St. Thomas: St.Mary's Church, Thiruvithancode, India.

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5.

St. Mary’s Church, Thiruvithancode, India

                    There exists a belief that St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, sailed to India in 52 A.D. Some historians say that he reached the Malabar coast in India through North India. 
        St. Thomas constructed a small granite church at Thiruvithancode in India in 57 A.D. The church exists even today. In fact,  it is the oldest existing church in the world.
     It is believed that St. Thomas had built seven  churches in Kerala before the construction of this one. He left this place before its   completion. Therefore, this church is  called Arappalli. Ara in Malayalam means half, and palli means church. Arappalli means half church. These churches are called "Seven and a Half Churches". In Malayalam they are called Ezharappallikal. 
      On the contrary, the authorities of this church say  that this church had been built with the patronage of the then Royal House.  Therefore, it is called Arappalli. Arasan  in Tamil stands for king.

Present(November 2011) St. Mary's Church, Thiruvithancode. Two original granite pillars are visible at the middle portion. (Photo taken for www.temples-and-churches. blogspot.com )

A view from the road.(Photo taken for www.temples-and-churches.blogspot.com)

        The length of the original granite structure is about 13 metre, breadth  5 metre  and height  2.5 metre. The solid granite pillars are 0.6 metre thick. 

Extended front portion. or  western facade (Photo taken for www.temples-and-churches.blogspot.com)

      Keeping the above granite structure intact, it has been extended towards west. The roof tiles and the wooden items  seen above are later additions. Thus the western facade is a  later addition. 

Present alter. (Photo taken for www.temples-and-churches.blogspot.com)

         The present alter is at the original portion

The guide

          The guide gives one or two pieces of information. But one must have a knowledge about the "History of Venad" to understand the correctness or otherwise of his words.
                An incised cross is seen in one of the stones present in the original structure. The crosses like this one are a characteristic feature of the churches constructed by St. Thomas in India. Further, this is consistent with the belief that the original structure had never been a temple.

       The finishing inside the church is not as perfect as in the outside. Looking at the outer surface, one would put the age at, say,400 years. But, the inner side of the same rock piece appears very old. This indicates that some renovation works were carried out in the original structure about 300 to 400 years ago.
         It must be noted that there exists a 9th century Jain Monument at Chitharal, about 30 kilometre away from this place. The inside finishing of this church shows that it is definitely older than that Jain Monument.
           The church contains many very old articles chiselled in stone.  No other church in this area possesses such articles. 

The incised cross seen on a stone inside the original structure. This cross establishes the  fact  that  the original  structure  had  not been a temple.

It is believed that the following stone article  was used for baptism or for washing legs. 

An article used for washing legs?

        But the following stone articles are later additions.

A later addition

Another later addition made of stone

A later addition - made of stone - seen inside the church

Another stone article seen inside the church

         
     The church was blessed in 57 A.D or 63 A.D.  during the period of  Chera King Othayancheral. It is said that the water for blessing this church had been taken from the nearby  Manavalakkurichi sea. 

       St. Thomas had dedicated all his churches to  Holy Mary.

        In this connection, it must be noted that there were no saints at that time.
         Further, it is believed that St. Thomas was the only witness of the bodily Assumption of Holy Mary into heaven. It is believed that she  dropped her girdle - a thick string fastened around the waist to keep clothes in position - to him during Assumption.

       Furthermore, Angel Gabriel  had called Holy Mary  Blessed, and said that the fruit  in her womb also was Blessed. The fruit was compared to  Holy Mary and not vice versa. There  is diversity of opinion but the fact is that St. Thomas had built churches to Holy Mary only. 

      It is said that the capital of Venad Kingdom had been Thiruvithancode. Later the capital was moved to Kalkulam ( present Padmanabhapuram). King Marthanda Varma named his new country as Travancore only because his ancestors had ruled from Thiruvitamkode.     The following facts reinforce the view  that Thiruvithancode might have been the capital of Venad in ancient days. The Chera kings might have ruled from this place.

1           There is a road in front of the church. While cutting side drains on either   side of the road, big stone slabs of ancient days were removed. This is an indication of an ancient civilization. I noticed them on 15 November 2011. They are in danger of being  destroyed is a different matter.

Old stone  slabs and the new side drain.

Stone slabs

2  
 There exists an ancient Siva Temple at Thiruvithancode.

Plight of a  stone vessel seen in front of a stone shed

Another stone vessel  - stone tub- in danger of destruction.

3.   There exists an ancient stone load carrier, about 700 metre away on the southern side of the church.

An ancient Stone Load Carrier -A stone slab,  displaced from the top, lies on the ground

The nearest stone shed

4.   There are three stone sheds called ambalams –even today-on the northern side within a distance of 1 km.

The next stone shed. Now it is a reading room.

The third  stone shed

    St. Thomas  visited  India. There are many historical evidences for this. According to one view, he sailed to India to spread the christian faith among the Jewish diaspora present in Kerala at that time. According to another view, he sailed to India to spread the faith among Indians.

       St. Thomas might have gone through this place to Chennai.

       On the contrary, some people believe that he took some families from Chennai through sea and landed at Muttam harbour in the Kanyakumari District. The then King granted him 300 acre of land for this church.

        Some people say that St. Thomas preached to the elite only and constructed churches near the temples. Now, there are three temples in the vicinity of this church. In fact, there exists a temple just 6 metre away from this church on the eastern side.
      In contrast, some people say that temples were constructed  in this area only after 400 A.D. According to them, the church had been built long before the arrival of Hindus.

A temple seen at the back of the church.

       

Another temple seen on the left side of the church

Another temple seen in front of the church.

        The three stone sheds that still exist near to the church resemble the original structure of the church. The stone tubs seen in front of a stone shed is comparable to a stone tub - perhaps baptism tub- seen at an entrance to the church.
      There had been many such stone sheds in the Kanyakumari District. Only a few exist today. However, the age of these sheds would shed valuable clues to the age of the church. 
      

A stone tub seen in front of a stone shed.

Stone tub -baptism tub -  seen at an entrance of the church.

     Any stock of trees or any wooden items beneath this church or in the nearby areas also might give some clues to the age.

       Malankara Metropolitan Baselios Mar Thomas Didymos, on 16 December 2007, proclaimed the church as an International St. Thomas Pilgrim Centre.

If St. Thomas had really built this church, it must be the oldest standing church in the world.

Azakiyamandapam is a place about 52 km south of Trivandrum or 20 km north of Nagercoil in the National Highway- 47(NH- 47). Thiruvithancode is  2 km away from Azakiyamandapam in the Monday Market road.
Or
Thuckalay is a place about 18 km north of Nagercoil in the NH-47. Thiruvithancode is just 2 km away from this place.


For further reading visit: www.storyofananthapadmanabhan.blogspot.com
By
V.Sabarimuthu
26-3 Thattankonam
Vellicode
Mulagumoodu 
PIN: 629167
India
Phone:04651275520
Mobile:9486214851

Our Lady of Seven Dolours Church, Vellicode

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OUR LADY OF SEVEN DOLOURS CHURCH, VELLICODE

          Vellicode is a village in the Kanyakumari District of the Tamil Nadu State, India. It is situated about 50 km south of Trivandrum, or 22 km north of Nagercoil in the National Highway - 47 (NH-47).

        The Our Lady of Seven Dolours Church, Vellicode is a  church constructed with granite stones at the top of a big rock in Vellicode.
             The central portion of this granite church stands on 14 arches. There are two windows above every arch for lighting and ventilation.  There are ten stone pillars in the middle. Besides, four pillars  remain attached to the walls. 
       Each stone pillar stands on a big piece of stone. The  circumference of this base stone is 3 metre. There are  eight major faces and equal number of minor faces to each stone. The height of this single piece of stone is 0. 85 metre. 

Base Stone

         Each door frame is made of single piece of stone. Each step also is made of single piece  of stone. 

         There is a big ground in front of the church.

The school ground in front of the church.

       No wonder -among the churches- it is the Taj Mahal of this region. 

          The deity is a 0.7 metre tall beautiful wooden statue. It is east facing.

          There exists a belief that the deity in the above church grants knowledge and education to the seekers of knowledge. In fact, the preponderance of the educated people in this village is greater than that in other catholic villages of the Kanyakumari District. There are many post-graduates, doctors, engineers and government employees.  Late Rt. Rev. R.Anony Muthu, Bishop of Vellore, was a native of Vellicode. It has generated four priests and several nuns. 
       In 2010, many beneficiaries wanted to construct a big concrete church after demolishing the present one. It did not materialize. Many consider it as a miracle.

          The 10- day annual festival starts on the second Friday of September. In this year, the festival started on 9 September 2011 and ended on 18 September 2011.
            The church cars - called chapparams- are taken in procession on  the last day morning and on the  night of the penultimate day.
       This church is worth a visit.

         
 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2011 FESTIVAL


      There were some memorable speeches in the 2011 annual festival. 
      Rev. Fr. Y. Xavier on 15 September 2011 pointed out that Jesus Christ was born to Virgin Mary at a time when women were stoned to death for their sexual offences.  It may be noted that the story behind Kumara Swamy Temple is that Valli had been born in a family of Kuravar Caste as given in Chapter 2.

          On 16 September 2011, Rev. Fr. Leo Alex mentioned that the father of Jesus Christ was a carpenter, and the latter used to help the former. Further, he emphasized that all Disciples of Christ were workers like fishermen, farmers. He said certain things with the meaning that the farmers must get, say, Re. 100/- for every cucumber produced by him. He deplored that  due to the marketing conditions they did not get even Re. 1/-. He added that the farmers and workers must be duly compensated by the society so that they too would enjoy all amenities just like any other people.

          He, further, said that the red-flag stood for the amelioration of the living standards of the workers. Actually, this flag – in India - exploits them.

          On 18 September 2011, Rev. Fr. Dhen Singh said that man - as a rule - gets maximum pain from his loved ones- father  from his son and vice versa. Despite this, he said, that man is to love and to be loved.


Note: History of Vellicode is given in the blog: www.sabarimuthu-vellicode.blogspot.com

Major Martandeswarkoil, Eraniel, Kanyakumari District, India

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MAJOR MARTANDESWAR KOVIL, ERANIEL, INDIA

          Martandeswar Kovil is situated at Eraniel in the Kanyakumari District of the Tamil Nadu State in India.

           The temples in the Kanyakumari District are classified into major and minor temples. It is a major temple. Kovil in Tamil means temple.  Therefore, it is called Major Martandeswar Kovil.

          It is a small granite temple of fine workmanship.

    Besides, it is a God Siva temple of great historical significance.

          According to a view, Maharaja Martanda Varma, founder of modern Travancore, established it and named after himself.

          On the contrary, some other people say that the temple had been in existence long before Martanda Varma; and he - like many of his predecessors- got the name from this temple. According to them, Cheraman Perumal - the last King of undivided Kerala - had built it before he left Kerala. According to some historians, Cheraman Perumal is a title given to the kings of the second Chera dynasty from 800 to 1102 AD.  

The ancient Trivancore Palace.

           

          There is a relatively small Palace - about         75 metre away from this temple. This Palace might have been built for the Maharajas to stay during their visit to this temple. Or, this might have been a fort of the Travancore Army.This is the conclusion of the present writer. It may be recalled that the Dutch forces under De Lannoy had marched to Eraniel before they surrendered to the Travancore forces in 1741.

However, many people in this area say that the Mahararaja moved to Padmanabhapuram Palace only from Eranil Palace.

Whatever happened, a Mr. Potti – a Bramin of this area - says that the Maharaja of Travancore had transferred the things pertaining to the temple like the tall kuthu vilakkus, the stone -mill, doopa kuthi, aappakarai, chuudathattu to the temple before he abandoned the Palace. They are kept in the temple even now.

          A number of Brahmins live around the Palace even now. Chetties are the dominant caste group of Eraniel. They are known for their trading transactions. In the past, they sold things to foreign ships and bought precious stones.

The bathing tank inside the Palace.

          The temple is flanked by two temple tanks. One of them is a big one. There is a Sastankovil in front of the temple. Recently, two elephant statues have been installed at the entrance.

The temple priest sits on the ottakkal.

          There is an ottakkal mantapam –shed that stands on a platform carved out of a single stone  – in front of Mulastanam – the inner shrine where the deity remains. The area of this  stone slab is   11 metre     square and 16 centimetre thick brought from a hill, at least, 3 km away from this place.  It must be noted that even now there exists only a small path to reach the temple.

  

          The deity is a 0. 8 metre tall lingam. As in other temples, it is east facing. Unlike in many other Siva temples - it is a plain lingam. However, it is usually seen covered by silver.

        Again - unlike in other temples - it is made of “Saligramam”- a precious and valuable spiritual stone- taken from the Ganga river.

The mill-stone found inside the temple.

       The ordinary sandal wood tablets - called chanthanam –available in the market will corrode Saligramam. Therefore, the real sandal wood is ground using a big mill-stone -a kind of grinding stone- to prepare sandal-paste for abishegams. The mill-stones of this kind are not seen in other temples of this area.

          The water poured over the lingam –called abishega water - falls over the head of Sani God called Saniswara Bhagavan.

      The ottakkal mantapam and the Mulastanam together form a beautiful structure called sanctum sanctorum. In other temples, the devotees circumambulate  Mulastanam. Here they walk  upto Sani Bhagavan and return without completing the circular path. This is because Siva in this temple has no Parvathy. This is  a characteristic feature of some Siva temples. For instance Kozhikode Siva temple. According to mythology, Siva - at one time -disdained Parvathy and sat there.

          It is believed that a man will not see this deity – called Nirmaridharsanam - for 41 days continuously if he chooses to see the deity each day at the same time. The probability of missing the time is so great that none has accomplished this feat.

        A 10-day festival that comes in the month of Masi ends in Mahasivaratri. On the 10th day, the Kaalai-vahanam will come round the temple three times. Besides, there will a procession led by an elephant.

          The temple door remains open in the morning and after 5 PM in the evening.

          Eraniel is just 3.5 km away from Thuckalay –a place about 55 km South of Trivandrum or 20 km North of Nagercoil in the NH – 47. Eraniel is quite near to Neyyoor and Monday Market/Thingal Nagar. There is a railway station at Eraniel.

          The temple is worth a visit.

A view from the backside

Kumara Swamy Temple - Subramonia Swamy Temple - Kumaracoil

KUMARA SWAMY TEMPLE- SUBRAMONIA SWAMY TEMPLE, KUMARACOIL, INDIA

          Valli belongs to the Devendra Kulam. However– due to a curse - she had to take birth in a family of Kuravar caste - called Kuravar Kulam.  Kuravars are tribal people.

        Valli was born at Vallicholai in Velimalai in the Kanyakumari District of the Tamil Nadu state, India. Her father- Nambi Rajan- was a local king of Kuravars.

          Valli longed for Lord Murugan to become His wife.  

           Here, Lord Murugan is called Subramonia Swamy.

            Subramonia Swamy knew that Valli had been from Devendra Kulam, and he wanted to marry her.

          In order to win the heart of Valli, Subramonia Swamy   - disguised as a bangle seller -called valayal seller -  went to her house. However, he could not catch her attention.

           

Subramonia Swamy then went to the house of Valli camouflaged as an old man - called kizhavar. On sighting Valli, he requested her to give him some honey and corn flour – called thinai flour. Then he wanted water to clear his hiccup. Valli quickly fetched a little water from the stream in front of her house and gave it to him. While receiving the water, he touched her hand. As her heart had gone forth to Lord Murugan, Valli was not conscious of his touch. Subramonia Swamy was disappointed.

          Subramonia Swamy had not remembered his brother- Lord Ganesa- before starting his journey to see Valli.  Subranonia Swamy considered this act of forgetting on his own part as the sole reason for his failure to win the heart of Valli.

          The moment Subramonia Swamy thought of Lord Ganesa, the latter appeared before the former in His original form. In order to help his brother, Lord Ganesa transformed into an elephant and went near Valli. Subramonia Swamy immediately chased the elephant to save the frightened Valli. Then the elephant transformed into Lord Ganesa - also called Ganapathi- and told her that the young man –Subramonia Swamy- was Lord Murugan. Valli felt that her wish had materialized.

           Thus Valli went with Subramonia Swamy.

          On sighting this, her father and the neighbours  chased them. Subramonia Swamy searched for a hiding place but did not get any. The moment he realized that he would be caught, he suddenly transformed himself into a Venkai tree.

          On sighting a new tree, Nambi Rajan issued orders to cut the tree. While cutting, the tree began to bleed blood and Lord Murugan appeared in His cosmic form. They realized that the young man was Lord Murugan and gave their consent to make her his wife

         

          Veli in Sanskrit means marriage and hence the name of the mountain is called Velimalai – Marriage Mountain.

          The stream from which Valli fetched water for the old man still exists.

          The place where Subramonia Swamy disguised himself as an old man is called Kizhavan Cholai. This place exists. Vallicholai - the native place of Valli - also exists. Some Kuravars  live in this place even now.
      The stock of a big Venkai tree still remains in front of the deities. 

          As Ganapathi helped conduct marriage, he - in this temple - is called Kalyana Ganapathi or Marriage Ganapathi.

    

          

          The deity is a 3 metre  tall granite statue. It is said that it is the tallest Murugan statue. The statue of Valli is 2 metre tall. The statues appear as beautiful clay statues due to Channanakkappu and abizhesham. 

        As in many other temples, the deities are east facing.

        There are at least two sculptured granite pillars with some characteristic features.
          There exists a very big stone vessel chiselled out of a solid rock. Now it is being filled with common salt offered to the deity.

          

          Besides Subramonia Swamy, Lord Murugan has many names like Shanmugan, Karthegayan, Kumaraswamy.

          Now the Subramonia Swamy temple at Kumaracoil is called Kumaraswamy temple.

           A 10- day festival takes place every year in the Tamil month of Pankini -Meenam in Malayalam-during Anuzha star.

          A ritual called Kuravar Padukalam –also called Veduvar Padukalam – is characteristic of the festival of this temple. For this ritual, some Kuravars living in Vallicholai go to the temple and create a scene before giving their consent for the marriage between Subramonia Swamy, and Valli. This ritual is not seen in any other Murugan temple. Based on this, there exists a belief that Lord Murugan lived in this place.

          Another characteristic feature of the temple is that the deity in this temple responds to any reasonable and just demand of any devotee  immediately. Therefore, this deity is called Pesum Perumal or Speaking God. In fact, it is said that the devotees -irrespective of their religion- momentarily envisage the reply of the deity. Many devotees experience this even now.

          Many devotees perform a ritual with common salt and black pepper - particularly for the cure of skin diseases.

          During Saraswathi Puja a small panchaloha statue of Urchavar Murthy is taken in procession to Padmanabhaswamy temple at Trivandrum.

          This temple might have been built by Pandia kings because the Gopurams resemble Pandian architecture. Some inscriptions found in the temple support this theory.


    The temple is situated in a 3 acre plot at the base of Velimalai –a mountain of the Western Ghat.

          The temple door remains open from 4.30 AM to 12.30 PM and from 5 PM to 8.30 PM everyday.

          There are many shooting spots around the temple.
          Everyone must see this temple at least once.

          Kumaracoil is a place situated about 15 km north of Nagercoil in the National Highway-(NH47). It is 60 km south of Trivandrum in the NH 47.  From this place one must travel about 1.5 km towards Velimalai. Buses and autos frequently ply between this place, and the temple.

           A few images of the temple are given below:

A temple priest (Photo taken for www.temples-and-churches.blogspot.com)

(Photo taken for  www.temples-and-churches.blogspot.com)

(photo taken for www.temples-and-churches.blogspot.com)

A view from the temple. (Photo taken for www.temples-and-churches.blogspot.com)

Temple priest Balamurali (Photo taken for www.temples-and-churches.blogspot.com)

For further reading visit:

1. www.storyofananthapadmanabhan.blogspot.com

2. www.howeverythinghappenedinindia.blogspot.com