has had many undesirable interventions that the original kaavi art on its walls is barely discernable. The Shri Gomanteshwar temple at Pernem is probably the worst example seen so far of the complete and uninformed neglect of kaavi art in a temple. Shri Hanuman temple, Pernem lies abandoned and singled out in its isolation. The kaavi art has, however, miraculously survived. Shri Sateri temple (significantly dedicated to a termite mound) had two beautiful cobras on either side of the termite mound but has since been painted over with enamel paint. Shri Rashtori temple is in a complete state of neglect.

If that is not depressing enough, Goa has another art form that is often seen as a complement to kaavi and is equally if not worse neglected. Goa has frescos! Two particular fresco sites need to be mentioned here briefly. One because it is lost forever and the other because it still survives even though in a very poor condition. The Prabhu Desai house in the village of Borus, Canacona (also called the Boruskar House) once boasted of the finest frescos to be seen in any house in Goa. Frescos are rendered by artists when the lime plaster is still wet and it is often that the final art work emerges only on the drying of the plaster. This means that the artist does not see the final result until after the plaster dries! The Boruskar House had the frescos on the walls in the guest house attached to the main house in which trapeze artists, a sage, the landlord himself seated on a chair and several types of agricultural produce are depicted. The kaavi forms a backdrop to the frescos. Sadly, the mud walls of the guest house have collapsed and the art is lost forever.

The other is the temple dedicated to Shri Mulvir at Pernem where the nine incarnations of Lord Vishnu are rendered in frescos in vegetable and mineral dyes. The frescos have survived in potentially restorable condition thanks to the temple

being live and regularly filled with devotees. Cement washes run down the art work from roof repairs carried out in the recent past.

So do we conclude that Goa's architectural art form is lost forever?

All is not lost. This author working with a team of researchers from the Charles Correa Foundation, Panaji, Goa has come across a few examples where kaavi temples have not only

been restored but even their status as live temples reinstated. The Shri Vijaydurga temple at Keri is one such example where architects Kamlakar Sadhale and his son Abhijit Sadhale have capitalized on the goodwill and educated intent of the temple trustees to restore the temple to near perfection. Admittedly, chemical paints have been employed to refresh some of the kaavi but not to irreversible degrees. A "before" and "after" image of the Shri Kshetrapal temple off the Siolim bridge is also encouraging. The Shri Maruti temple at Advalpale, Bicholim is restored and is alive and well. The last two temples are family owned, small in size and had limited resources. Yet, they were able to achieve something that is only the stuff of architectural dreams.

Can the Goan community not emulate these modest examples? Will kaavi art find its own place in the art world? Do we value art only if it has some commercial value attached to it? The voice of an ancient indigenous art is crying out for help. Is anybody out there listening?