Holy Trinity Cathedral, Palayamkottai, Thirunelveli
Holy
Trinity Cathedral is a small, elegant and beautiful church in the district of
Thirunelveli in Tamilnadu. Holy Trinity Cathedral is the cathedral church
of Thirunelveli Diocese under Church of South India. Holy Trinity Church in Palayamkottai was named by
Bishop Daniel Corrie on 30th January 1836. Bishop Stephen Neill
raised the status of the Church into a Cathedral. Holy Trinity Cathedral in
Palayamkottai is a large church in this area.
This
cathedral was constructed in the year 1826 by Rev Rhenius and was opened to the
public for worship on the 26th of June 1826. The construction of this cathedral
took one hundred and seventy five days and the expenditure incurred was around
rupees two thousand at that time. This small church with an oblong edifice
measures sixty four feet by thirty feet and it still serves as a nucleus for
this massive Cathedral which developed in later years.
The
amount spent in the construction of this cathedral came as donations not only
from Christians, but from Hindus and Muslims as well. Venga Mudaliar had
donated one hundred and sixty eight acres of punjai land for the maintenance of
this Church. Several renovations and additions were also made to this structure. In
the year 1845, a tall stately steeple of one hundred and fifty eight feet
soaring into the skies was added by Rev. Pettilt which made the church a
landmark all over the district.
This
church is locally very famous as 'Oosi Gopuram' as a land mark in the Thirunelveli
district of Tamilnadu. The resonant bell in this church, which was gifted by
friends in England and installed in the year 1850, has unfailingly chimed the
hours, calling the faithful to worship over the years and the clock set in the
tower is relied upon by the people of the entire area as its beloved Big
Ben. Several improvements, extensions and renovation works have taken
place subsequently in the years from 1846 to 1998.
Bishops
of the CSI Thirunelveli Diocese
·
Samuel Morley 1896–1903
·
Arthur A Williams
1905–1914
·
Harry M Waller 1915–1923
·
Norman H Tubbs 1923–1928
·
Frederick J Western
1929–1938
·
Stephen C Neill 1939–1944
(Founder of Bishopric – CSI Thirunelveli Diocese)
·
George T Selwyn 1945–1952
·
Augustine G Jebaraj
1953–1970 (First Indian bishop – CSI Thirunelveli Diocese)
·
Thomas S Garrett 1971–1974
·
S Daniel Abraham 1975–1984
·
Jason S Dharmaraj
1985–1999
R Joseph
served as the senior pastor of Holy Trinity cathedral from 1987-92.
Connectivity
Palayamkottai
is located at about 2 Kms from Thirunelveli, 160 Kms and 156 Kms from
Thiruvananthapuram. Palayamkottai has an efficient bus network. Palayamkottai
bus stand, or Palai Bus Stand as it is popularly called by the
locals, was the major connecting hub of the bus network. New bus terminal in
the highway near the Thirunelveli bypass road connects Palayamkottai and
Thirunelveli in an extensive network of neighboring towns, cities and also the
major metropolitan cities of Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The
Palayamkottai bus terminal is also a major stopover for all buses going to
Kanyakumari and Nagercoil. There are also numerous connections between the
local Palayamkottai bus-stops and Thirunelveli town. Palayamkottai also has a
railway station connecting Thirunelveli Junction and Tiruchendur.
Share-autos
(auto rickshaws that car-pool paying customers on a common route) ply
extensively along Palayamkottai's streets and are easy to flag down. The
regular yellow-black Greaves Garuda auto rickshaws, although plenty in number,
are considered to be the common man's taxis of Palayamkottai. Auto rickshaw
drivers are known to overcharge tourists. Cars as taxis are generally only
available in taxi stands where tourists and locals use them to travel to short
distances outside of the city. As a common practice, people of Palayamkottai or
Thirunelveli do not use taxis as an alternate public transportation to buses or
trains. Nearest Airport is located at Madurai and Thiruvananthapuram.