Avur Church, Pudukottai
The Roman Catholic Church at Avur is situated
in the village of Avur, 28 kilometers (17 mi) from the town of Pudukkottai in
the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was constructed by Rev. John
Venatius Bachet in 1547. The church was rebuilt in 1747. The renowned Italian
missionary and Tamil scholar Joseph Beschi served in this church. The
Easter Passion play followed by car Festivals, takes place in summer, which
attracts people of all faiths.
Once it was the centre for Christian mission not only
for Pudukkottai but also for adjoining places of Tiruchirappalli, Madurai and
Ramanathapuram districts.
Historical Background
Avur is a hamlet near the Pudukkottai - Tiruchirappalli
border and was the birthplace of the Sangam poet Avur kizhar.
The village is named as ‘a + oor’ (‘cow-village’), it is
claimed, because of the large number of wild bulls and cows that came to drink
water in an oorani (drinking water tank) on the outskirts of a jungle here.
Avur in the 15th and 16th centuries was a sparsely
inhabited spot in the territories of the Palayakarars of Perambur-Kattalur.
Early in the 17th century Father Robert De Nobili of the Madurai Mission
extended its jurisdiction to Tiruchirappalli. Later Father Emmanuel Martins
selected Avur, a quieter place, for his Mission. The Perambur-Kattalur Palayakarars
gifted him the site at Avur in 1686. The place came under the jurisdiction of
the Kolattur Tondaimans and later, under the Tondaimans.
Church & Missionary Activities
There is an interesting chapel built in 1747. This
monument is built in the form of a cross, 240 feet in length, and 38 feet in
width and 28 feet in height. Its eight columns support a dome 56 feet above the
pavement.
One of the first missionaries at Avur, Father Venantius
Bouchet, who joined the Madurai Mission in 1688, wanted to make Avur a
Christian centre of substantial importance. He raised a large compound
enclosing the place for the use of the missionaries, the site of the church and
shelters for the benefit of visiting Christians. The chapel in particular
engaged his imaginative attention. With contributions from well-wishers and the
Tondaiman, an impressive chapel stronger than mere mud walls and thatched
roofs, which, until then had been the only materials used in Mission buildings,
was completed in 1697.
Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman, the founder of the line of
Pudukkottai Tondaimans, visited Avur in 1711 to meet the Bishop of Santhome,
who was making his first pastoral trip to the Madurai Mission and to Avur. The
king treated the visiting priest with great courtesy. This gesture by one who
was not a Christian by religion is of obvious significance.
The fortunes of the church declined very suddenly in
1716. The prevailing political strife between the Nayak rulers and the
Tondaimans, led to the destruction of the church to its foundations.
Father Homem, who worked amidst enormous dangers and
difficulties, rebuilt the chapel in 1747 at a site about two furlongs to the
southeast. The new one was larger, but much of the earlier plan was retained.
The chapel seen in Avur today is this monument.
A poignant incident took place in 1732 when the
celebrated Veerama Munivar was
in temporary charge of the church. The incident is narrated in General History
of Pudukkottai State "Some soldiers of the Tondaiman, having managed to
steal some bullocks from the Mughal army not far from Avur, the Mughal soldiers
became furious, and coming to the Missionary required him either to return the
bullocks immediately or to surrender himself to them as prisoner.
The missionary that had to answer the charge was Rev.
Fr. Beschi who was then in temporary charge of Avur. As getting the bullocks
back was not in his power, he quietly submitted to the alternative proposed by
the soldiers. The infuriated soldiers immediately chained him and led him to
their camp amidst insult and menaces, and as they found that their prisoner
bore all the ill-treatment with unruffled equanimity, they became so
exasperated that they had him tied, and, stripping him of his clothes exposed
him to the midday sun.
As soon as this, however, came to the knowledge of the
chief, Chanda Sahib, he issued immediately orders for the prisoner's release.
The chief tenderly embraced the missionary and told him to sit by his side;
then he protested that what had happened to him had been done without his
knowledge. Having witnessed the honour paid to the missionary the soldiers, who,
a short while before, had insulted him, began also to do him honour. As a
matter of fact, the danger the Father had incurred became the occasion of his
safety and that of the village.
This was the first place in the Pudukkottai tract to be
occupied by the Jesuits. Once it was the main center of Christian propaganda
not only for Pudukkottai but also for Tiruchirappalli, Madurai and
Ramanathapuram.
Veerama Munivar
A grateful Tamil community has immortalized Father
Constant Joseph Beschi, the Italian missionary, by calling him reverentially
Veerama Munivar and by installing his statute on the Marina beach in Chennai as
one of the twenty Tamil savants. His contributions to Tamil are many fold.
Connectivity
Avur ('aa-voor') is located at 35 kilometers from
Tiruchi and 50 kilometers from Pudukkottai. City bus and Taxi services are
available from Tiruchi and Pudukkottai.