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There are various historical stories that explain the birth of Shri Ravalnath and its establishment.  Few believe that Shri Ravalnath is another form of Khandoba or Jyothiba that is widely worshipped in Maharastra. Presently the Ravalnath temple in Shiroda, Goa is one of the few renowned temples. Long back the village was named Shrivade, which later was called Shiroda. This village was abundant in greenery, lots of paddy fields, and always rich in resources, truly exemplifying the presence of “Shri” in the village.  A close study regarding the origin of the Ravalnath idol in Shiroda gives an insight into our culture and our past generation.

If one studies the various caste and creeds in the Konkan areas, we find that we are descendants from North India. There is a town called Ravalpindi on the banks of river Raavi. The god of Raval is called Ravalnath.  “Ravalu” in Telgu means respected officer, hence the god of respectable people is Ravalnath. Most of the followers of Ravalnath are from Kasyap gotra. sage Kashyap is son of Brahma and different stories regarding his power are known in Puranas and Vedic scriptures. Sage Kasyap had settled in a self-built place called Mihir in the Himalayas which is now called Kashmir [Kasyap’s Mihir] The people from this town moved alongside the riverbanks of Ravvi and later settled in the town of Ravalpindi.  This town once rich in resources lost its charm and people started migrating down south of India.  Some of the people like skilled goldsmiths and artisans settled in goa brought their deity Shri Ravanath to Shrivada, goa. 

Goa was ruled byKhiljī. In 1472, the Bahāmanī Muslims attacked, demolished many temples, and forced the Hindus to convert to Islam. To avoid this religious persecution, several Śeṭ families fled to the neighborhood town Karwar.  The sect belonging to Kasyap gotra migrated to Karwar with their deity and established the idol at Sonarwada baad, Karwar. In 1840 few members belonging to Kailwadekar, Anavekar, and Shirodkar family brought the “divya Jyothi” to Sonar wada, Baad Karwar.

For most of the years, the Shri Ravalnath existed in the form of Divya Jyothi and not in the form of an idol. In 1935 late Shri Ghanshyam Shet, Late Shri Vasudev Shet, and Late Shri Govind Shet undertook the temple construction project and the idol of Shri Shivnath Ravalnath came to existence as present in today’s form