The statue of Abbe Jose Custodia Faria, is that of a priest hypnotizing a woman and is located in a small square just near the Secretariat in Panjim. Abbe Faria was born in 1756 in Candolim and his childhood was quite eventful with his parents separated to become priest and nun respectively. He was bestowed priesthood in 1777 at Lisbon after completion of his education at Rome.

He was blamed for hatching a conspiracy to gather support for the Pinto revolts in 1787. He confided with the envoys of Tipu Sultan and French administrators at Paris to work out a strategy in order to end the Portuguese as well as the British reign in India. Failure of the Pinto Revolt compelled him to stay over and participate in the French Revolution in 1795 leading an army of revolutionaries against the atrocities of the National Convention.

It was at this that the he embarked on the stage of his career that would make him famous as the originator of hypnotism through suggestions. It is this achievement that is commemorated in this statue. He died in Paris in 1819 a pauper, but this was not to be the end of his story. Alexender Duman writing his Count of Monte Cristo fifty years later included in his novel a prisoner in the Chateau known as the Mad Monk. He gave this character the name of Abbe through hardly on the true facts of his adventurous life.

The most crucial phase of his career arose when he was widely known as the originator of Hypnotism by way of suggestions. This feature is displayed in the Abbe Faria Statue at Panjim. Even his death at Paris in 1819 made him immortal in history, as he was included as a character in the famous novel, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Duman who referred to him as the Mad Monk, mostly based on the adventurous life led by Abbe Faria.

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