José Pereira (scholar)

José Pereira (January 22, 1931 – January 26, 2015^[1]) was a Sanskrit scholar, historian, musicologist, writer, linguist and artist from Goa India.^[2]

Writings

Pereira wrote 145 research articles and 24 books on diverse subjects in literature, architecture, theology, music etc., like "Hindu Theology", "Monolithic Jinas", "Konkani Mandakini", "Songs of Goa (Mando)" and "Golden Goa's Art".^[2]

Paintings

Pereira was well known internationally for his Fresco Paintings.^[3] A student of J J School of Art, he had put up his first painting exhibition in Mumbai at the age of 18 and later in Delhi in 1969, depicting Goan life captioned: "Images of Goa."^[2]

Languages

Having command over not less than 13 languages, Pereira was a strong proponent of Konkani as a language.^[2]

Recognition

Recognizing his contribution to Indian history and literature, Government of India had conferred on him the Padma Bhushan in 2012. Perhaps he is the only Goan having attained one of the highest civilian awards of India while settled abroad.^[2]

Controversy

After graduating with Honors in Sanskrit in 1951 from Siddharth College and obtaining PhD in Ancient History and Culture from St Xavier's College in 1949, he flew to Portugal as a lecturer at Insituto Superior de Estudoes Ultramarinos in Lisbon. However, he had to leave Portugal within a year for his public statement: “Goa has a cultural identity of its own and can never be a showcase of the greatness of the Portuguese.”^[2]

His paintings on "Epiphanies of the Hindu Gods" had become a sudden controversy in 2010 when Hindu fundamentalists had protested against nudity in his paintings while Pereira, quoting Sanskrit scriptures, had provided scholarly justification to his works.^[2]

References