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The Cross: Contestation and Transformation of a Religious Symbol in Southern GoaAuthor(s): Rowena RobinsonSource: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Jan. 15, 1994), pp. 94-98Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4400660 .

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PERSPECTIVESThe Cross: Contestationand ATansformationfa Religious Symbol in SouthernGoaRowena RobinsonA socio-historicalanalysisof theway the symbolof thecross has beenassimilatedby the convertedCatholics n a village in Goa, thetransformationt undergoesand themanner n whichit can become thtefocus of keencontestationbetweendifferent ocial groupsbringsouthowit is hardlypossible to continue to speak of an.'alien'religion 'imposed'on-apeople.IN the last few decades there has been agrowing nterest n the anthropological tudyof thesymbols andritualpracticesof Chris-tianity.This is a welcome development,fornow we move from an overwhelming em-phasis on the study of 'primitive'religionsto the study of a world religion thatmanyanthropologists themselves profess. Thissorely neededto becommenced ina seriousway.

The result of anthropologists'new inter-est in Christianityhasled to a largenumberof studies which have brought o our atten-tionthe importanceof locatingthesymbolsand practices of a 'universal' religion intheir specific 'local' social and historicalcontexts [Zimmerman 1963; Turner andTurner 1978; Stirrat 1977, 1981; Nutini1988; Newman 1981, 1987; Godwin 1972;Christian 1972]. Nevertheless the debatecontinuesthat ocalpracticesareonly varia-tions of some supposedly 'true' religion[Southwold 1983; Nutini 1988; Tambiah1984]. I will argue, in this paper,that thisdebate has value only if it is reformulated.Priests and religious elites do like to pro-mote the idea that 'true'religion consists incertainrigidly defined beliefs and rituals.Itis for them, and not for the anthropologist,that ocal practices, inasmuchas theydifferfrom an ideal, constitute a 'problem'. Theyhave to constantly shepherd their flocksonto the right track. As this paperhopes todemonstrate, oranthropology heremaybefar greater potential in postulating that themeaningsof religious symbols arenot to betakento be fixed or unchanging.This willenable us to enquire specifically into thequestion of the manner in which they aretransformed and contested by differentgroupsin the social contexts in wlhich heyare found.Most of the studies 1 have referred toconcern themselves with converted groupsinregionssuchasAfrica,AmericaandAsia,whereChristianitywas implantedby Euro-peanconquest and colonisation. Thereis aspecial dimension in thestudyof religion in

suchcontexts.The Europeanwhoconqueredbroughtwith him a religion specific to thesocio-hisvorir;aleriod n whichhe came. Adegree of discruninationhas to be shownwhendealingwith mplanted eligious sym-bols and practices. Farfrom being univer-sal, they came bearing heir own historicityand still retain it. An awareness of thisdimension has not always been shown bythose who have analysedthem.There is anotherpoint that needs.to bemade. The natureof the relationship be-tween materialarrangements ndsymbolicrepresentations as alwaysbeena sourceofconflict amongtheorists.I will arguefor aviewpointthatacknowledges he reciprocalinfluencebetweenthevariouselements. AsHoutart ndLemercinier 1981)argue, deasarea necessarypartof the constructionand

reproduction f social andmaterialarrange-ments, but these processes are themselvesdependenton materialconditions.This paper attempts a socio-historicalanalysis of the symbol of the cross amongCatholics navillage inGoa,on thewesterncoastofIndia,where hePortuguesebroughtabout large-scale conversions in the 16thcentury.'Thepaperbegins by askingwhatthe cross meant to the Portuguesewho setoutupontheirconquestsof theperiodbear-ingit astheirstandard.Ananalysiswill thenbe attempted f theway in which this sym-bol has been assimilatedby the convertedCatholics, the transformationt undergoesandthe manner n whichit can become thefocus of keen contestationbetween differ-ent social groups.In early Christianhistory the cross ap-pearsas thesymbolof the sufferingChrist.Paul, for example, spoke often to the earlyChristian ommunitiesof Christ'ssufferingon the cross for the sins of man.The fourthcentury aw Constantinemaking he RomanEmpireChristian.Battles followed for theconversion of Europe to ChristianityandCharlemagneemerged, among other fig-ures,as anemperorwhoconqueredwith thecross.The cross was thustransformed ntoa

militant symbol which came to representChrist heconqueror.TheCrusaders ealisedwithfull force the potential of this symbol,when ChristiansbattledMoors for thecon-trol of Palestine.The Portuguese,whowereamongthefirstEuropeans o set out on voyages of discov-ery, describedtheiroverseas missions withthe word 'conquista'. The cross was forthem the symbol of the fatherland,accom-panyingthem on theirsearch for 'Christiansand spices'. It is described as the"companheiro nseparaveldosportuguesesdas descobertas e das conquistas" [Anon1935: 39]. The Portuguese overseas mis-sions may be viewed as an extension of theCrusades.TheMoors constitutedboththeirmain commercial rivals in the spice tradeand their hated religious enemies. Conse-quently their battles against them for thecontrolof the traderouteswerefoughtin thename of religion. Such a collapse betweenreligion, politics andeconomics was inevi-tableconsidering hefeudalethosfromwhichthe Portuguese merged.In the feudalworld-view, religion (Catholicism) was the domi-nantforceandpolitics,kinshipandeconom-ics all found their place in relation to it.2It is nowonder,then,thatwhen Afonso deAlbuquerqueentered Goa in 1510, amonghisfirstactswas a massacre of the Muslims.This is describedin a letter he wrote to hisking, ManuelI: "I setfire totheicity andputthem all to the sword, and for four wholedays your soldiers caused carnage amongthem; no Moor was left alive whereverhehappened to be found; the mosques werefilled with them and set fire to" (quotedinD'Costa 1962: 162). To protect their traderoutes thePortugueseneeded the controlofkey posts where they could establish mili-tary and political rule. Goa was one suchpost, hence the importanceof its capture.Establishingpolitical rule n suchremote,barelyknown regions involved coming intocontact with the local populations andget-ting their support. The Portuguese, whostepped out with the world-view of feudalCatholicism, could only see the people ofthe territoriesnewly discovered by themasbeing the opposite of themselves-pagansor infidels. The Moors were their archreli-gious enemy and the manner n which theywere to be dealt with (demonstrated soforcefullybyAlbuquerque) adalreadybeenestablished historically by Europe's role inthe Crusades. Clearly, then, this attack ontheMuslims in Goa can be understoodonlywhen we locate the Portugueseconquerorswithin their socio-historical context.Far more importantly,however, the Por-tuguesein Indiacame intocontactalso withthe ocal Hindus.At first theirreaction to thereligion andcustoms of theHinduswas one

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of sheer ncomprehension.This is exempli-fied bytheirmistaking emples forchurchesof aprimitivetypeand Hindugoddesses forvariationsof the Virgin Mary.3Wbile theHindus were not traditionalenemies to bemassacred, heytoo werepagansandidola-ters.Comingtotermswiththem, nteractingwith them over a long period andensuringtheirsupportnecessitated theirconversionto Catholicism.Creating allies was an importantsocialfunction of conversion [Houtart andLemercinier1981]. From the startthe Por-tugueseusedmethodstocreate andsetapartfrom the Hindusa Catholic community onwhosesupport heycould depend.While theopen practice of Hinduism was renderedincreasingly difficult, the Catholics whoconverted were offered a variety of incen-tives-such as remunerative posts and of-fices-as rewards for their action [Boxer1973; D'Costa 1965; Pereira 1978].Thepaceof conversions by such methodsremainedslow, however, andeven in 1548

only 300 baptisms could be boasted of[D'Costa 1965:49]. It was around his timethat the method of bringing aboutconver-sions underwent a change. Entirevillageswere taken over, their centres of worshipdestroyed and the cross implantedinstead[Boxer 1973: 721.In a village of 16th-century Goa theeconomy depended on land, which wasowned in commonby lineages of gauncars,whowere thedescendants n the male lineoftheoriginal inhabitants.A village commu-nity(comunidade) onsistedof thegauncarsand theservice castes attached othem,andwas administered by the former. Thegauncarswereresponsible forproviding orthe needs of the villagers, protecting thefields from inundationby sea water, open-ingandmaintainingpublic roads,demarcat-ing places for common use and wardsforservants and artisans. They also looked tothe digging of wells, to the allocation ofrightsof use of waterwaysandto themain-tenanceofirrigation acilities [Pereira1978;D'Costa 1964].Agriculturewas themainoccupation,andthe soil and the tropical monsoon climatewas ideal for the cultivation of paddy, themain crop. In coastal areas such as thelocation of thevillage understudy,thelandclos'e o thesea would be sandyand ts yieldfairly poor. On the other side, however,where the riverflows, the landscould giveyields up to 60-fold [Kosambi 19621. Insuchcoastalareas,moreover,another ourceof income was coconuts and these, in thesamewayascertainother tems such as salt,formed an item of exchange fromearly on[Kosambi 1956].Cultivable and wasleased outby auction,usually forthreeyears;butthe landsnear heriversand reeks-called khazanands-wereleased for nine years at a time. Gaulncars

wereprivileged in biddingatthese auctionsof the land which theyjointly owned. Nei-therwomen nornon-residentsof a villagecould bid.In the village understudy, the gauncarshad such surnames as Gadd and Porto[Pissurlencar1934:5]. Theywould,accord-ingtoPissurlencar, elongtotheMaratha rVani caste.4They were served by a varietyof service castes whose occupations werehereditary ndwhosepaymentconsistedofa share ntheharvest.Thegauncarspaidthetaxes owed to therulers,administered thervillage expenses, and divided the surplusamongthemselves.In almostevery village the main templehad been established by the comuinidade,and the gauncars were its mahajans. Thecomunidaderetainedsome of the best landin the village for the maintenance of thetemple and paid for its servants such asbhats, carpenters,washermen, ronsmiths,potters, barbers and mahars. Social lifecentred on land, and the symbolic cyclefollowed theagricultural ycle and the cel-ebration of the harvest. The high-castebrahmin r Chardomahajanscontrolled hemaintemplecult;and he lowestcastes suchas the barberand themaharwould have noaccess totheirservices.5 n everyvillage thegauncars enjoyed certain ritual privilegesin the cycle of festivals.Politically, the villages came underdif-ferent regimes at different points of time.The Portuguese took over the region fromthe.Adil Shahidynasty. It hadearlier beenpartof theVijayanagar mpire,underwhosecentury-long ule andrevenuehadamountedto one-fifth of the gross income of thevillage. For palm groves revenue was as-sessed at therateof five tangasbrancas6 eryear per 100 trees [De Souza 1979: 7E!.Under Muslim rule two new taxes hadbeen introduced.Tnegodde varado was ataximposed tosupport heMuslimcavalry.Further, an additional land revenue wasimposed, called the khoshivarado.7Theseadditionaltaxes placed a heavy burdenonthevillagecommunities.BeforeVijayanagarrule,at thetimewhen theregioncameunderthe Kadambas, a number of the villagecomunidadeshadbeenforced oissue shares(tangas) inreturn or oansbecause heyhadto bear agreatdeal of expense arisingfromthe wars between theirrulersand Musliminvaders. These shares were restricted togauncars and to thoseresident n a village.They conferred the privilege of participa-tionintheincome butnot theadministrationof thecontunidade.Prior to the Portuguese, Muslim rulershad initiated a process of feudalisation inGoa.Theirmilitarymen-thedessais---tendedto treatcommunal aind s feudal andforcedpeople to work as menials in their house-holds(Kosambi1962:1l59].Theirrule,how-ever,did not last ongjenougho change and

relations undamentally.Theyweredefeatedby the Portugueseand, in order to gain thesupport f theHlindus, lbuquerque-thoughhe retained all the taxes of the previousregime-invited the Hindus tocultivate theirlands in peace [De Souza 1979: 71].Tlle Portuguese brought out in 1526 acode which laid out the customary laws ofthe people.Thoughtheassurancewas giventhat these would not be interfered with,conversion necessarily involves socialchange. It was not merely a matter of thedestructionof the village temples andtheirreplacementwithchurchesandthe Catholiccult of theperiod. Rather,thehegemony ofthechurchchanged, in significant ways, thesocial organisation of the village, whichnowcame to be centred around t. What thePortuguese found when they came werelargely autonomous villages administeredby gauncars, who paid tribute to the rulersbutcontrolledhemainresource-land-andwere responsible for its management andfor the administration of justice. This iswhat Kosambi (1956) refers to asfeudalisation from above. The policies ofthePortuguesehadthe ambiguous effect ofconsolidating the position of the gauncarsin some respects and undermining it inothers.Under Portuguese rule private propertywas introducedand shares in comunidadeproperty, ill then nalienable,becametrans-ferable n the f7thcentury.Privateproperty,in most cases, came to be held by richgauncars.Thetransferability f sharesmeantthatpeople residentoutside thevillagecouldnow hold them and be entitled to incomes.Yet until the last decades of Portugueseruleadministrative control remained with thegauncars alone. Such control could havevery far-reaching consquences. Thecomunidades had the right to give theirlands to whomsoever they considered fit,either free of charge or on lease, and couldlevy andcollect taxes on the privateprop-erty in the villages. Immovable propertycouldnot be sold without theconsent of thecomunidade. Outsiders could bid for theleaseofpaddy ieldsonly through heagencyof gauncars, andpersons intending to bidforland in auctionshadtofurnish ecurities.In most cases, therefore, only wealthygauncars andotherpersons with the neces-saryresourcescould bid forland.Thisled toa situation in whicb individual gauncarsleased largeareas which they thensublet totenants mundcars) orcultivation.Manyofthe traditional privileges of the gauncarswere codified and had the sanction of lawbehindthem.Gauncarswere privileged in churchritu-als andmanagement.In 1567 thegauncarswere made to render to the churchcs thelands and incomes of the temples that hadbeen destroyed [Pereira 1978:11]. 'Theselands thenbecame theproperty f thechurch

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authorities, but the celebration of certainfeasts and rituals important in the churchcalendarwas assigned to thegauncars. Oneof the most important feasts of the pre-conversion periodhad been the celebrationof the harvest. When Catholicism estab-iisbod its hegemony, this festival becamepart of the calendarof the local churches8and the gauncars retainedtheirprivilege ofcelebrating it. The focal ritual event in thechurchcalendar stressed by the Jesuit mis-sionaries of the late Middle Ages was thedeath and Passion of Christ. A strongem-phasis was placed in this period on theemotionalcontentof thescriptural vent. Inevery village of southernGoa the celebra-tion of the passe, as it is called, is theexclusive privilegeof thegauncars. All thishadthe effect of strengthening hepositionof the gauncars in relation to the servicecastes and tenantsbelow them, who hadnoaccess to the socio-economicandritualprivi-leges now ratified by law and having themight of the state behindthem.It shouldbe said, though,that even whilethe comunidadeswere, in theory,still saidtoretaincontrol of their ands, npractice heirautonomywas eroded.They lost large por-tionsoftheirlands to thegovernment,whichoften leased landby force and which some-times used the take-over of comunidaderights as,a,means of punishing rebelliousril'lages,or instance, the lands of thecom fdades of Assolna, Velim ?tndCu,*,6lim, among others in southernGoa,pasAed nto Portuguesehandsas apunitiveni:asure againstthe revolt of these villages

gainstthe conversionpolicies df the Portu-guese. Insum, it maybe said that f what the/Portuguese ound on theirarrivalwas a formof feudalism fromabove, theirruleconsoli-dated it. Political unity ensured economicIins and this was achieved throughreli-ous conformity backed by armedmight.In such a situation conversion was inevi-table because the existing belief system, initsunchanged orm,could notmeaningfullyrepresentthese changes. And yet the 'con-verted' did not just passively adapt to thenew situation. My argumentpoints funda-mentally to the fact that they themselvesmouldedttocopewith hechanges-creating,as a result, new symbolic models.9

The village under study may be locatedwithin this picture. Records for Santosgaonshow considerable shifts in the number ofshares held by the gauncars. In 1857 thegauncars got 71 per cent of the income ofthe comunidade.Non-gauncars got 22 percent, while 7 percent went to the church.Inthe 1880s, of the 6,300 shares of thecomunidade, more than 60 per cent wereheld by non-gauncars.This was reduced to57 percent by theturnof thecentury.Suclha situation,where there are a large numberof outsiders with the righlt o participate nlthe income of theco,nuJnidade utnot in its

administration, ould lead to great tension.We have'no recordsspecific to the village,but the literature peaksoften of such con-flicts in the region.WhenGoa becameapartof India in 1961 the administrativepowersof the conunidades were greatly reduced.These passed to the elected panchayatsofeach village. However, as in Santosgaon,the land recordsafter 1961 show gauncarsowning large areasof privateproperty.Forthe lower castes who had little access toland, the last few decades have seen theopening up of a varietyof other economicoptions. Jobs outside Goa and abroadpro-vided an easy means to make quick money.With theirgreateraccess to resources,thesegroupsnowcome into sharper onflict withthe gauncars. This has culminated n con-testation at a symbolic level, sharply llus-trated n this village in the celebrationof thecrucifixion.The cross becomesthedominant ocus ofchurch-centredritual during Holy Week.The Catholic ritual cycle focuses on thebirth, ife anddeathof Christ. was told thattherewasmuchchurch-centred ctivitydur-ing thisweek becausethe "deathandcruci-fixion of Christ is central to a Christian'slife" (female Chardoinformanifmarriedo agauncar).Ontheeveningof Holy Thursday,after service, the bells toll and the altarcloths areremoved. The altaris shorn andstoodto oneside. Thechurch s "in mourn-ing"; "She is naked". The doors areclosed

and every cross is covered withpurple.Thechurch s like a tombawaiting thedeathandthe body of Clrist.On Fridayat noon, the crucifixion takesplace. The scene is the altar but now, withthe table removed,our attention is focusedon theuncoveredpit.We stand n this tomb-like church,our attentionon this veritable'sacrificial pit'. The high castes (Chardogauncars) alone can enact this ritual sacri-fice. Others "cannot touch" the image orapproach his sacredspace. Women arenotpermittedeither to participateor to observeand I was allowed in, with some difficulty,only on condition of secrecy.Thecrucifixion is literallywhat the wordimplies-the re-enactment and celebrationof the Passionof theLord.Themalegauricarsof the village carry a huge cross into thechurch.They mount on it a life-size imageof Christwhich they first bathe with wine.The cross is then mounted in the pit whichlies below the altartable and is covered at'othertimes.Theyliterally 'carry he cross':and this is no mean thing, for it is huge andextremely heavy and needs no less than adozen men to lift or move it. In doing so,they become associated with Christ- withhis suffering and his symbols, thecross andthe wine.10The priest plays a very minimal role inthis rite.I was told that I need notbother toask himif I could attend."It is the gauncarsalone who object to everything". The priest

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stcod to one side andwas asked to say twoshortprayers-tbe first when thecross wasmounted n thepitandthesecond(tbelitanyin Latin)when the image was raised. Thefirst prayer he said was: "Today we areepacting the scene which took place 2,000years ago on MountCalvary.You gave thiscross to us as a sign of humilityandmeek-ness. You said, dearJesus, ' If you want tofollow me, take up your cross andcome'.Through this cross which we are about toraise now wepraytoyou to makeushumbleandmeek toacceptthe crosses in our ives."It says much for the collusion of thechurch with the socially dominant groupthatpriestandgauncar become one here bytheuseof the pronoun "we". In the priest'sdiscourse the role of the gauncars islegitimisedandtakenupor incorporated ythechurch.Again,while in following Christone becomes like Christ in "humility andmeekness", the gauncars in being identi-fied with Christappropriate nly his power,not his humility andmeekness. The priest'sdiscourse operates at yet another evel. Weknow thatthecelebrationof thecrucifLxionis the fiercely protected right of one groupand is contested by others. Yet here it be-comes associatedwith "humility andmeek-ness" .Inotherwords,onepossible interpre-tation (the currentofficial interpretation fthe Passion-suffering in meekness withChrist) s hereput forwardas theinterpreta-tion of what we are seeing. Ibus, oddlyenough, the power of the gauncars is legiti-matedbymakingthemappearhumble.Thisaspect alsoappears ojustify theirrole n theeyes of the non-participating ower castes.77ey ought to submit to the powerful be-causetheyarethesuffering,meekimagesofthe Lord. The discourse of the priest thusappears o mediate hedominant ymbol-thecross-allowing it to speak two differentlanguages:tojustify both the power of thedominantand the submission of the subor-dinated.The crucifixion is conducted with muchsecrecy behind closed doors. "The highcastes conduct the sacrifice". The "peopleonly participate n the service held in theevening" . Thewineused towash thebody sdistributedby the gauncars to the peoplewho use it, perhaps to miraculouseffect, attimes of illness orsuffering.After the cruci-fcixion curtain s drawnbeforethecross andit is concealed. Evening service is con-ducted in front of the curtain at an altartoone side. At this ceremony a small cross,about31/2 eet high, is lheldup by two altarboys to be kissed by the people who comeupto thealtarsteps barefootandkneelat thefoot of the cross. Tshis ervice is conductedby thepriests in frontof the main altarandthecross used is much smaller than the onewe haveseen raised above. The maini itualspace has been given over to thegauncars.The people do not approacheven this far.

They barelycome uptothe lowest altar tepand ater,'when themainimage is revealedand may bekissed, access to it is regulatedby the gauncars. At a certain point beforethe sermon, the curtain is opened and theimagerevealedtothelaity. Later here s thekissing of the body, which is dramaticallylowered afterthe sermon n full view of thehuge audience which watchesin awed si-lence.Thiswas the crucifixionasI witnessed t,but it has not always been this way. It wasrathermore laboraten thepast.Earlier, hegauncars used to take the large cross inprocessiop-around he church wearingthered capes that were their exclusive. privi-lege. Theywere met by the male represen-tativesof the lower castes-the Sudrasandthe Chardo moradores-who carried theimageof Maryandwore theblue capes thatwere allotted to them.t The biblical scenedescribed by John between Christ on thecross andhismotherwouldthenbeenacted.In the late 1960s, however,this becamethe

focus of much.conflict. A serious fightbroke out between the gauncars apd theothercastesoverwhoshouldcarry hdcross.The Sudras and moradorescame up to at-tack the gauncars andlunged at the-cross,attemptingto take' t by force. They werestoppedwith difficulty andthecelebrationcould not proceedthatyear. Now thatdis-sent had come out in the open,other issueswere taken up. The Sudras and noradoresnot only wanted the privilege of handlingthe.cross, they also wanted to wear the redcapes thatdistinguished hegauncars andtojoin theirconfraternity-the ConfratemitydeSantissimoeNossa SenhoradeSocorro.'2The conflict was brought o theattentionof theArchbishop nd hechurch, nthe newtimes moreacutely sensitive to any accusa-tion of fostering caste, stoppedthewearingof redcapes and thecarryingof thecross inprocession. The conflict died down buteruptedagainoveradifferent ssuosome tenyears ago. The possibility of greater ten-sions in the futureis not to be dismissed.Most priests today regard such conflictsover churchritualsas "behaviourunsoemlyof Christians".Theyview thesemanifesta-tionsof caste as "remnants"of oldbeliefsofwhich the Catholic community must bepurged.A numberof parishpriestsexpresstheview thatthepasse shouldbediscontin-ued, as it finds no place in theGoodFridayliturgyas setdownbythechurch.They feelthatattention s diverted from theessentiallessonsof thedaywiththeover-emphasison"dramatisation".What is quite clearly of significance inthis is the mannerin which the cross hasbeentransformedbyvariousgroups nto animportant symbolic resource (Bourdieu's"symbolic capital") the contest for whosecontrol is worth their while. Herethe crossis clearly partof a very importantCathlolic

ritual,yet this ritualhas been assimilatedbythe community in a manner that permitsdifferent groups to use it symbolically toassert their social status in a changingruralcontext. When thegauncars were all-pow-erfultheirprivilege of conductingthepassemade them the 'lords' of the village. ThePortuguese brought a militant, powerfulcross, and by consolidating the position ofthegauncars gave themaccess to some ofitspower.This is what thepasse signified. In apost-independen,cecontext, however, thesuperiorityof thegauncars hascome underdispute. Theystill wieldconsiderablesocio-economic power, but now the othercastes,with the new economic opportunitiesavail-able to them, are more serious rivals.Thegauncars appropriatedhesymbol ofthe cross, which constituted for themaformof "enduring symbolic capital". It is thissymbolic control hatwasso strongly ought:theconflict was not merely a matterof whomayconduct aparticular itual.Thecross istransformed by its use as a symbolic re-sourceof thedominantgroup n. heagrarianeconomy and by the contestation of thatdominance. It is hardly possible, in thiscontext, to continue to speak of an 'alien'religion 'imposed' on apeople. The 'agency'of the people transforms and moulds the'imposed' symbol to make sense of socialrelations andrepresentthem in a changinguniverse.In the uncertaingroundof conver-sion the potential of a dynamic view ofreligious symbols is realised in its makingpossible the construction atd ltnalysis ofsuch changes.

Notes[The materialon which this paperis based wascollected during the course of fieldwork con-ducted between April 1992 and May 1993 in tvillage in southernGoa which I shall refer to asSantosgaon. I thank the Cambridge Common-wealthTrust, he Smuts FundandTrinityCollegefor providing the funds for the research,whichwasconducted ormyongoing doctoral tudies atthe Department of Social Anthropology, Cam-bridge University. I am grateful to William daSilva of the Goa University, whose ideas mostgenerouslysharednspiredmetolook morecloselyat the symbols and practices of Catholicism. IthankmyhusbandMukul or hishelpand supportat the variousstages in the writing of thispaper.)

1 The area nnorthernGoacalled lihas,consist-ing of Tiswadi,Chorao,Divar,JuaandVamsi,was conquerfd in 1510. Bardez, Salcette(where hevillageunderstudyis located),andPonda cameunder he effective controlof thePortuguese n 1543 [D'Costa 1962:161l.2 It is truethat in the late 15thand early 16thcenturies, heperiodwe aredealingwith,Eu-rope was in a phase of transition and greatchanges were taking place. Portugal's colo-nial ventures showed an advance towardsmercantile apitalisnm,uttheystillfunctionedwithina politicalorganisation hatwas cast ina feudalmould.3 Vascoda Gama, orinstance,whofirst anded

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at Calicut, thought thatthe MalabaresewereChristians.He and his men offered prayers othe image of 'Mary'in Hindutemples. Itwassome while before the mistakewas discovered[Gazetteer 19791.4 Today the converted Catholic Chardos ofSantosgaonrefer o themselvesas Kshatriyas.However,Pissurlencar 1934) holds that thiscaste has little in common with the Hindu'varna' of that name. The Chardos wouldreally be the descendants of Vanis andMarathas.5 The caste system was a source of endlesscontroversyanmonghe Portuguesemission-aries. It is not possible here to go into allaspects of the issue. Much was made in earlymissionary documents of the difference be-tween the inegalitarianHindu orderand theirown presumably egalitarianone-althoughthe Portuguese, emerging from feudal Ca-tholicism, would have been familiar with ahierarchical church structure. At any rate,they cannot be accused of having changedthe social order drastically in that period.Caste remained among the converted Hin-dus as a markerof social status.As Ihope toshow later,Catholic rites andsymbols them-selves often became the area of contest be-tween different castes.6 One tangabrancawas equal to 60 reis. Ac-cording to my rough estimate it would beequal to about Rs 3, or a little more than 6pence.7 Manyauthorshave taken histobe avoluntarycontributionmade by thevillages to the politi-cal regimefor its protection.They see it as acombinationofthewordskhoshi'and 'varado'which in Konkanimean'wish' and 'contribu-tion' respectively. However, De Souza(1979:67) finds this a simplistic explanation.Hesees it as a tax on grasslandsand forests.Itcould also refer o the source of iticome orthepublic treasury 'kusa').

8 See D'Costa (1965) for a fascinatingaccountof how this happened.The manner n whichthe calendarof the church cut across the localsymbolic and agricultural alendar is a veryinteresting subject of study which I cannot,unfortunately,enter in any detail here. I willadmit,however, thata studyof it is vital if wewish to obtaina completepictureof thechangesthatconversion broughtabout.9 My argument s based on the work done byHoutartandLemercinier(1981). Theattemptto analysetheconversion of Goaby thePortu-guese within this framework was made in apaperentitled 'Discoverto Conquer:Towardsa Sociology of Conversion', presented byWilliam da Silva and me at the Xavier Centreof HistoricalResearchseminaron 'Discover-ies, Missionary Expansion and Asian Cul-tures',held in Goa in 1992.10 Interestingly,the association with the Jewswho nailed Christto the cross is neatly side-stepped:"All thathaspassed", Iwastold.11 The Chardo moradores are of the Chardocaste butnon-gauncars,people who resideinthe village but do not belong to it.12 Confraternities(confrarias) were medievalPortugueseCatholicassociations, essentiallyof lay persons. They werereligiousin charac-ter. They had cultic and ceremonial aimscentred particularly roundCorpusChristiorHoly Week celebrations. In Goa these were

establishedby the missionaries, ndthough ntheory they were open to all, they came to bedivided on caste lines.Thus eachcaste had itsseparate onfraternity ndcelebrated hefeastof its patron.They had differentcapes to dis-tinguish hem-red for the higherandblueforthe lower confraternityn each village.References

Anon (1935): 'A Cruz de Cristo!', A Voz de SFrancisco Xavier: Boletimda ArquidiocesePrimacialde Goa e Damaoe Patriarchaldas.IndiasOrientais,5(4).Boxer, C R (1973): The PortugueseSeaborneEmpire, 1415-1825, Penguin Books,Harmondsworth.Christian,W(1972):PersonandGod naSpanishValley,Academic Books, London.D'Costa, A (1962): 'The Demolition of theTemples n the Islandsof Goa in 1540 and theDisposal of the Temple Lands', NouvelleRe-vue de Science Missionaire, 18.-(1964): 'Administrative, ocial and ReligiousConditionsin the Goa Islands, 1510-1550',Indica, 1(1).-(1965): The Christianisationof the Goa Is-lands, St Xavier's College, Bombay.De Souza, T R (1979): MedievalGoa: A Socio-EconomicHistoty,ConceptPublishers,Delhi.Gazetteer 1Q79):Gazetteerof lndia: UnionTer-ritoryof Goa, Daman and Diu, GovernmentPrintingPress, Panjim.Godwin,C J (1972): Changeand Continuity:AStudy of Two ClhristianVillages n SuburbanBombay,Tata-McGrawHill, Bombay.Houtart, andG Lemercinier1961): GenesisandInstitutionalisation f the hidian Catholicism,UniversiteCatholiquede Louvain,Louvain.

Kosanibi, D D (1956): An Introduction to theStudyof Indian History,PopularBook Depot,Bombay.-(1962): 'The Village Community in the 'OldConquests' of Goa:Historyversus the SkandaPurana'in D D Kosambi, Mythand Reality,PopularPrakashan,Bombay.Newman, R (1981): 'Faith Is All: Emotion andDevotion in a Goan Sect', Numen, 28(2).Nutini, Hugo G (1988): Todos Santos in RuralTlaxcala, Princeton University Press,Princeton.Pereira, Rui Gom,es (1978): Goa (1): HinduTemplesand Deities, translated by AntonioVictor Couto, Rui Gomes Pereira,Goa.Pissurlencar,P S S (1934): Contribuicao estudoetnologico de casta indo-portuguesadenominada a luz de documentosineditosencontrados no ArquivoHistorico daIndia, Edicoes da PrimeiraExposicao Colo-nialPortuguesa,Porto.Southwold,M(1983):Buddhism n Life,Manches-ter University Press, Manchester.Stirrat,RL (1977): 'Demonic PossessioninCatho-lic Sri Lanka', Journal of AnthropologicalResearch, 33, 1977.-(1981): 'TheShrineofStSebastianatMirisgama:AnAspectof the Cult of Saints in Catholic SriLanka',Man(ns), 16(2).Tambiah,S J (1984): TheBuddhist Saints of theForest and the Cult of Amulets, CambridgeUniversity Press,Cambridge.Turner,V and Edith Turner(1978): Image andPilgrimage in Christian Culture: Anthropo-logical Perspectives,Basil Blackwell,Oxford.Zimmerman,Charlotte(1963): 'The Cult of theHoly Cross: An Analysis of Cosmology andCatholicism in Quintana Roo', History ofReligions, 3(1).

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