Periyanayagi Shrine, Thiruvithamcode, Kanyakumari
Periyanayagi
Shrine is a Roman Catholic church located at Thiruvithamcode near Colachel in
Kanyakumari District of Tamilnadu. This Church is also called as Church of the
Ascension of our Lord. The Ascension Jesus Church which is believed to have
been established by St
Francis Xavier. The shrine of Periyanayagi
Annai at Thiruvithamcode is rich with its own historical significance and
importance. The fact that many saints have sanctified this soil by their visit
to this place also adds more importance to this place. Earlier, then Thiruvithamcode
was called as the Kingdom of Travancore.
Under
the Chera dynasty the whole country was ruled over by as many as 156 petty
kings. The ruling space of the each petty Kings was called ‘code’. One of such
code is Thiruvithamcode. During 311 AD January 29th, a courageous Kulasekhara
Perumal swore in as the first king of Thiruvithamcode. It should be noted that Thiruvithamcode
was already considered as an eminent city during the time of Chera kings. The
fact the English title ‘Travancore State Gazette’ was written in government
records as Thiruvithamcode Sarkar Gazette in Malayalam even in the beginning of
the 19th century show that Thiruvithamcode government had a eminent place.
But the
deeper analysis of the history of this place calls us to go back to the first
century AD. It is said and believed that in the first century St. Thomas, one
of the twelve disciples of Jesus, came here and preached the good news and he
built a church of Our Lady here in 70 AD. This church is today called as the “Thiruvithamcode
Arappally” which is now owned and maintained by Syrian Orthodox Christian.
People who followed St. Thomas did continue to preach the Gospel and converted
many to Christianity. Those Christians used this St. Mary’s Arappally as the
place of prayer and liturgy. This church was being closed for many centuries.
This historical Arappally, thus, stands as a piece of evidence to the claim
that there were Christians in this Thiruvithamcode region from the first
century onwards.
A note
that dates back to 1060 shows that interior fishermen community people from Palayam
to Thittuvilai considered Thiruvithamcode as a capital place. The existence of
a Church and presbytery on the top of it for the pastors to serve the
Christians from Trivandrum to Vadakkankulam here, also stresses that this place
was considered to be an important one by the Christians too. When in 1544, St.
Francis Xavier who visited the king Ramavarma and his brother Marthanda Varma,
who were then staying in the Thiruvithamcode palace, to convey the message from
the Portuguese governor regarding his military help also visited the this
Church that was in Thiruvithamcode.
St.
Francis Xavier obtained the permission to preach in the coastal village of
Tamilnadu from here. He stayed here for some times. It should be proudly noted
that St. Francis Xavier started his missionary work in Tamilnadu from here. St.
John de Britto, who was doing missionary work having Madurai as the centre,
visited this church in 1682, when he came to the Jesuits’ house in Pillai
Thoppu. When Devasahayam Pillai was persecuted for having accepted the Gospel,
in order to humiliate him and as a sign of warning to other people, he was
taken on buffalo, to various places and he was dragged through the streets of Thiruvithamcode
too.
There is
a tunnel found at the northern side of this Church. The tradition of
Devasahayam Pillai indicates that he was imprisoned in that tunnel and later on
he was imprisoned in Keralapuram which was nearby this church. For Many centuries,
this parish was functioning as a separate parish. Missionaries of different
congregations such as Jesuits, Franciscans, and Carmelites have worked here. It
is known from a note dating back to 1765 that professionally and culturally the
villages such as Aatoor, Eraniel, Mulagumoodu, Manalikarai, Pazhayakadai,
Puthenkadai, Vaaruthattu, Mekamandapam, Padmanabhapuram, Thalakuzham and
Thikkanamkodu, where people of Chavalkarar community or Mukkuva community
resided, were attached to Thiruvithamcode.
In 1708,
Fr. Simon De Carvalheev and followed by Fr. Meynord, both are Carmelites, were
the Parish Priests of Thiruvithamcode. In 1717, Rev.Fr. Louis Rodrigues was the
Rector of the Shrine in Thiruvithamcode. Rev. Fr. Athiriyan, who was born in
Spain in 1818, and who was ordained in the year 1848, came here and did his
ministry as the Rector of this Shrine. In 1860 while he was doing ministry in
Thikkanamkodu Church, he died there and his body was brought to the Thiruvithamcode
Shrine and was buried here. This news is found in the inscription tablet that
is found in this church. There is a popular belief to date that making children
roll on the oil pored tomb of Fr. Athiriyan would bring the children good
health.
After
the demise of Fr. Athiriyan, Thiruvithamcode along with the other villages
which were attached to it became substations to Karamkadu Parish. Later in 1861
it was the substation of Mulagumoodu and in 1954, it became the substation of
Kalkurichy parish and from 1971, it was the substation of Mailacodu. On
15-10-2004, when the then Bishop of Kottar, Most Rev. Bp. Leon A. Dharmaraj
announced Thiruvithamcode as a separate parish, it stood as the 132th parish of
the then Kottar Diocese. By which Thiruvithamcode again attained the status of
a separate parish after 156 long years. Now Thiruvithamcode parish is part of
the newly erected diocese Kuzhithurai and it is regarded as one of the becoming
shrines of the district.
The
patron of the church in Thiruvithamcode is Ascending Lord. But till the 17th
century it was a church dedicated to Our Lady of Assumption. Veeramamunivar,
who wrote ‘Thembavani’ a Tamil classical work, in 1726 AD, called our Lady in
Tamil as ‘Periyanayagi Annai’. It is he who, following the Tamil cultural
traditions, built the famous church having Periyanayagi Annai as the patron in
the place called Konaan Kuppam. This tradition of calling our Lady as Periyanayagi
Annai and devotion to her reached Thiruvithamcode slowly. A miraculous incident
had been the starting point for the devotion to the Periyanayagi Annai here.
Once when a fisher man with his boat was caught up in a storm in the sea and
there was no way out to escape, he prayed for the intercession of Periyanayagi
Annai. He also vowed in his mind that if he had escaped the storm and had
reached the shore, he would start the devotion to Periyanayagi Annai.
It was
with the helping hand of Periyanayagi Annai that he reached the shore alive. As
soon as he reached the shore he met the Parish Priest and stated what had
happened. At his request, before 18 year, during the time of Rev. Fr. Pascal
Raj, the devotion to Periyanayagi Annai was started here. From then on many
devotees and pilgrims have been flocking together in this shrine. It has been
recorded that through her intercession Periyanayagi Annai is working numerous
miracles in this shrine. The numerous people who come to visit this shrine
testify to it.
The
Ascending Lord being the patron of the Church, the Church feast is celebrated
for 10 days during the Easter season based on the feast of Ascension of our
Lord. The Feast for Periyanayagi is also being celebrated for three days during
the end of every January. On every Fridays, Mass is being celebrated and Novena
is being conducted on 11.30 AM in the morning and 5.00 PM in the evening.
Numerous devotees from Thirunelveli, Thoothukudi districts and from Kerala
state are approaching this Shrine. By the grace of Our Lord and by the
Intercession of Periyanayagi Annai this shrine has become a place where many
come together crossing the barriers of caste, state and religion to be filled
with the grace of God.
According
to a historical note that the old church was built by Venadu King before
thousand years. Here lies the tomb of Fr. Adhirian and here is where we see the
traditional Periyanayagi Annai statue where Our Lady Stands on Lotus. Every
Wednesday at 5.00 pm Rosary and Novena are conducted and holy Eucharist is
celebrated in this old church. A new Church was built and was blessed in 2012
along with the old church. The new church is built using different cultural
arts such as Dravidian art, Travancore art, Islamic art and Gothic art. The
structure of the new church reminds us of the St. Peter’s basilica at Rome. The
mysteries of the Holy Rosary are inscribed on the front doors of this church
which help people in praying. The pillars of the main entrance have the rich
look of the Padmanabhapuram Palace.
Contact
Church of the Ascension of our Lord (Shrine of our
Lady of Periyanayagi),
Thiruvithamcode,
Kanyakumari
District – 629 174
Phone: +91 4651 250 122
Mobile: +91 94 427 303 07
Email: aggerald@rediffmail.com
Connectivity
The Church
is located at about 1 Km from Thiruvithamcode Bus Stop, Thiruvithamcode is located at 3.5 Kms from Thuckalay, 13 Kms from Marthandam,
6 Kms from Eraniel, 6 Kms from Azhakiyamandapam, 6 Kms from Padmanabhapuram, 10
Kms from Colachel, 13 Kms from Thiruvattaru, 16 Kms from Nagercoil, 40 Kms from
Kanyakumari and 60 Kms from Thiruvananthapuram. If enroute on NH 47 towards
Kanyakumari, take a right at Azhakiyamandapam to Thiruvithamcode. If coming
from Madurai / Kanyakumari, at Thuckalay Main bus stand take a right to reach
Thiruvithamcode. Nearest Railway Station is located at Eraniel and Nearest
Airport is located at Thiruvananthapuram.
