CAVE TEMPLE OF 9TH CENTURY AT DABOS SATARI By Rohit R Phalgaonkar

VALPOI: Dabos is a small village in the taluka of Satari. This village has the second cave site of Satari which is historically and archaeologically very important. The village has a cave temple dating perhaps to the 9th or the 10th century. It is hewn out of a laterite boulder which is located on a steep slope amidst cashew plantations.

According to the usual folklore told in the rest of Goa, this village also tells that the caves were built by the five Pandavs. The cave was hewn for worship of Shiva but has probably remained incomplete. In case it had to be complete then it would have been known as the cave having the biggest carved laterite Shivling in Goa.

The cave has a rectangular in shaped doorway and has just one room which houses the Shivling. The interesting part of the cave is the incomplete carved Shivling in the centre. The Shivling is like a broad pillar with round edges on the top. The Shivling is as tall as the lintel. The Shivling reminds one of the Amarnath Shivling which is formed due to ice in the North India. This Shivling rests against the wall as it is not fully carved.

The structure of the cave is very plain and has no mouldings or reliefs. It also does not have any sort of Shikhar on the top like the caves of Khandepar in Ponda. However a well carved door frame is visible.

The cave is completely covered with vegetation and does not come under the notification list of Department of Archives and Archaeology of Goa state. The location of the cave is on a steep hillock which has a bad access. One thing which can be concluded from this is the location of this cave is that the caves were probably carved only after studying the type of laterite stone which was available.

In many cases the carvers were perhaps disappointed by the type of the rock which they came across as they began the carving. Laterite being a soft stone disintegrates into pieces as it cannot withstand the blows of the chisel and the hammer for a long time. Yet such marvels were carved in this type of stone by our ancestors. Had the cave of Dabos had to be complete then it would have been known throughout Goa for its Shivling.