Submerged village of Sanguem Taluka
When
the village emerges, the displaced Kurdikars return to pay homage to the deity of
Shiva at the still intact 18th century Someshwar temple, and to the rebuilt Sacred
Heart of Jesus Chapel. The village throbs with life then as Kurdikars prepare for
the annual temple feast, which takes place on the third Sunday of May at the Someshwar
temple, and for the annual chapel feast, which takes place on the fourth Sunday
of the month.
Hardly anything remains of the old village. Close to the temple
is the broken down ancestral home of Kurdi’s classical singer Mogubai Kurdikar,
the mother of the well known classical singer Kishori Amonkar. Kurdikars pay
their tribute to the great singer by playing bhajans that were sung by her
during the temple fest.
Most of the houses are in various stages of ruin, some
even reduced to mere mounds of mud. Despite this, nostalgic Kurdikars spend
entire day in the broken remnants of their homes. They go back in the evening
with a heavy heart and haunting memories of cashew orchards, jack fruit trees
and fragrant babuli flowers that had grown in wild profusion. Kurdi was once a
lush green village with nearly 3000 inhabitants. In the early1980s, a dam was
built across Salaulim. The dam and the unusually heavy rains of 1986 are said
to have been responsible for Kurdi going under water.
In 2016, the village was
immortalised in the documentary film, “Remembering Kurdi”, by film director Saumyananda
Sahi.
