India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments:

The Case for Kanara

Himanshu Prabha Ray

Routledge Series Editor
Archaeology & Religion in South Asia
Honorary Professor
Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich

the twenty-first
vasant j. sheth memorial lecture
january 2019

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The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture
India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments:
The Case for Kanara
ABSTRACT: This lecture addresses the theme of India’s coastal monu-
ments from two perspectives: one, from the point of view of history
and archaeology; and second relating to their survival and preserva-
tion as ‘heritage’. Is there a disconnect between the two? The issue
is significant if a holistic understanding of the country’s maritime
heritage is to be brought into focus and saved for future generations.
T
he history of India over the last seven decades
has been written from the standpoint of the Ganga valley
and the emphasis has been on agrarian expansion, develop-
ment of urban centres and emergence of the state, such as that of
the Mauryas dated between 317 and 186 BCE.1 These developments
have provided a model for the state-centric history of peninsular
India, with issues related to ‘urbanization’ and ‘Brahmanization’
acquiring salience. Within this academic milieu, drawing attention
to the history and archaeology of the coastal regions is indeed an
uphill task. India’s maritime connections have generally been stud-
ied as a history of trade and trading activity catering to the demand
for luxuries by the political elite.2 Reducing the complexity of mari-
time interactions to merely ‘trade’ has resulted in a linear construc-
tion of the country’s ancient history, which has tended to undercut
the appreciation of a plural and multi-cultural understanding of the
1 Patrick Olivelle, Janice Leoshko and Himanshu Prabha Ray edited, Reimagining
Asoka: Memory and History, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2012.
2 Himanshu Prabha Ray, Writings on the Maritime History of Ancient India,
Sabyasachi Bhattacharya edited, Approaches to History: Essays in Indian
Historiography, Indian Council of Historical Research and Primus Books, New
Delhi, 2011: 27-54.
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India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
past and the contribution of the fishing and sailing communities
as also those of merchants and trading groups. This is particularly
galling given India’s long coastline of more than 7,500 kms, exclud-
ing the islands.
This neglect of the maritime past has implications for identify-
ing and protecting coastal structures and archaeological sites. It is
seldom appreciated that a country the size of India has only 3,700
centrally protected monuments maintained by the Archaeological
Survey of India under the Ministry of Culture and a smaller num-
ber by State Departments of Archaeology.3 Most of the coastal mon-
uments and sites remain unprotected, especially those related to
traditional boat-building and navigation and are disappearing at a
rapid pace, as a result of coastal degradation and urban expansion.
Clearly coastal heritage and India’s maritime interconnections de-
serve better treatment.
In this paper, I address the theme of India’s maritime history
and coastal heritage in three different time-frames: the present, the
past and the future. As this is a subject of a book,4 rather than a one-
hour talk, it would be best to take a case study of a limited coast-
al stretch, such as that of Kanara or Karnataka. Kanara forms the
southern part of the Konkan coast with a total length from north to
south being around 300 kilometres while the width varies from 30
to 110 kilometres. The present state of Karnataka comprises three
coastal districts, namely Uttara Kannada, Udipi district and Dak-
shina Kannada. In Vijayanagara-period (1336 – 1646) inscriptions
the region was known as Tuludesa or Tulurajya.
3 The exact number of monuments is 3693 as presented by the Minister of
Culture to the Lok Sabha on December 24, 2018. Of these 506 monuments are
in Karnataka. Shiv Sahay Singh, ASI Declared 6 monuments of national impor-
tance in 2018, The Hindu, Delhi edition, 1 January 2019: 7. Himanshu Prabha Ray
edited, Decolonising Heritage in South Asia: The Global, the National and the
Trans-national, Routledge, London and New York, 2019.
4 Himanshu Prabha Ray, Coastal Shrines and Maritime Networks in India and
Southeast Asia, Routledge (forthcoming).
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 India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture by Himanshu Prabha Ray

The coastal belt of Karnataka is rich in mineral resources such

as iron, copper, limestone, mica, gold, garnet, etc. It has nine coastal
centres, apart from a major port in Mangalore. Karwar, Belekeri,
Tadri, Honnavar, Bhatkal, Hangarkatta, Malpe, Gangolli, and Old
Mangalore come under the category of minor/intermediate centres
(Figure 1).

⚫ Bijapur
Figure 2 & 3 : Traditional techniques continue to be employed for boat repair at Majali on
the Kanara coast (left); and for boat building at Kasargod (right)
i n d ia

A survey of the coastline of the Uttara Kannada district, a to-

⚫ Old Goa
⚫ Vijayanagara
tal of 155 km extending from Karwar in the north to Bhatkal was
⚫ Ankola
conducted at the instance of Mrs. Asha Sheth by INTACH, Bengaluru
Gokarna ⚫
⚫ Honavar between 2004 to 2011.7 The sites identified as relevant for an under-
⚫ Bhatkal
Bainduru ⚫ standing of maritime heritage included boat building sites, ports,
⚫ Basrur
i n d ia n o c e a n Barkur ⚫
⚫ Udipi
maritime forts, religious sites, historical sites, archaeological mon-
⚫ Mudabidri
uments, sites of naval battles, trading points and natural heritage
Ullal ⚫ Mangalore
⚫
n sites located 10 to15 km inland and offshore, along the coastline and
river deltas in Uttara Kannada. A total of sixty sites were identified
miles
and mapped along the 155 km coast, a majority date from the eight-
0 50 100
⚫ Calicut eenth to twentieth century and include temples, mosques, churches,
Figure 1: Coastal centres along the Kanara coast.5 port structures and lighthouses, as also European tombs. While
Except Karwar Port, which is all-weather, all the others are fair- providing a context to this documentation, two issues are relevant:
weather harbours. Honnavar, Bhatkal and Gangolli are also known one, coastal architecture needs to be seen as points of inter-linkage
as traditional boat-building yards (Figures 2 & 3). Three types of with travelling groups who moved both across the sea, as well as on
craft are built, viz. the dug-out or hudi, a middle-sized craft for fish- routes into the interior and it is this aspect that is most neglected in
ing known as doni and the larger vessel for cargo carrying known the writing of history. The second is the significance of islands in
as machchwa.6 an understanding of maritime history. I start with an overview of
5 Crispin Branfoot and Anna L. Dallapicolla, Temple Architecture in Bhatkal and
islands along the Kanara coast.
the Ramayana Tradition in sixteenth-century coastal Karnataka, Artibus Asiae, The development of water sports and island tourism has drawn
65, 2, 2005: 269; Figure 1.
6 Sundaresh, Traditional Boat Building Centres of Karnataka Coast: A Special
Reference to Honavar, Bhatkal and Gangolly, Marine Archaeology, vol. 4, July 7 Menaka Rodriguez, Maritime Heritage of Uttara Karnataka, Survey conducted
1993: 29-33. for INTACH, Bangalore and the Vasanth Seth Memorial Foundation.

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The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture
Figures 4 & 5 : Bastion and Cannon at
Sadashivgad Fort
attention to islands off the coast of Karnataka especially at Karwar
located at the confluence of the Kali river with the sea.8 Popular is-
lands near Karwar are Dev Bagh island, which boasts of a visit by
the poet Rabindranath Tagore who wrote a poem here in 1884 enti-
tled Prakritir Pratishodh,9 Anjadiv island, Kurumgad island, Oyster
Rock (Devgad island), Sanyasi island, Sadashivgad island (Figures
4 & 5) and Madlimgadh island. Most of these islands are dotted with
ancient fortifications, cannons, temples and churches. Anjadiv is-
land was fortified by Dom Francisco de Almeida for the Portuguese
in 1505. The Nossa Senhora da Brotas Church built in 1506 and lat-
er reconstructed in 1729 is located on this island. Devgad island is
known for the lighthouse situated on top of the hillock. About 5 kil-
ometres from the Karwar coast is Kurumgad island said to be in the
form of a tortoise. The island has a prominent temple to Narasimha,
one of the avatars of Vishnu and is famous for its annual Narsimha
Jatra. In addition, the island is marked by an old lighthouse. Sad-
ashivgad island is known for the 17th century Shantadurga temple
8 http://travel2karnataka.com/island_tourism_in_karnataka.htm accessed on
26 December 2018.
9 Arnab Bhattacharya and Mala Renganathan edited, The Politics and Reception
of Rabindranath Tagore’s Drama: The Bard on the Stage, Routledge, New York
and London, 2015: 2.
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India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
Figures 6 & 7 : Basavarajadurga Island- fortification, foundations and water tank
and fort, while the Nagnath temple is situated on the banks of the
river Kali at Karwar.
Other major coastal centres known for the presence of islands
are Honnavar and Bhatkal. Basavaraja Durga island is located 3 kil-
ometres from Honnavar. It is a 19-hectare fortified island referred
to by the Vijayanagara rulers as Naviledurga (Figures 6 & 7). An
important aspect of the island is the location of fresh water wells
on it. Important monuments on the island include a fort built un-
der Vijaynagar rule in 1690 and a Hindu temple on top of the hill.
The local fishing community visit the island once a year on Makar-
asankranti to offer prayers to the local Nag Devata enshrined there.
Haigunda is an island surrounded by the river Sharavathi and is lo-
cated about 20 kilometres from Honnavar.
Netrani or Pigeon island is a coral island, 18 km off Murdesh-
war in Bhatkal taluka in the Arabian Sea, which is being developed
as a national marine park. The town of Murdeshwar is known for
the fort and the temple and more recently for the colossal image of
seated Shiva. Thus, the islands off the Kanara coast are home to a
rich archaeological heritage that needs to be brought into discus-
sion in a study of the maritime history of the region. In the history
of the Indian Ocean, islands were important nodal points where dif-
ferent cultures came into contact. At the same time, they were filters
through which these cultures permeated into hinterlands and it is
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The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture
here that architectural features and inscriptions are indicators of
human activity, as I will discuss in the next section.
Gokarna identified with Parasuramatirtha is one of the ancient
holy places in coastal Karnataka. Archaeological exploration in the
region led to the discovery of rock-shelters on the hill slopes near
Ramatirtha and evidence of prehistoric stone tools.10 Literarily
meaning ‘cow’s ear’, it gets its name from the two rivers Gangav-
alli and Aghanashini that flank it on both sides and the Arabian Sea
on the west. Gokarna finds mention in Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsam, in
the epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and in the Puranas,
especially the Skanda Purana. It is described as sacred to Shiva and
the linga in the temple at Mahabalesvara is considered particularly
sacred.11
Another category of structures are the memorial stones set up
for those who lost their lives in battles on sea and reflect a somewhat
different approach to the sea, viz. that of conflict and contestation.
It is significant that a number of hero stones have been exhibited in
the Archaeological Museum, Old Goa. Out of them, four hero stones
have ship depictions. Three of them are carved with naval battles
which probably took place in the 12th century CE perhaps during
the time of ruling dynasty of the Kadambas of Goa who launched a
series of attacks on North Konkan.12
A fine group of memorial stones is to be found at Murdesvara,
about 22 kilometres south of Honnavar on the coast. The principal
remains are some thirty-five Viragals and other inscribed stones.
The largest group is at the junction of the main road, from Bhatkal
to Honnavar, with the branch road running to Murdesvara village.
‘ There are here, twenty stones, in a line canted over at different an-
10 Indian Archaeology 1968 – 69 – A Review: 24.
11 Yuko Yokochi, The Skanda Purana, volume 3, Brill, Leiden & Egbert Forsten,
Groningen, 2013: 109, fn 246.
12 S. Rajagopalan, Old Goa. Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi, 1987.
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India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
Figure 8 & 9 : Chinese Inscription, and the
Shantiparmeshwar, Temple, Kumta
gles, one of which has fallen and broken. Just beyond the bridge,
near the last in a field on the east of the main road, is a mall cluster
of stones, some being partly buried in the bank between the fields.’ 13
Unlike those reported on the island of Salsette or further north
around Goa, these do not bear representations of ships or boats.
European graves have been reported from Bhatkal dated to
1637-38, while at Kumta, 142 kilometres south of Margao and 58 kil-
ometres north of Bhatkal they are somewhat later and also include
a tombstone with Chinese characters now kept in the Shantidurga
temple (Figures 8 & 9). The tombs housed within a square enclosure
have no special features and contain the graves of Henry Gassen of
Warwick belonging to the Wests Company of Cotton Ginners who
died on 16th May 1877 and John Albert Cope of London who died
on 11th April 1880 who was an engineer of the former public works
department.14
13 Henry Cousens, The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts,
Government of India Central Publication Branch, Calcutta, 1926: 143. Now pro-
tected by the State Department of Archaeology.
14 http://archaeological.websclientportals.net/2018/01/29/tombs-on-the-right-
side-of-the-manki-kumta-road/ accessed on 24 December 2018.
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 India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture by Himanshu Prabha Ray

It is evident from the surviving monuments and structures dis-
cussed above that communities living along the Kanara coast inter-
acted with the sea and the islands in a variety of ways. The oldest
structures that survive however, are shrines, dargahs and churches,
though many of these have been renovated.15 Does the list of pro-
tected monuments reflect this diversity? The Dharwad Circle of the
Archaeological Survey of India has 299 monuments of national im-
portance under its protection and of these thirty-two are located
in the Uttara Kannada district mainly around Banavasi and Bhat-
kal. Singularly missing from ASI list are islands, boat-building yards
and landing places.
It is also relevant to make a distinction here between herit-
age and history. Heritage is seen as an actively constructed public
discourse of the past, which is fluid and changeable.16 Heritage is
deeply enmeshed with materiality and the present. However, this
tangible past cannot be separated from intangible beliefs and reso-
nances, as also from the historical context.17 The larger issue of rel-
evance here is the fact that the surviving monuments and remains
date largely from the 16th century onward, when the Kanara coast
was included in the Vijayanagara Empire (1336 – 1646). Is there evi-
dence of maritime networks from the pre-16th century period? This
is a theme that is discussed in the next section based on a diverse
range of sources.
Monuments in context: Defining archaeology and history
Erythraean Sea is the name by which Graeco-Roman writers re-
ferred to the more northerly reaches of the Indian Ocean including
the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Gulfs of Aden and Arabia. Ac-
cording to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a text that is unique
not only in the corpus of Greek writings, but also within the domain
of historical literature on the Indian Ocean, due to its attention to
detail regarding nature of sailing vessels used in different parts of
the Indian Ocean and the maritime communities involved in a vi-
brant coastal network. Coastal landing places along the Kanara
coast find prominence in the list of sites mentioned in the Periplus.
Beyond Kalliena other local ports of trade are: Semylla,
Mandagora, Palaipatmai, Melizeigara, Byzantion, Toparan,
Tyrannosboas. Then come the Sesekreienai Islands as they
are called, the Isle of the Aigidioi, the Isle of the Kaineitoi
near what is called the Peninsula, around which places there
are pirates, and next White Island. Then come Naura and
Tyndis...18
Casson has identified these names of coastal centres mentioned
in the Periplus as follows: 19
Name Location Latitude Distance in nautical miles to the
next port and details
Byzantion Vijayadurg 16° 34' 40 – well sheltered roadstead, which large
boats drawing 3.5 metres could enter at
all seasons

Sesekreienai Vengurla 15° 52' 35 – good coastal site protected by small

Islands Rocks islets and reefs

Isle of Goa 15° 28' 40 – between two rivers; the entrance to the

15 George Michell edited, with photographs by Claire Arni, Kanara, A Land Apart:
The Artistic Heritage of Coastal Karnataka, Volume 64 Number 1, September
2012, Marg Publications, Mumbai.
16 Jessica Moody, Heritage and History, Emma Waterton and Steve Watson ed-
ited, The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Heritage Research, Palgrave
Macmillan UK, 2015: 113-29.
17 Lynn Meskell edited, Global Heritage: A Reader, Wiley Blackwell, 2015: 1.
Aigidioi river has adequate depth to allow vessels of
upto 2000 tonnes to ply upstream
18 Lionel Casson, The Periplus Maris Erythraei, Princeton University Press, 1989:
83, section 53.
19 Casson, 1989: 297. Jean Deloche, Transport and Communications in India Prior
to Steam Locomotion, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1994: 73-82.

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The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture
Name Location Latitude Distance in nautical miles to the
next port and details
Isle of Oyster 14° 49' 50
Kaineitoi Rocks
White Island Pigeon 14° 1' 75 – pirate haunt in 1801
Island
Naura Mangalore 12° 52' 135 – located at the confluence of two rivers
in an extensive alluvial plain
The reference to pirates in the Periplus is significant as this as-
sociation with piracy continued into the later period as well, though
archaeological survey in the area has contested this categoriza-
tion.20 Unlike other parts of the Indian coastline, which are often
discussed at length, the Periplus does not add further details to this
listing. Nevertheless, there is adequate archaeological evidence of
active centres and settlements along the coast21 and of the partici-
pation of the coastal tract in maritime activity. We have earlier re-
ferred to finds of images of the Buddha, Yaksha and Vishnu on the
island of Haigunda. Another early site is that of Udyavara south of
Udipi, located about 100 m from the creek which opens to the sea
at Malpe. An early Shiva temple and a fortified settlement locally
known as Balergudda were reported at the site and there are also
indications of an earlier Iron Age Megalithic site.22
Cosmas Indicopleustes a sixth century native of Alexandria in
Egypt who travelled to India and Sri Lanka describes in his Chris-
tian Topography (Book XI, pp. 367-8) a series of coastal centres on
the west coast of India: The most notable places of trade in India
are these: Sindu, Orrhotha (Saurashtra), Calliana (Kalyan), Sibor
20 Sunil Gupta, Piracy and Trade on the Western Coast of India, Azania, vol XLII,
2007: 37 – 51. Sunil Gupta & S. K. Aruni, Early Historic Kanara: Was it Really
Ptolemy’s Pirate Coast? Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology, No. 2, 2005: 42–54.
21 A.S. Gaur, Excavation at an Ancient Port in Gopakapattana: Goa, Marine
Archaeology, volume 3, 1992: 57-60. M. Nambirajan, Coastal Archaeology of
Western India (With Special Reference to Goa), Kaveri Books, New Delhi, 2007.
22 B. B. Lal edited, Indian Archaeology 1968 – 69 – A Review, Archaeological Survey
of India, New Delhi, 1971: 24. A. Sundara, Ancient Ports of Karnataka, Journal of
Marine Archaeology, 1, 1990: 39 – 45.
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India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
(Simylla of Ptolemy identified with Chaul), and then the five marts
of Male which export pepper: Parti, Mangarouth (Mangalore), Sa-
lopatana, Nalopatana, Poudopatana. Cosmas was in all probability
of Greek parentage and a native of Alexandria. In the early part of
his life, he was a merchant and had travelled widely in the western
Indian Ocean. Later he retired from secular life and moved to the
cloister, where he devoted himself to the composition of works on
geography, cosmography and scriptural exegesis.
The major settlements unearthed during archaeological ex-
cavations are located 100 kilometres from Gokarna on the Kanara
coast and dated to the beginning of the Common Era. These include
Vadgaon-Madhavapur on the outskirts of Belgaum city and Ba-
navasi, a temple town in Uttara Kannada district. Both these sites
have been subjected to archaeological excavations and have yielded
evidence for Buddhist presence, which is missing in the surviving
record.23 A Buddhist vihara and an apsidal shrine were unearthed at
Vadgaon-Madhavpur dated to first century BCE; and a vihara and a
tank at Banavasi were donated by the king’s daughter.24
The site of Banavasi comprises of a number of mounds some
of them rising 15-20 feet and covers an area of more than one and-
a-half square kilometre. There is a large brick fortification enclos-
ing the present habitation and the temples. The walls were repaired
twice, once when brick-bats were used and the second time when
large sized laterite blocks were used. A brick apsidal temple with a
platform was excavated at the site and measured 26 x 13.5 metres,
while a second brick shrine measured 22.5 x 12.5 metres. Both these
date to the early centuries of the Common Era. By the 4th century
23 Hema Thakur. Early Historic Material Culture in Karnataka with Particular
Reference to Banavasi, North Kanara, India. Ancient Asia, 8, 2017: 2. DOI: http://
doi.org/10.5334/aa.126 accessed on 30 December 2018.
24 M. Seshadri, Excavations of a Brick Apsidal Temple at Banavasi, District North
Canara, Purattatva, 4, 1970-1: 56-7.
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The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture
the Buddhist landscape of Banavasi gave way to a Saiva cultural
landscape and many temples were built in and around the city. In
inscriptions Banavasi is also known as the capital of the Kadambas.
From the eighth century onward memorialisation of the dead in the
form of hero stones, sati stones and nisidhi stones appear on the
landscape of the city.25
Politically, the Kanara coast was controlled by the Kadam-
bas from CE 350 to 550 and several later families are known, such
as the Hangal Kadambas and the Goa Kadambas, though tensions
with the Silaharas (8th to 13th century) further north on the Kon-
kan coast are also evident in the inscriptions. The early Kadambas
ruled from centres further inland, such as at Banavasi and Halshi. In
Halshi now there is only one Jaina stone temple of probably 7th–8th
century that seems to have built on the remains of the original brick
temple of c.5th century. A majority of inscriptions of the Kadambas
in the period from 4th to 7th century were copper plates (44 out
of 58 published inscriptions). The early Kadamba inscriptions are
mainly in Sanskrit, while after the eighth century, Kannada largely
replaced Sanskrit as the dominant language. The territorial extent
of the early Kadamba dynasty appears to have covered the present-
day districts of Uttara Kannada, Belgaum, Shimoga, Bellary and
Chitradurga in Karnataka.
The Silaharas ruled in Goa from 750 to 1020 CE, but the Kadam-
bas re-emerged in the tenth century. The Narendra inscription of
Jayakesi II refers to expansion of Kadamba rule over the Silaharas
by “taking Kavadi-dvipa and building a bridge with lines of ships
reaching Lanka…. And establishing the dominion of the Kadambas
in what was the religious estate of Rama (verse 6). The king is re-
25 Uthara Suvrathan, The multivalence of landscapes : archaeology and heritage,
Himanshu Prabha Ray edited, Decolonising Heritage in South Asia: The Global,
the National and the Transnational, Routledge, London and New York, 2019:
90 – 108.
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India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
ferred to as the lord of the western ocean (verses 2, 5, 19).26 When
gardens on every side, white-plastered houses, alleys, horse-stables,
flower-gardens, agreeably connected bazaars, harlots’ quarters and
tanks were charming the eye, the Lord of the Ocean [Chattaya]
duly proceeded on his ships over the sea in sport, along with (the
whole population of) Gove with great pomp as far as the land of
Surashtra.”27 In addition to the graphic account of travel by sea
along the Goa coast to Gujarat, the inscription also records a de-
tailed history of the Kadamba dynasty.
A record of 1008 CE containing the earliest epigraphic refer-
ence to Balipattana or Kharepatan, a coastal centre in south Konkan
credits Dhammiraja of the Silahara house of southern Konkan for
the foundation of this centre.28 The inscription in question explic-
itly mentions the arrival of vessels (pravahana) from Candrapura
or Chandor on the southern Goa to Balipattana. While this speaks
of the coastal voyages between Balipattana and the area around Goa
further south, voyages from the northern sector of Konkan such
as Tana or Thane to the same port are mentioned therein as well,
which continued further south along the south Kanara coast.29
The Panjim plates refer to king Guhalla Deva of the Goa Kad-
ambas as going to the help of the Pallavas. The inscriptions also
speak of king Guhalla Deva undertaking a pilgrimage to Somnath
in Saurashtra, but hardly had he reached halfway, when the mast of
his ship broke and he was forced to take shelter with a ruler friendly
26 Here the term Lanka is metaphorically applied to Goa also an island and the title
of the Silaharas as the best of the Simhala kings. George Moraes, The Kadamba
Kula: A History of Ancient and Medieval Karnataka, (Bombay, BX Furtado and
Sons, 1931) reprinted Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 1995: 174-5.
27 Lionel D. Barnett, Inscriptions at Narendra, Epigraphia Indica XIII, 1915-16:
298–317.
28 V.V. Mirashi, Inscriptions of the Silaharas, Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, VI,
Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi, 1978.
29 Moraes, G.M. 1931a The Kadamba Kula (Bombay: B.X. Furtado) 1931b “Sindabur
of the Arab Authors.” Journal of Indian History 10: 191-95.
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The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture
to him. This was the port of Goa where a rich Muslim merchant by
the name of Madumod of Taji origin and the wealthiest of all the
seafaring traders, came to the help of the king. In return the king
gave him much wealth. This record tells us for the first time of Arab
traders settled on the Goa coast in 11th century CE.30
The dynasty of the Goa Kadambas came to an end after the
invasion of Malik Kafur the general of Alauddin Khilji (1296-1316)
of Delhi. In the sixteenth century, the Portuguese established their
base at Goa and in the seventeenth century, the coast from Vijaya-
durg to Goa was marked by Maratha forts. Clearly the representa-
tion of the second millennium CE as the start of a new beginning of
maritime activity on the west coast of India is not supported by the
data. Instead the picture is one of vibrant seafaring activity not only
along the Kanara coast, but close interaction with other parts of the
west coast of India, such as the north Konkan and Saurashtra coasts,
but also to Sri Lanka and the Bay of Bengal. This raises the issue of
trans-oceanic travel. A route referred to in the India letters of the
Cairo Geniza dated to the eleventh-twelfth centuries is that between
Mangalore and Aden as discussed in the next section.
Foreign merchants at coastal centres
The Jews were one of the new entrants into the Indian Ocean net-
work in the eleventh and twelfth centuries though they had been
active in the Mediterranean and there was a thriving Jewish com-
munity based in Cairo by the ninth century, when the Ben Ezra syn-
agogue was established. The Judeo-Arabic texts recovered from the
Geniza chamber of the Ben Ezra synagogue in Fustat – Old Cairo
provide fascinating insights into the maritime world of the Indian
Ocean. The India Letters from the Cairo Geniza dated from CE 1080
30 George M. Moraes, The Kadamba Kula: A History of Ancient and Medieval
Karnataka, 1995: 171.
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India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
to 1160 includes 459 documents (comprising of 523 shelf marks) are
crucial to this discussion.31 Nearly eighty documents in the Geniza
relate to an African Jew named Abraham bin Yiju and his family and
their business interests in Mangalore in India. Abraham and his fel-
low traders referred to the southwestern coast of India in the plural,
as Malı̄bārāt.32
It would seem that the Jews were among the early visitors to
the Kanara coast to be followed by other groups from Aden in the
thirteenth century. The earliest allusion to a mosque at Mangalore
is in a customs document from Aden dating to the early 1290s; and
Mangalore features among the same documents, this time along-
side Fāknūr (Bakrur), as a destination for Adeni horse exports.33
However, Mangalore appears as a major coastal centre for Jewish
trade with Yemen in the India Letters of 11th and 12th century, while
Barkur, situated some 80 kilometres to the north of Mangalore is
referred to in passing.
Commodities in demand included pepper, cardamom, and red
and white areca (also called betel) nuts, less often cubeb and gin-
ger. A prized item was iron and steel, a high carbon iron known for
its resistance to rust and durability. Almost every shipment sent by
Abraham and his colleagues included some sort of iron or steel, and
the letters list ‘smooth’, ‘refurbished’, ‘regular’ or ‘standard’, ‘shiny’.
This Indian iron and steel was exported to Aden but certainly trav-
elled far beyond this since Indian steel was used at this period in
European sword making. A majority of the copper (s.ufr) and brass
31 S. D. Goitein and Mordechai Akiva Friedman, India Traders of the Middle Ages,
Brill, Leiden – Boston, 2008.
32 Elizabeth A. Lambourn, Abraham’s Luggage: A Social Life of Things in the
Medieval Indian Ocean World, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
2018.
33 Elizabeth A. Lambourn, India in the ‘India Book’: 12th century northern
Malabar through Geniza documents, Claire Hardy-Guilbert, Hélène Renel,
Axelle Rougeulle et Eric Vallet edited, Sur les chemins d’Onagre Histoire et ar-
chéologie orientales, Archaeopress, Oxford, 2018: 71-84.
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The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture
(nuh.ās) reaching South India appear to have originated in the Med-
iterranean and was subsequently reworked and exported.
There is little information available on Bin Yiju’s early life and
he appears in the Geniza documents only after his arrival in India
in 1132 where he spent twelve years. Bin Yijū was a man of many
talents, not unusual for his times. In addition to being a merchant
and manufacturer, he was a Torah scholar, poet, wrote legal respons-
es and was familiar with medical cures. His writing was that of a
trained scribe and he most likely came from a family of scribes. His
own family consisted of two sons and a daughter from an erstwhile
slave girl whom he married in India, and another member of his
mother’s extended family also lived in India at the same time. The
deed of manumission to the slave girl whom Bin Yiju subsequently
married states that it was drawn up, in ‘the city of Manjarūr which is
in the land of India in Tuluva of Malı̄bārāt, the royal city [D…S…]
on the shores of the Great Sea’.34 Abraham’s use of the term Tuluvāı̄,
spelled here as Tuluva is a Hebrew rendering of the proper noun
Tuluva, designating the Tulu country corresponding to the present
day districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udipi.
While in India, Bin Yijū was involved in an unpleasant dispute
with his partners in Aden over the supply of a consignment of car-
damoms that they had ordered from India. The kārdār (Persian
for Director) who dealt in cardamoms had promised to deliver the
stock to Bin Yijū at a bargain price and had also managed to get a
sizeable advance for it. Bin Yijū drew on the funds of his Adenese
partners for the purpose and as a result when the kārdār failed to
keep his promise, Bin Yijū had to make good the ‘missing stock’ of
cardamom by purchasing it at a higher price and thus at loss to him-
self.35 In spite of these losses, Bin Yijū returned to Aden in 1149 with
34 Goitein and Friedman India Traders: 55.
35 Goitein and Friedman, India Traders of the Middle Ages: 62.
- 28 -
India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
enough to live on.
Bin Yiju was not only an agent for his partner merchant in
Aden, but more importantly he owned a bronze factory in India
and the Geniza papers provide valuable insights into craft produc-
tion in the eleventh-twelfth centuries. Customers in Aden provid-
ed the materials, i.e. copper and tin as scrap and paid the artisans
per piece according to weight. The Arabic terms nahās and sufr are
used interchangeably to refer to a copper and tin alloy, while ‘yellow
copper’ is often used to designate a higher percentage of tin.36 The
workers included slaves and Jews from Yemen, one of them termed
Abram and another called ‘Iyār who was connected with assaying
measures and weights. The proprietor provided the workplace and
the tools and also procured customers, while the artisans paid for
the fuel used, which consisted of rice husks. The artisan was paid
according to the weight of the vessel produced – a system that was
also in use in Yemen and the vessel was produced by the cire perdue
or lost wax method.37
A typical order for a brass or bronze item read:
I am sending you a broken ewer and a dipper (basin) that
together weigh seven pounds less a quarter. Please make me
a ewer of the same measure from its copper, for its copper is
good copper. The weight of the ewer should be five pounds
exactly. I am sending also eighteen and a quarter pounds of
good yellow copper in bars and five pounds of Qal’ı̄ lead in
a big mould and a piece of Egyptian ‘lead’ (in the form of)
a shell. Please put the bars, the lead, and what remains from
the manufacture of the ewer together and have made for
me, your servant, two table jugs for two platters, each table
jug being of seventeen fills (each fil being at least 10 grams),
36 Goitein and Friedman, India Traders of the Middle Ages: 555, footnote 11.
37 Goitein and Friedman, India Traders of the Middle Ages: 644-5.
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The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture
of the same form as the table jug you sent me; they should
be of good workmanship. ... From the rest of the copper
(sufr) make me a lamp, it should be an attractive lamp.38
The customer then provides a detailed description of the lamp
and concludes by stating that instead of gold or silk, he was sending
twenty Malikı̄ dinars, old dinars of good gold, which were to be used
for payment of the fees of the coppersmith. The remainder of the
money was to be used for buying cardamoms and wash basins and
all the goods were to be sent with the first ship sailing.39
It is significant that unlike the practice at Aden, the Geniza let-
ters of Bin Yiju make no mention of local political authority on the
Kanara coast or of negotiations involving payment of revenue. It
would almost seem that the littoral was an independent entity far
removed from the domain of the kingdom of the Kadambas and the
Western Chalukyas, notwithstanding their claim to overlordship of
the ocean. This is despite the fact that the anjuvannam or hanja-
mana association of foreign merchants can be traced around the
Indian coasts from the mid-9th to the 14th century and included
Jewish, Muslim and Syrian Christian merchants.40 It continued to
be present in coastal centres on the Kanara coast and there are men-
tions of this merchant association on the Tamil and Andhra coasts
as well. The activities of this group were by no means confined to
the western Indian Ocean but extended to the Indonesian archipel-
ago as evident from its mention in royal inscriptions from central
Java of the ninth and early tenth century.
Thus, the Kanara coast presents a long historical tradition of
maritime activity and a series of settlements along the coast. While
38 Goitein and Friedman, India Traders of the Middle Ages: 558-9.
39 Goitein and Friedman, India Traders of the Middle Ages: 560.
40 Y. Subbarayalu, Anjuvnnam: A Maritime Guild of Medieval Times,
Hermann Kulke, K. Kesavapany and Vijay Sakhuja edited, Nagapattinam to
Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia,
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2009: 158 – 167.
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India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
the inscriptions refer to political intrigue and tensions, the archaeo-
logical data is broad based and provides evidence for settlements
as also religious architecture. The shrines, such as at Chandor, are
modest structures with no substantiation for ‘elite’ sponsorship.
While the temples have been studied for their aesthetic appeal and
architecture, they are yet to be integrated within the larger mari-
time world of fishing and sailing communities.
Coastal temples in north Kanara region
One of the earliest temple sites on the Kanara coast was Chandor or
Chandrapura on the river Paroda or Kushavati river about 30 kilo-
metres from the sea in district South Goa. The river is said to have
been navigable until the 19th century. Inscriptions on 4th century
CE copper plates indicate that Chandor was an important political
centre at this time and continued its primacy until at least the 11th
century. Archaeological excavations conducted at the site have ex-
posed the complete plan of a brick temple complex datable from
fourth to eleventh century CE and unearthed five phases of struc-
tural activity in the temple site with an enclosure wall.41 Though
there is archaeological evidence for Shaivite, Buddhist, and Jaina
activity in Goa from about the 5th century CE,42 as indicated by the
early laterite cave temple at Arvalem in Goa dated by inscription to
the 5th century, Chandor is one of the earliest structural Hindu tem-
ples in the region. A fifth century sculpture of Harihara was found
close to a dilapidated temple at Gokarna.43
In addition to Hinduism, there is evidence for continued pres-
41 D. Kennet & J. V. P. Rao, The Early Historic Brick Temple at Chandor (ancient
Chandrapura), Goa, South Asian Studies, 17, 1, 2001: 97-107.
42 G. V. Mitterwalner, Two natural caves and 11 man-made cave excavations of Goa,
India In H. Hartel edited, South Asian Archaeology 1979. Berlin, 1981: 469-511.
43 https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1q2oyPTVbjBKJDvIruXY63rEFWh
A&ll=14.547782000000007%2C74.32080799999994&z=9 accessed on 2 January
2019.
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The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture
ence of Buddhism on islands off the Kanara coast. Archaeological
vestiges dating from first to fifth century CE have been reported
from Haigunda island, including images of the Buddha, Surya, a
colossal Yaksha, Siva lingas and icons of Vishnu. An ancient Durga
temple is also located at the site. The Hiregutti copper plates dated
to fifth – sixth century CE record the donation of a village Sunda-
rika to Arya Sangha or Buddhist vihara on Ambudvipa or modern
Haigunda during the reign of the Bhojas. Written in Sanskrit, the
copper plates start with praise of the Lord Buddha. The seal on the
copper plates bears a representation of an elephant and confirms
the presence of Buddhism on the Kanara coast.44 Another set of
three copper plates issued from Ambudvipa by the Kaikeya king
Chitrasena-kella record the donation of a garden called Sahārāma
and a field called Kan.asā-pukkoli in the village of Nāpitapallı̄ to the
Arya Sangha.45 A. Sundara has suggested that from the 4th century
onward, there is increasing evidence for Jain presence in the region
as compared to Buddhism.46
There is nevertheless ample evidence for the presence of Bud-
dhism along the Kanara coast as late as the 10th century. A four-
armed bronze image of Lokesvara measuring 1.5m in height bears
an inscription of 968 CE recording the installation of Lokesvara
deva at Kadrika vihara by the Alupa king Kundavarma Alupendra
who describes himself as a devotee of balacandrasikhamani, i.e. one
who has a crescent moon as his jewel or Siva. The Buddhist image
44 P. B. Desai, Hiregutti Plates of Bhoja Asankita, B. Ch. Chhabra edited, Epigraphia
Indica, Manager of Publications, Delhi, 1953, vol. 28: 70-5.
45 M.K. Dhavalikar and M.S. Nagaraja Rao, The Honnavar plates of Ravivarman
and Kaikaya Chitrasena Mahakella, Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXXVII, pp 33ff.
46 A. Sundara, Jainism and Buddhism in early Karnataka: a Contrasting Scenario
in their progress and Significance, Indian Archaeological Society, XXXV Annual
Conference, 6 – 8 January 2017 https://www.academia.edu/35960148/Indian_
Archaeological_Society_Jainism_and_Buddhism_in_early_Karnataka_a_
Contrasting_Scenario_in_their_progress_and_Significance accessed on 27
December 2018.
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India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
continues to be housed in the 14th century Manjunathesvara temple
in the hills of Kadri in the suburbs of Mangalore.47
The six-armed seated image has three heads, enamelled eyes
and an ornate prabhavali with standing attendants at the two ends.
It holds flowers in two of the hands, while the crown depicts a Dhy-
ani Buddha. There are two other undated bronze images of simi-
lar craftsmanship, one of them is identifiable as an Avalokitesvara
(called Narayana) and other as Buddha (called Vedavyasa).48 The
bronze image of Lokesvara is seen as a transitional figure whose
characteristics are suited for a fusion between Buddhism and
Saivism.49 The temple of Manjunathesvara itself has a fascinating
history and within the Nath tradition is one of the most revered
shrines associated with the saint Gorakhnath. Near the temple are
several caves of the ascetics of the Natha order established by the
Saiva saint Matsyendranatha. Another stone inscription in Kannada
and Malayalam script of 12-13th century CE, in the temple’s kitchen,
states that the ruler and the local landlords contributed land for the
temple, while a 1730 CE text Kadli Manjunath Mahatmyam in San-
skrit gives an account of the association with Siva in the first sec-
tion and with the Natha Pantha in the second.50
Evidence for temple architecture from the seventh to the four-
teenth centuries comes from both inscriptions and material re-
mains. The earliest known temple is the small east-facing apsidal
Prasanna Somesvara temple at Udyavara near Udupi, which is lo-
cated on a low hillock and is dated to the early eighth century. Other
eighth and ninth century temples are known at sites such as Barkur,
47 Padmanabha S. Jaini, Collected Papers on Buddhist Studies, Motilal Banarsidass,
Delhi, 2001: 148-9.
48 Jaini, Collected Papers: 153.
49 Véronique Bouillier, Monastic Wanderers: Nath Yogi Ascetics in Modern South
Asia, Manohar, New Delhi, 2017: 101.
50 Bouillier, Monastic Wanderers:87 – 95.
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The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture
Brahmavara, Polali, Kota, and Vaddarse.51 Most of the temples were
Saiva. Notable is the emphasis on apsidal shrine plans, which, whilst
found across southern India as Sarkar has indicated, are a distinc-
tive feature of this region. A hero-stone inscription from Chandavar
in northern Kanara dated 1222 refers to the erection of a temple to
Yoga-Narasimha; another, dated 1286 and mentions Vishnu as Gopi-
natha.52 From the mid-16th century there is a notable concentration
of seven temples all built in a similar style on the far east side of
Bhatkal, amongst which is the Khetapai Narayana. All are of Vaish-
nava affiliation and are aligned east-west, and face in one of these
directions.
The sanctity attached to places on the Kanara coast is re-
inforced by the presence of temples at sites such as Banavasi and
Bhatkal. James Burgess (1832 – 1916) visited the monuments at Bhat-
kal and recorded thirteen temples along with twenty-four inscrip-
tions with their dates and locations.53 Henry Cousens (1854 – 1934)
described a few temples at the site in detail and included plans and
elevations of four of the most important temples, the Hindu Kheta-
pai Narayana, Raghunatha, and Shantappa Nayaka temples, and the
Jain Candranatha basadi.54 Built in the mid-sixteenth century, Bhat-
kal temples are unique in their architectural characteristics and
have a similar layout; a small garbha-grha, and ardha-mandapa on a
stone basement completely enclosed by a rectangular stone screen.
A narrow passageway is left around the rear of the garbha-grha and
ardha-mandapa, and columns in front of the entrance to support
the rectangular pitched roof that covers the whole structure.
51 H. B. Sarkar in M. A. Dhaky edited, Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture:
South India, Upper Dravidadesa, Later Phase, A.D. 973-1326, American Institute
of Indian Studies, New Delhi, 1996: 95-102, 556-565.
52 Sarkar, Encyclopaedia: 557.
53 James Burgess, Lists of Antiquarian Remains in Bombay Presidency,
Government Central Press, Bombay, 1885: 2-5.
54 Henry Cousens, The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts,
Government of India Central Publication Branch, Calcutta, 1926: 134-7.
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India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
Generally, the temples at Bhatkal are known for a minimal
sculptural programme and it is within this milieu that the Khetapai
Narayana temple stands out. Crispin Branfoot and Anna Dallapicol-
la have highlighted the sculptural traditions of the temples at Bhat-
kal and especially representation of scenes from the Ramayana, on
the walls of the Khetapai Narayana temple. The choice of scenes de-
picted is incomparable with those on other temples in the Vijayana-
gar period. Starting with scenes leading to Rama’s conception, the
narrative resumes with the appearance of the golden gazelle while
Rama, Lakshmana and Sita were in the forest. The story continues
with the final scene being the enthronement of Rama and Sita.55
The temples are constructed entirely of stone though they are literal
copies of the wooden form as suggested by Branfoot. There are sev-
eral examples also of earlier shrines constructed in impermanent
material being renovated with the use of stone, which was valued
as a more prestigious material on account of its longevity. For ex-
ample, the Mahalingesvara temple at Vaddarse in Udipi district has
seventh century foundations but over the years has been regularly
renovated resulting in the present two-story stone temple.56
In a search for royal patrons of temples, it is often forgotten
that temples and other religious institutions were effective means of
cultural integration. The temples and monasteries were not merely
centres of devotion and worship, but were also principal institu-
tions in the period from 9th to 13th century for establishing laws
and enforcing them on their members. In addition to their role as
adjudicators in society, religious shrines were also consumers of a
variety of commodities used in ritual, as well as important locales
for trading activity as indicated by shops and markets within or in
55 Crispin Branfoot and Anna L. Dallapicolla, Temple Architecture in Bhatkal and
the Ramayana Tradition in sixteenth-century coastal Karnataka, Artibus Asiae,
65, 2, 2005: 253 – 308.
56 Branfoot and Dallapicolla, Temple Architecture in Bhatkal: 267.
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The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture
the vicinity of temple premises. The building of new temples stimu-
lated economic growth thereby transforming both the geographic
and social landscapes of the region.57 At the same time there are
several instances of a differential tax on commodities required for
religious purposes.
Large temple complexes were major consumers of goods and
services through rituals performed for temple deities. Periodic fes-
tivals conducted by temples required large quantities of oil, incense,
flowers, foods, gems, costly textiles, precious metals and so on. In
addition to administrators, priests, cooks, gardeners and guards,
the temples also required the services of musicians and dancers,
as also sculptors and metal workers. Besides the pilgrim traffic it-
self provided opportunities for merchants to trade.58 It is evident
that religious shrines were an integral part of the maritime cultural
landscape and cannot be isolated as ‘monuments’ and preserved in
a vacuum. In the final section of this paper, I propose possible op-
tions that could combine conservation of monuments and their use
for tourism with research and history, i.e. connect the present with
the past for future goals.
Building bridges across the seas
Increasingly maritime historians are agreed that the history of the
seas that unite the Indian Ocean region should be discussed as ‘con-
nected history’ across porous borders, linked through boat-build-
ing traditions, community networks and cultural practices. While
the history of maritime trade, trading commodities and ports has
received attention and there is a rich secondary literature available
on these themes, this is not the case with subjects such as coastal
57 Cynthia Talbot, Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region and Identity in
Medieval Andhra Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001: 87.
58 Catherine B. Asher and Cynthia Talbot, India Before Europe, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 2006: 82.
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India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
architecture, heritage practices and boat-building traditions.
Though ship wreck sites of the 17th and 18th century as also
stone anchors have been found off the coast of Goa,59 the oldest
shipwreck in the region dates to first century BCE – first century
CE and lies off the fishing village of Godavaya on the south coast
of Sri Lanka. The ship was transporting a cargo of raw materials,
including what appear to be ingots of iron and others of glass, as
well as finished stone querns (hand-operated mills) and ceramic
bowls, when it sank some time before the first century CE.60 Further
across the Indian Ocean a somewhat later ninth century shipwreck
of a vessel of possible Indian or Arab origin was found in Indone-
sian waters. The wreck was located just north of the main town and
port of Belitung Island, Tanjung Pandan. A large number of seventh
century Chinese coins and ceramics were recovered from the site
indicating that the ship was travelling on the route from the Persian
Gulf to China.61 Thus the data from shipwrecks is gradually adding
to our understanding of the cultural milieu of maritime activity in
the Indian Ocean. Other indicators of the deep engagement with the
sea include archaeological artefacts, as evidence of ancient settle-
ments and routes and architectural edifices and their networks of
interaction. The larger issue addressed here relates to perspectives
through which monuments, especially those located on the coast
are to be understood and made meaningful to contemporary socie-
ties, both for an appreciation of their aesthetic value, as also to aid
in their preservation for posterity.
59 Anirudh S. Gaur and Kamlesh H. Vora, Maritime Archaeological Studies in
India, Alexis Catsambis, Ben Ford and Donny L. Hamilton edited, The Oxford
Handbook of Maritime Archaeology, Oxford University Press, New York, 2011:
513–534.
60 Deborah N. Carlson and Ken Trethewey, Exploring the Oldest Shipwreck in the
Indian Ocean, Institute of Nautical Archaeology Quarterly, volume 40, number 1,
Spring 2013: 9-14.
61 Michael Flecker, A 9th-century Arab or Indian shipwreck in Indonesian waters,
The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 2000, 29.2: 199-217.
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The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture
The intertwining of natural phenomena such as monsoon
winds and the ways in which these were harnessed historically to
create cultural networks across the Indian Ocean provide building
blocks for contemporary societies, as they work towards universal
values and trans-border groupings – both of which underwrite UN-
ESCO’s 1972 World Heritage Convention. The Convention sought to
encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cul-
tural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of
outstanding value to humanity. Since then several monuments and
archaeological sites in the Indian Ocean region have been inscribed
on the World Heritage list. It is significant that many of the World
Heritage sites are in coastal areas or river valleys that provide com-
munication between the coast and the interior and are known to
have participated in the maritime networks historically. It is time
to underscore their connectedness within the larger oceanic system
and to bring these sites into dialogue with each other as also those
across political boundaries.
A brief overview of the thirty-six World Heritage sites in India
shows that at least nine of them were a part of larger maritime net-
works, though this aspect of their Outstanding Universal Value re-
mains neglected and unstated. Starting with the Buddhist cave site
of Ajanta in western India, admired for its rock-cut architecture and
paintings dating from the second and first century BCE to fifth cen-
tury CE, there are several coastal sites not often associated with sea-
faring activity. One of the narratives prominently depicted at Ajanta
is that of the seafaring merchant Simhala. The Elephanta caves lo-
cated on an island off the coast of Mumbai were inscribed in 1987
and are famous for their majestic rock-cut carvings related to the
cult of Shiva. Dated to the fifth and sixth century the 7-metre high
colossal image of the Trimurti in cave 1 is one of the fifteen forms of
Shiva sculpted in rock at Elephanta. The carvings have been praised
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India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
for their aesthetic appeal, but the World Heritage inscription does
not address the issue of the location of these stupendous images on
an island surrounded by the sea.
An important World Heritage site at Goa includes the Church-
es and Convents dated to the 16th century built by the Portuguese.
However, 20 kilometres southeast of Goa is an early site on the
Kanara coast known as Chandor or Chandrapura on the river Paro-
da leading to the sea. On the east coast of India at least two World
Heritage sites need to be brought into the discussion: one, the group
of monuments at Mahabalipuram; and the other the Sun temple at
Konarak. The seventh and eighth century group of monuments at
Mahabalipuram includes forty architectural structures including
rock-cut temples, open air relief on rock showing the descent of the
Ganga and rock-cut caves.
It is vital that for a comprehensive appraisal of coastal centres
and maritime communities, that the intertwined strands of reli-
gious architecture, economic activity and political intervention
need to be examined and understood. In recent years Indian Ocean
studies have acquired vibrancy and dynamism. Moulding these into
World Heritage trans-national nominations would certainly push
them on a global platform. However, this needs vision and flexibil-
ity on the part of the World Heritage Committee and States Parties
if the dialogues are to be translated into preservation of the mari-
time heritage of the Indian Ocean, both monumental and intangi-
ble, but more importantly the living heritage, which includes mari-
time communities using traditional means of boat construction
and navigation skills. This paper has drawn attention to the role
of research in promoting an inclusive understanding of maritime
cultural heritage that cuts across political boundaries and ties in
with UNESCO’s global vision and its mandate for promoting under-
standing and collaboration between nation states. Thus, maritime
- 39 -
- 40 -
for preserving popular memory and living heritage.
The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture

tory and heritage, where World Heritage becomes the foundation

archaeology needs to move beyond ‘contested’ to ‘connected’ his-

Appendix I: List of Sites Surveyed by INTACH, Bangalore

Name of Site Location Ownership History & special Features Usage Condition

1 Portuguese Check- Tilmati 19th Cenutry Customs Ruins

Post
2 Custom House Karwar Government 19th Cenutry Customs Average
of India
3 Marine Engineers Karwar Government 19th Cenutry Marine Engineer/ Good
Tower of India Navigation
4 DFO House Karwar Government 19th Cenutry Govt Good
of India
5 Port Office Karwar  Government 19th Cenutry Maritime Good
of India
- 41 -

6 Kone Lighthouse Karwar Government 1864 Dismantled Dismantled

of India
7 Our Lady of Piety Karwar Diocese of 1843/1950 Religious New
by Himanshu Prabha Ray

Church Karwar Construction

8 Jamiya Mudina Masjid Karwar - New Religious New
Construction
9 The Warship Museum Karwar Government 2006 Naval History Good
of Karnataka
10 Venkataramana Kadwad Temple Trust 400 years old Religious Good
India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara

Temple
11 Immaculate Kadwad Diocese of 1721/1997, Unique Octogonal Religious New
Conception Church Karwar shape Construction
 Appendix I: List of Sites Surveyed by INTACH, Bangalore
Name of Site Location Ownership History & special Features Usage Condition

12 Kalinadi Confluence Kodibag/Karwar Natural Heritage Maritime & Inland

Transportation
13 Sadashivgad Fort Sadashivgad Estuary View 1715 Garrison Good
Resort
14 Durgadevi Temple Sadashivgad Temple Trust 1600’s, Renovated by a navigator Religious Good
in 1928
15 Dargah of Peer Sadashivgad Masjid 1655, Believed to be built by the Religious Good
Shah Shamsuddin King of Abyssinia.  Saint Kharabat
Kharabat  who came  to the region Baghdad

16 St Josephs Chruch Sadashivgad Diocese of Origially built 1824, Religious Good

Karwar reconstructed 1909

- 42 -
17 Mahamaya Temple Sadashivgad Temple Trust Large Complex in the town Religious Good
18 St Annes Church Binaga Diocese of Originally built in 1843, Religious New
Karwar assocaited with Portuguese Construction
presence on Anjudeep
19 Mudgao Harbour Mudgoa Government Recent port development Trade Good
of Karnataka
20 Boat Building Harwada The area was famous in antiquity Boat Building
The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture

for boat building

21 Belekeri Port/Custom Belekeri Government Trade Good
House of India

Appendix I: List of Sites Surveyed by INTACH, Bangalore

Name of Site Location Ownership History & special Features Usage Condition

22 Ankola Bay Ankola NA Ancient Trading

Centre
23 Bagadadi Dargah Ankola Masjid 17th Century Saint who came Good
from Bagdad
Alludes to
maritime travel
24 Gangavalli Manjgunji Village NA Natural Heritage Maritime & Inland
Confluence Transportation
25 Ulware Ulware NA On the Gangavalli Possible Role in
Inland transport
26 Aghanashini Tadri NA Natural Heritage Inland and
- 43 -

Confluence Maritime Trade

27 Tadri Harbour/ Tadri Government At the Aghanashini confluence Trading centre Good
Landing Centre/Port of India and currently
by Himanshu Prabha Ray

House fishing harbour

28 Mirjan Fort Mirjan ASI 17th Century Garrison Good
29 Uppinapatinam NA Important in trade links inland Martime & Inland
known for salt storage Transportation
30 Kumta Residential & Kumta NA Interesting local architeture Trade Good
India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara

Town
 Appendix I: List of Sites Surveyed by INTACH, Bangalore
Name of Site Location Ownership History & special Features Usage Condition

31 Chinese Inscription, Kumta Temple Trust 17th Century- refers to the tomb Alludes to Good
Shantadurga Temple of a Chinese man who settled overseas contact
here
32 St Johns Church Kumta Diocese of 1857 Religious Renovated
Karwar
33 Tombs of two Kumta ASI 1877, 1888 . Speaks to local Industry Fair
Europeans settlement and industry in the
area
34 Light House Kumta NA Unknown. Remains of Maritime Bad
Structures foundation found
35 St Francis Xavier Chandavar Diocese of 1874. St Fancis Xavier is believed Religious Good

- 44 -
Church Karwar to have visited this place
36 Honavar Port Honavar Government Contains Custom Houses, Port Maritime Good
of India Office, Storage dating to 19th
Centurty
37 Honavar Lighthouse Honavar Government 1972 Maritime Good
of Karnataka
38 Honavar Beacon Honavar Government Orginally built 1891; renovated Maritime Good
The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture

of India
39 Col Clement Hill Honavar NA 1845 Battle Memorial Good
Column

Appendix I: List of Sites Surveyed by INTACH, Bangalore

Name of Site Location Ownership History & special Features Usage Condition

40 San Salvador Church Honavar Diocese of 1542. Associate with Portuguese Religious Good
Karwar Factory & Trade
41 St Thomas Marthoma Honavar Diocese of 19th Cenutry Religious Good
Church Bangalore
42 St Anthonys Honavar Kerala Diocese 19th Cenutry Religious Good
43 New English High Honavar 1930 Educational Good
School
44 Kasargod Tonke Kasargod Govt of Fishing Harbour Good
Karnataka
45 Boat Building Kasargod This area was famous in antiquity Maritime Good
- 45 -

for boat building

46 Basavarajadurga Basavarajadurga NA 17th century fortification Maritime & Good
Garrison
by Himanshu Prabha Ray

47 Gundbala Gundbala NA Important in trade links inland Maritime & Inland

known for pepper storage Transportation
48 Our Lady of Health Gundbala Diocese of Orginally built 1759, some
Church Karwar remains of old structure can
be found. Associated with the
Portuguese presence in pepper
India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara

trading
49 Holy Cross Church Manki Diocese of Religious Abandoned
Karwar
 Appendix I: List of Sites Surveyed by INTACH, Bangalore
Name of Site Location Ownership History & special Features Usage Condition

50 Residential Houses Manki NA Unique houses associated with Residential Good

merchant community
51 Bhatkal Port & Bhatkal Active fishing Harbour Maritime Good
Harbour
52 Bhatkal Lighthouse Bhatkal Government 1972, recently renovated Maritime Good
of India
53 Remants of Bhatkal NA Unknown date. Possible fort or Martime
Fortification old lighthouse
54 Khetappai Narayana Bhatkal ASI 17th Century, built by merchants Religious Good
Temple

- 46 -
55 Shantappa Nayak Bhatkal ASI 17th Century, built by merchants Religious Good
Temple
56 Tombs of Three Bhatkal ASI Dating to 1637/38 contains three Memorial Good
Englishman tombs. May be associated with
British factory established here
57 Residential Houses Bhatkal Private Unique woodwork houses
associated with merchant
‘navayat’ community
The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture

58 Jamiya Mudina Masjid Bhatkal Masjid Believed to be 800 years old but Religious New
now renovated Construction
59 Sultan Mosque Bhatkal Masjid Attributed to Tipu Sultan Religious Good

Appendix I: List of Sites Surveyed by INTACH, Bangalore

Name of Site Location Ownership History & special Features Usage Condition

60 Dongar Palli Dargah Bhatkal Masjid 15th Century attributed to Arab Religious Fair
Saint
61 Majilis E Tazneem Bhatkal Contains extensive collection of New
Arab & Persian Manuscript Construction
62 Boat Building Shirur Three Boat Building Yards Maritime & Trade
- 47 -
by Himanshu Prabha Ray
India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara
 Appendix II: Dharwad Circle, Archaeological Survey of India
 Name of Monument / Sites  Location  District

1 Inscriptions in Markandesvara temple Ballur North Kanara

2 Carved bedstead of stone existing in a small chamber in the south side of Banavasi North Kanara
compound of Madhukesvara temple
3 Madhukesvara temple Banavasi North Kanara
4 Inscriptions in Madhukesvara temple Banavasi North Kanara
5 Stones (Veeragals) Bedakani North Kanara
6 Adike Narayana Devasthan including Virupaksha devasthana Bhatkal North Kanara
7 Jettappa Naikana Chandranathesvara Basti Bhatkal North Kanara
8 Joshi Shankaranarayana Devasthana Bhatkal North Kanara

- 48 -
9 Ketpai Narayana Devasthana Bhatkal North Kanara
10 Lakar Kamati Narayana Devasthana Bhatkal North Kanara
11 Narasimha Devasthana Bhatkal NorthKanara
12 Parsvanatha Basti Bhatkal NorthKanara
13 Raghunatha Devasthana Bhatkal North Kanara
14 Shantappa Naik Tirumala Devasthana Bhatkal North Kanara
The twenty-first Vasant J. Sheth Memorial lecture

15 Three European graves Bhatkal North Kanara

16 Inscriptions Bilagi North Kanara

Appendix II: Dharwad Circle, Archaeological Survey of India

Name of Monument / Sites Location District

17 Ratnatraya Basti Bilagi North Kanara

18 Siva temple on the east of the river Bilagi North Kanara
19 Virupaksha temple Bilagi North Kanara
20 Virabhadra temple, inscriptions and ancient site Gudnapur North Kanara
21 Chandranatha Basti Hadavalli North Kanara
22 Carved stones near the temple of the Gramadeva Hosur North Kanara
23 Figure of a Tiger opposite to English school Kumta North Kanara
24 European Tombs on the right side of the Manku-Kumta road Kumta North Kanara
25 Fort Mirjan North Kanara
- 49 -

26 Chaturmukha basti Nagarbasti Kere or Gersoppa North Kanara

27 Inscriptions Nagarbasti Kere or Gersoppa North Kanara
by Himanshu Prabha Ray

28 Varhamanaswamy temple Nagarbasti Kere or Gersoppa  North Kanara

29 Virabhadra temple Nagarbasti Kere or Gersoppa North Kanara
30 Temple of Shiva Somasagar North Kanara
31 King’s seat Sonda North Kanara
32 Temple close to King’s seat Sonda North Kanara
India’s Forgotten Coastal Monuments: The Case for Kanara

http://121.242.207.115/asi.nic.in/alphabetical-list-of-monuments-karnataka-dharwad/ accessed on 24 December 2018