Not many people outside Goa are familiar with Pilar or Pilar Monastery. Unlike the famous Basilica of Bom Jesus, just a few miles away, Pilar Monastery is not a major tourist destination. At first glance, it appears to be another historic Portuguese-era religious complex. However, behind its unassuming façade lies centuries of history and a remarkable collection of Christian art, much of it rendered with distinctly Indian artistic elements.
Built by the Franciscan Capuchos from Spain, Pilar Monastery sits on a hill at Goa Velha (literally “Old Goa”), once part of the ancient port city of Gopakapattana, near the estuary where the Zuari River meets the Arabian Sea. Because of its strategic location, Gopakapattana flourished under several dynasties over the centuries, including the Kadambas of Goa, who made it their capital.
According to historical records, the monastery was founded in 1613 by Spanish Franciscan missionaries known as the Capuchos. A church dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Our Lady of Pilar) formed part of the monastery. The word pilar means “pillar” in Spanish, and both the monastery and the place where it stands eventually came to be known as Pilar.
Inside, the monastery complex includes an ornate church with a Baroque-style sanctuary and an adjoining two-story cloister arranged around an open courtyard. The sanctuary contains three gilded altarpieces, with the central one housing the statue of Our Lady of Pilar, brought from Spain in 1952.
What particularly caught my attention during my visit was the remarkable collection of paintings embedded in the walls of the cloister. Although the paintings depict Christian narratives originating in European religious traditions, their artistic interpretations reveal distinctly local influences. Episodes from the lives of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare, and St. Joseph, along with other Christian stories, are brought to life through Indian artistic renditions, offering a fascinating meeting of two cultural traditions.
The monastery is also home to the tomb of Venerable Fr. Agnelo de Souza, an important place of pilgrimage for Catholics, particularly those from Goa and other parts of India.
Ornate Interior with Gilded Altarpieces
Unlike the famous Basilica of Bom Jesus, the Church of Our Lady of Pilar is relatively small, with a tall, narrow nave. The sanctuary contains three gilded altarpieces (retables) in Baroque style.
The image below shows the sanctuary of the monastery church, with an ornate gilded altarpiece rising behind the main altar and two smaller gilded altarpieces flanking it.
The central niche of the main altarpiece holds the statue of Our Lady of Pilar, which, according to the Society’s own account, was brought from Spain in 1952. Before coming to Goa, it was venerated for three days at the Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Zaragoza.
According to Catholic tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to St. James the Apostle on a pillar in Zaragoza on January 2, 40 CE. She subsequently became known as Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Our Lady of Pilar). The apparition is considered unique because it is traditionally believed to have occurred while Mary was still alive, making it different from later Marian apparitions.
The niche below the statue of Our Lady of Pilar houses St. Francis Xavier, holding a crucifix raised near his shoulder. His mortal remains are preserved at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa.
The four smaller niches hold St. Francis of Assisi and St. Didacus of Alcalá on the left, and St. Clare of Assisi and St. Elizabeth of Portugal on the right. The upper section holds a painting of Calvary, and above it a cartouche bears an inscription that reads “N. Sra. do Pilar”.
High above the chancel arch hangs a painting that appears to depict the Assumption of the Virgin. Mary, in a blue mantle, stands on clouds with folded hands and no halo, while a group of haloed figures, mostly men and including a young, long-haired figure on the left, gazes up at her.
The design of the main altarpiece has been attributed to the Franciscan Fr. Manuel Baptista, while its execution has been associated with a local Indian artisan described in Portuguese sources as a mestre canarim, roughly meaning a local master craftsman from the Canara region, likely referring to the present-day Karwar, Udupi and Mangaluru region of Karnataka.
The Portuguese word mestre is particularly interesting because it means master, teacher, or master craftsman, and survives as mestri in languages, including Konkani, Kannada, and Tulu, spoken along the coastal region of Karnataka.
The Cloister
The cloister dates to the early 17th-century Franciscan monastery. The images below show two views of the gallery taken from opposite sides.
Architecture
The cloister is a two-story quadrangle built around a rectangular open courtyard, with a layout that is symmetrical along both axes. On each side of the lower gallery, three broad, round-arched openings face the courtyard, while the upper gallery features a series of narrower arches supported by slender grey stone columns.
The courtyard’s well-balanced design is complemented by abundant greenery. Garden beds containing a variety of small plants occupy its four corners, reinforcing the symmetry of the layout.
Mounted at the center of the courtyard on a three-tier concentric octagonal base, which also serves as a garden bed, is an unusual blackish sculpture of four lions arranged back-to-back around a central shaft. A lamp mounted above the sculpture illuminates the courtyard.
The Four-Lion Sculpture
The presence of the four-lion sculpture is particularly intriguing because Pilar occupies an important archaeological site associated with Gopakapattana, the former capital of the Kadambas of Goa.
Lion sculptures have been discovered in and around Pilar, including a basalt lion associated with an earlier temple complex and studied by German art historian and Indologist Gritli von Mitterwallner. The simha (lion) was the lanchana (royal emblem) of the Kadambas. However, I have not found any documentary evidence establishing that the four-lion sculpture now standing in the cloister courtyard is indeed a Kadamba artifact.
The outer walls of the lowest tier of the octagonal base are decorated with circular floral carvings, several resembling lotus blossoms. These motifs recall the padma (lotus) commonly found in Indian temple art and architecture.
Paintings
Visible on the cloister wall directly behind the lion sculpture on the left side image is the painting depicting the Death of St. Francis of Assisi. Similarly, the painting visible in the right-hand image depicts the Death of St. Clare. These are among several Christian narrative paintings set into the walls of the cloister. Each painting is accompanied by an explanatory board that briefly describes the story depicted.
One Good Deed Wins Heaven
One Good Deed Wins Heaven is perhaps the most intriguing painting in the cloister, illustrating a moral tale about charity, compassion, and redemption. It tells the story of a wealthy duke to whom no good deeds were attributed upon his death. However, a single act of kindness ultimately tips the scales in favor of his salvation.
What makes this painting particularly interesting is its depiction of the weighing of a soul, a theme that has parallels in Hindu and Buddhist traditions, where a person’s deeds influence their fate after death.
Here is the text from the explanation board:
ONE GOOD DEED WINS HEAVEN
The duke was an atheist. Two travelling monks knocked at the door of his manor at night. Knowing her husbands temperament, the wife gave them shelter in the horse stable. When the duke came he heard them praying and rebuked his wife. She replied, But they are priests
The duke retorted, Whoever they may be, men should find accommodation in the house, not amongst animals in the stables. So the monks were called inside and served a good meal. They went away the next day.
When the duke died, nothing good was attributed to him. The devil claimed him as his own when St. Michael weighed his deeds on the scale. However, his guardian angel remembered the one good deed he had done. That tilted the balance in his favour, for one good deed his soul was taken to Heaven.
The painting narrates the story through multiple scenes brought together in a single composition. At the center stands St. Michael, holding his signature sword in his right hand and a weighing scale in his left. The duke’s soul occupies the left pan of the scale, to which his guardian angel adds fodder, symbolizing the duke’s single good deed of allowing the monks to stay at his mansion. In the right pan is a small figure representing the Devil, who appears to be trying to jump out as the balance turns against him.
Another devil, positioned below the scale, reaches upward toward it. Notice how the balance tilts in the duke’s favor as St. Michael turns toward the devil, brandishing his sword to hold him back.
At the bottom left is the duke’s mansion, in front of which two monks are depicted—one attempting to sleep and the other praying—while a worker carries fodder for the horses. To their right is a dining room scene showing the duke’s wife offering food to the two monks.
Finally, at the upper left, an angel carries the duke’s soul toward Heaven, completing the narrative and illustrating the painting’s title, One Good Deed Wins Heaven.
Unlike most of the other paintings in the Pilar Monastery cloister, which depict episodes from the lives of saints such as St. Francis of Assisi and St. Joseph, this painting tells a moral tale about an unnamed duke, who is portrayed as an atheist, rather than a recognizable historical or religious figure.
The story reads more like a fable or parable, illustrating how even a single act of charity can tip the balance between damnation and salvation. Despite extensive research, I have been unable to trace the origin of this particular story or find another painting depicting it.
Interestingly, the theme of judging souls according to their deeds has parallels in Hindu mythology. This painting reminded me of the Heavens and Hells bas-reliefs I saw during my visit to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. These bas-reliefs depict Yama, the Hindu god of death and justice, presiding over the judgment of souls, assisted by Chitragupta, who keeps records of their good and bad deeds. Although the Christian and Hindu narratives differ in their interpretations of salvation and the afterlife, both illustrate the belief that a person’s actions during their lifetime have consequences after death.
A Good Monk’s Reward
A Good Monk’s Reward depicts a dying monk receiving divine comfort in his final moments. Unlike One Good Deed Wins Heaven, which illustrates the salvation of a wealthy duke through a single act of charity, this painting focuses on the spiritual reward awaiting a monk who has devoted his life to faith and service.
Here is the text from the explanation board:
A GOOD MONK’S REWARD
The monk had practised a lot of charity in his life by feeding the poor and the sick. Here he is seen fasting and meditating on death with a skull in his hand — a typical symbol of medieval spirituality. In ecstasies, he feels the presence of Jesus feeding him, accompanied by two angels — a reward for his good deeds.
Central to this painting is the monk, shown in a half-reclining position with his right hand resting on a skull in his lap and a cross in his left hand. He is supported from behind by an angel. Beside him is Jesus, accompanied by a second angel carrying a bowl on a tray. Jesus holds a spoon and feeds the monk, whose mouth is open to receive the food.
The scene appears to take place outdoors in a rocky landscape with sparse greenery, including scattered trees, small plants, and bushes.
The painting creates an interesting reversal between the monk’s earthly life and his heavenly reward. According to the accompanying board, the monk had spent his life performing acts of charity by feeding the poor and the sick. In his moment of fasting and meditation, it is now Jesus who feeds him, accompanied by two angels. This reversal beautifully illustrates the moral expressed in the painting’s title, A Good Monk’s Reward.
Like One Good Deed Wins Heaven nearby, this painting depicts an anonymous monk rather than a named saint. Despite my research, I have not been able to trace the origin of this particular story.
Although both paintings narrate moral tales, they differ in artistic style. The duke’s painting is fully polychromatic, while A Good Monk’s Reward is rendered predominantly in blue-green tones. Its style is closer to that of the cloister’s Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi, with which it shares a similar rocky, sparsely wooded outdoor setting. The stylistic similarities suggest that both paintings were executed by the same artist.
Another interesting detail is the vegetation. The foliage in both paintings has an evergreen appearance that seems closer to the lush vegetation of the Konkan coast than to the bare or autumnal trees often seen in European devotional landscapes. This suggests that the artist drew inspiration from the local surroundings rather than relying on European models.
The Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi
Unlike the two preceding paintings, which depict moral tales involving anonymous individuals, The Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi portrays a well-known episode from the life of the founder of the Franciscan Order.
According to Franciscan tradition, St. Francis received the stigmata, the wounds corresponding to those suffered by Jesus during the Crucifixion in 1224, approximately two years before his death. The event is among the most frequently depicted subjects in Franciscan religious art.
Here is the text from the explanation board:
THE STIGMATA OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI
Two years before his death St. Francis of Assisi received the stigmata (wounds of Christ) and was almost blind. Here he sits quietly by himself surrounded by the angels and the bird he loves – a moment of consolation and union with God for him.
As seen in the image, Francis, holding a crucifix with his eyes closed, is seated on a rock and supported from behind by an angel, while another angel appears among the clouds above as rays descend from heaven. The wounds of the stigmata can be seen on his extended hand and bare foot.
Notice the crane-like wading bird, familiar along the west coast of India, standing near his feet and watching him. Perhaps the artist intended it to symbolize St. Francis’s well-known love of birds, animals, and nature.
Interestingly, episodes from the life of St. Francis of Assisi are also depicted in the blue-and-white azulejo panels covering the exterior of Capela das Almas in Porto, Portugal. Among them is the Stigmata of St. Francis, providing an interesting comparison of the same Franciscan story represented in two very different artistic traditions.
The Death of St. Francis of Assisi
Here is the text from the explanation board:
DEATH OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI
With a priest absolving / giving last sacraments surrounded by friars, lost in prayer and contemplation and angelic voices on all sides St. Francis of Assisi breathes his last on earth. In Heaven the risen Lord Jesus presents him to God The Father as his most beloved Disciple.
This historic painting in the cloister depicts the death of St. Francis of Assisi. According to the explanatory board at the monastery, Francis is shown receiving the last sacraments as Franciscan friars gather around him in prayer and contemplation.
As seen in the image, Francis lies at the center on a flower-covered bier, surrounded by friars, while angels attend the scene. Above them, the heavenly scene represents the risen Jesus presenting St. Francis to God the Father as his beloved disciple. The painting thus brings together Francis’s final moments on earth and his reception into heaven within a single composition.
The Death of St. Francis of Assisi is also depicted among the blue-and-white azulejo panels of Capela das Almas in Porto, Portugal, providing another interesting comparison of the same episode represented in two very different artistic traditions.
Death of St. Joseph
St. Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus, is venerated as the Patron of a Good Death, and this painting illustrates that tradition by depicting the final moments of his earthly life. Unlike the death of St. Francis, which is documented in Franciscan tradition, the circumstances of St. Joseph’s death are not described in the canonical Gospels.
Here is the text from the explanation board:
DEATH OF ST. JOSEPH
Death of St. Joseph in the arms of Jesus and Mary, surrounded by angels, one angel is holding the crown. God the Father in Heaven and Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, are ready to receive his soul into the eternal abode. St. Joseph is the foster Father of Jesus to whom Mary was betrothed. The exact date of his death is not known but we hear of him up to the time Jesus was last in the temple (Lk 2: 41-51) at the age of 12. We do not hear of him in the public ministry of Jesus which began when he was thirty years old (Lk 3:23)
St. Joseph is invoked as the Patron of Good Death.
As seen in the painting, Joseph rests his head on Jesus’ shoulder as he lies dying, while Jesus supports him from behind. Mary kneels at Joseph’s feet, looking on with a sorrowful expression and gesturing with her left hand, her palm facing upward.
Angels surround the deathbed, one carrying a crown and others holding lilies, traditionally associated with St. Joseph. In the clouds above, God the Father appears holding an orb in his left hand, while the Holy Spirit, represented by a dove, descends toward the scene.
Society of Pilar
Pilar Monastery serves as the headquarters of the Society of Pilar, officially known as the Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier.
Founded in 1887 at Agonda, Goa, by Fr. José Mariano Clemente Bento Martins, the Society transferred its headquarters to Pilar in 1890. Since then, the monastery has played an important role in the Society’s missionary activities.
A historical plaque displayed in the cloister provides an account of the Society’s foundation and subsequent development.
Memorial Chapel
Located near the tomb of Venerable Fr. Agnelo de Souza, this small chapel serves as a place of prayer and remembrance. It appears to commemorate important figures associated with the Society of Pilar.
At the center is a large crucifix, while portraits and memorial plaques honoring members of the Society and individuals connected with its history line the upper walls.
Among the portraits are those of Fr. Bento Martins, the Society’s founder, and Dom António Sebastião Valente, Archbishop of Goa and the first Patriarch of the East Indies, who was appointed the Society’s first Superior.
Tomb of Venerable Fr. Agnelo de Souza
One of the most visited places within Pilar Monastery is the tomb of Venerable Fr. Agnelo de Souza (1869 – 1927), a Goan priest and member of the Society of Pilar, remembered for his missionary work and spiritual guidance.
His remains were transferred to Pilar in 1939. Today, his tomb attracts pilgrims and devotees, many of whom come to offer prayers, seek his intercession, and give thanks for favors they believe they have received.
Born in Anjuna, Goa, on January 21, 1869, and ordained a priest in 1898, Venerable Fr. Agnelo de Souza became a full-fledged missionary in 1908. On May 20, 1918, he was appointed Spiritual Director of the Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol. He was also a member of the Society of Pilar, officially known as the Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier.
Fr. Agnelo died suddenly on November 20, 1927, after collapsing while delivering a sermon from the pulpit. Remembered for his deep spirituality, humility, simple way of life, and eagerness to help those in need, he came to be affectionately known as amcho sant, meaning “our saint” in Konkani.
After his death, devotion to Fr. Agnelo grew rapidly. On January 10, 1939, his remains were transferred from Rachol to Pilar, where he had spent about ten years of his life. Pilar has since become a pilgrimage center, drawing devotees from Goa, other parts of India, and abroad. Pilgrims come to pray at his tomb, seek his intercession, give thanks for favors received, make devotional offerings, and request Masses for their intentions.
Although many Catholics, particularly in Goa and elsewhere in India, regard Fr. Agnelo as a saintly figure, the Catholic Church has not yet beatified or canonized him. His formal cause for canonization began in 1947. After examining his life and virtues, the Church recognized that he had practiced Christian virtues to a heroic degree, and Pope John Paul II declared him “Venerable” on November 10, 1986. Beatification would require the Church to recognize a miracle attributed to his intercession.
Carved Stone Monument
A niche on the left side of the chapel containing the tomb of Venerable Fr. Agnelo de Souza houses a mysterious carved stone monument. Its elaborate decoration suggests the work of skilled artisans, but its original purpose and connection, if any, to Fr. Agnelo remain unclear
At the center is a large lotus-like circular medallion, reminiscent of the padma motifs commonly found in Indian art and architecture. It is enclosed within a semicircular band decorated with a repeating pattern of diamond-shaped forms.
Below the semicircular band is a rectangular structure richly carved with floral motifs. Its shape resembles the front view of a sarcophagus, supported on either side by two unusual lion-like figures whose large heads project prominently from beneath it. The composition gives the impression that the lions are symbolically bearing the weight of the sarcophagus on their shoulders. If this interpretation is correct, the composition combines European funerary imagery with decorative forms familiar to Indian stone carvers.
Flanking the central structure are two pilasters densely carved with foliage and flowers and crowned by capitals showing European classical influence. They support an elaborately decorated horizontal beam. At its center is a shield bearing a heraldic device, possibly the coat of arms of the family associated with the monument. The combination of European architectural and heraldic elements with abundant floral carving gives the monument a local character.
The inscription appears to contain several names and words, including Dona Maria, Manoel, de Mendonça, and Frade, but much of the remaining text is too eroded to decipher with confidence. Until a reliable transcription or historical record can be found, it is difficult for me to determine whether the monument commemorates an individual, records a religious endowment, or served some other purpose.
Final Impressions
Pilar Monastery may not attract the crowds that visit the better-known churches of Old Goa, but it has a fascinating story of its own. What interested me most was the way European Christian narratives have been interpreted through artistic forms that seem distinctly Indian. From the paintings depicting the lives of saints and lesser-known moral tales to the unusual four-lion sculpture in the cloister courtyard and the elaborately carved stone monument, the monastery brings together different religious, artistic, and cultural traditions. Some of these works remain difficult to identify or explain, adding to their intrigue. For me, Pilar Monastery is more than a historic religious institution or a place of pilgrimage. It is a reminder of how artistic traditions travel across continents, encounter local cultures, and acquire a character of their own—European narratives, given an Indian rendition.
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