Goa, Sept. 2 -- On 27 April 2001, Fr Cosme Costa S.F.X. of the Pilar Society of Goa unearthed a remarkable granite stone cross from a bushy, snake-infested mound near St. Peter's Chapel, Dando, Agacaim, Goa.

The cross measures about two and a half feet in length, carved from black granite that has acquired a bluish hue after long exposure to water. The inscriptions on it are as follows:

Unfortunately, part of the cross, about one-fifth, including half the Pahlavi inscription, is broken and missing. While the Pahlavi script remains undeciphered, the Portuguese inscription, though fragmentary, reads:".A DE S. TOME . DO R.. ILEZ VS..642."

When pieced together, this may be interpreted as: "That which belongs to St. Thomas (Christians?) fro...