The deity of Vetal was most likely worshipped by the Austric Gauda tribe, Goa’s earliest settlers, and later embraced by the Nath Panthis between the 10th and 13th centuries CE. Eventually, the deity was absorbed into the larger Hindu pantheon. Goa is the home of Vetal shrines in India - it is only in Goa and Sindhudurg that one can find independent temples and places of worship of Vetal. Almost all the idols of Vetal are naked - some of them are out in the open guarding the forest, and some are in temples. At our Online Talk #GuardiansOfGoa, sociologist Dr Omkar Bhatkal speaks on Goa’s Vetal cult, one that has survived centuries and even the iconoclasm during Portuguese rule.

About the speaker: Dr Omkar Bhatkar is a sociologist with a doctoral thesis dealing in Proxemics and Social Ecology. His academic interests include Cultural Studies, Phenomenology, Film Theory, Aesthetics and Visual Communication, Gender Studies, Existentialism and Inter-religious Studies. He has contributed research papers for several national and international journals as well as chapters to books. He is a visiting professor at St. Andrew’s College and Pravin Gandhi College of Law, and is the Co-Founder and Head of St. Andrew’s Centre for Philosophy and Performing Arts, whose aim is to bridge art and academics.