St. Michael and All Angels Church formation &
Adayal Church, Mudalur, Thoothukudi
Mudalur is
a village in Thoothukudi District, India. It is the first purely Christian settlement
formed by missionaries in South India with 28 Christians. Today it
has a population of more than 4500 people. Mudalur, meaning "first village
(முதல்+ஊர்)", was founded in 1799 by a
group of recent converts from Palayamkottai on the initiative of the village's first settler,
David Sundaranandan, who sought to create a purely Christian settlement modeled
on Biblical line "City of Refuge".
With the
tireless effort of David Sundaranandan and the liberal donation of Capt.
Everest a rectangular land was purchased in the name of Rev. Jeanaicke in
August, 1799. The converted Christians in Mudalur were continuously attacked by
non-Christians. To prevent the people, David Sundaranandan joined with the
young people of Mudalur learnt "Silambam" and the Silambam team were
named as "Thadikambu Sena". So, David Sundarandan is known as
"Thadikambu David Sundarandan" and "Lion of Mudalur".
David
Sundaranandan is the first martyr and first seed of Tirunelveli Church. Mudalur
has five straight streets with excellent drainage system. The east-west five
streets and the north-south cross streets resemble the village formation in
England. Mudalur has an extensive transport network. It is well-connected to
other major villages and towns by road.
The
first church in the village was built in 1799, out of palm, but was burnt by
non-Christians. Four years later, Rev. Sathyanathan built the second church.
Third church was built in 1816 with brick and mortar. After David
Sundaranandan, Rev. H.B. Norman rendered an excellent service to Mudalur. Since
he was an excellent architect, he built a big church in western pattern within
two years.
It has a
capacious to hold more than 2000 people. The church was dedicated by Bishop
Sargent on St. Andrew’s day 30 November 1883. The length of the church is
152 feet and breadth is 63 feet. Altar is splendid beauty and is four feet
height from the floor with dedicated place for choir.
