Disclaimer : The views expressed in the post our views that are entirely subjective to the write. Many abstracts are taken from the internet.

One of the places I love to visit in my state is ……Old Goa, a place full of history and the final resting place of St Francis Xavier. Every year my family pays respects to the incorrupt body of the saint. The body lies in a mausoleum erected in the Basilica of Bom Jesu. At the approach of the mausoleum lies an altar towards the left. A peculiar feature of this altar always draws my attention to it. Unlike any other altars that I have seen this altar has human bones displayed at its bottom. A Femur, a tibia and a couple of some more bones. Quite bizarre !!!! Every year as I watched the bones I wondered who they belonged to? ……..They surely didn’t belong to St Francis Xavier. And why were they placed in the altar? I raised my doubt to many……But never got a conclusive answer……….Until last month.

The tale goes back to many centuries ago…..In the year 1583 to be precise. In this year in a village named Cuncolim, occurred a revolt ……that ended up in a bloody massacre. Five Jesuit priests along with one European and 14 locals were killed.

Why ?

Ever since their conquest of Goa, the Portuguese had taken up a mission of propagating the Christian faith. Unfortunately the method they used was faulty. The local population that mainly consisted of Hindus and a significant amount of Muslims were given incentives to convert or else they were forced to. I guess that was one of the ugliest part of colonialism.

Many of the locals willing converted to the new faith while some refused…..And some like the locals of Cuncolim …..revolted.

Religion in those days played a significant role in moulding the culture of the society and the economy of a place. Many villages had their economy dependent on markets around religious places. A lot of buisness took place during religious functions and festivities. Giving up on religion …..Not only meant the end of a culture but also the loss of an economic base. For many it was not a choice they could make. So they revolted.

In protest to the forced conversions, the locals of Cuncolim refused to pay rent to the Portuguese authorities. They also refused to give up their religious practices, and continued to build religious structures, despite a banning order. They re-built their destroyed structures and conducted their rituals and festivals openly in defiance of Portuguese ordinances. As such, the Portuguese missionaries found it impossible to convert them.

How did it all happen ??

On the fateful day in 1583, the five Jesuit priests received orders from their superior to go to Salcette to construct churches and attempt conversions of the locals. They chose Cuncolim to make their first survey of the situation, as they saw it as an ideal ground for constructing a church.

The five Jesuits met in a neighbouring village and then proceeded to Cuncolim. They were accompanied by 1 European and 14 locals, with the objective of erecting a cross and selecting ground for building a church. Meanwhile, the news reached the villagers of Cuncolim. After a council was held the villagers, advanced in large numbers, armed with swords, lances, and other weapons, towards the spot where the Christians were.

As soon as the 2 groups confronted each other the blood bath began. The villagers attacked the party……There were cuts from scimitars and spears. Bodies were ruthlessly mutilated. Arrows were shot ……Heads were split. The bottled up anger was finally out ……

What followed ?

Following the massacre the bodies of the 5 priests were thrown into a well. The well still stands today inside the St. Francis Xavier chapel situated in Cuncolim.

The bodies themselves, when found, after two and a half days, allowed no signs of decomposition. They were solemnly buried in the church of Our Lady of the Snows at Rachol, and remained there until 1597. The bones were exhumed and were shifted to the St Paul’s College, in Old Goa. After a couple of years they were placed at the bottom of the altar in the Basilica of Bom Jesu……where they rest until this day.

Some parts of these relics were sent to Europe at various times at the request of the families of the 5 priests killed.

The 5 priests were later declared as martyrs by the Catholic Church in 1741. On 16 April 1893, the five martyrs were beatified at St. Peter’s in Rome.This beatification was celebrated in Goa in 1894, and the feast has ever since then been kept with great solemnity at Cuncolim, even by the descendants of those who participated in the murders……Ironical

As for the Portuguese government…..they retaliated by selectively executing most of the local village leaders without trial, and destroying the economic infrastructure of Cuncolim. A memorial in the Cuncolim was constructed to pay homage to the killed chieftains.

So that was the story of the bones……A story of a bloody and dark past. Cuncolim today is a quite and laid back village. And like most villages in my state people of all faiths live together in peace. The well in which the bodies were thrown still exists in the chapel of St Francis Xavier. As for the bones …….They lie in the altar omnipresent to the crowds that visit the Basilica to pay their homage to St Francis Xavier.

There is a lot to learn from our history ……..The bad should be left behind and the good taken ahead.