Curtorim is a town in the
Salcette taluka of
South Goa district in
Goa, India.It comes under
Margao metropolitan
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
region. Curtorim, a verdant agrarian village, known as the "granary of Salcete", is said to have got its name from either ' or ' since the agricultural village had ' (rooms) built on the river bank (') to store kharif and rabi crops.
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Geography
Curtorim is located at . It has an average elevation of .
History
A
copper-plate inscription was issued by King Viramarmadeva of the
Kadamba dynasty in 1049 CE concerning a grant of a piece of land called "Tudukapura" in "Kudtarika agrahara" of "Chhat sathi desha". This inscription suggests that "Kudatari" or modern Curtorim was known as "Kudatarika" then. "Chhat sathi" refers to modern
Salcete, known as in the local
Konkani language. It had an '
Agrahara', which means an education centre or a university in the modern sense, and was started most probably by the said monarch Viramarmadeva or by Sasthadeva II or Guhalladeva II of
Goa Kadamba dynasty.
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Religion
Curtorim has a predominantly
Catholic population. The Church of
St. Alex is the main feature of the village. It is one of the oldest churches in Goa. It was built in 1597 midst a scenic natural backdrop of a lake Angoddi Tollem across the woods on the site of an ancient
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
temple dedicated to the
deity
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
Ravalnath (a form of Lord
Shiva). The remains of the ancient temple of Ravalnath are still visible today. The church of St Alex was first a chapel; in 1808 it was converted to a parish church. This location once housed the "Kudtari/Kundodari" Mahamaya temple deities, now currently located at Ghudo Avadem. Although the feast of the patron Saint Alex is celebrated with great fervour on 17 July, it is the feast of
Our Lady of Guadalupe on 18 December that is extremely popular amongst the villagers as the "Feast of O" or "kelleam fest" (feast of bananas).
Minorities include Hindus. The Shanta Durga Chamundeshwari Temple is one among the few temples in the village and is located in the same vicinity as the Church of St. Alex.
Politics
The first
MLA of
Curtorim (Goa Assembly constituency) was Mr Enio Pimenta who also was a prominent freedom fighter. , the MLA is Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco.
Curtorim is also part of
South Goa (Lok Sabha constituency).
Distinguished people from this village include Gen.
Sunith Francis Rodrigues, who was the
ex-chief of the Indian Army Staff and
Governor of Punjab from 2004 to 2010 and former South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha.
References
{{reflist
Cities and towns in South Goa district
Comunidades of Goa