HISTORY OF VADAKKANKULAM CHURCH A TRUE HISTORY BOOK

T. SRINIVASAN M.A., M.Phil., B.Ed., PGDELT.

      DEDICATED TO MY HEAVENLY PARENTS AND  MY DEAR LOVING WIFE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I record my sincere thanks to Lord Padaleeshwara, whom I pray and worship almost all the days for making me to survive in the world amidst all the odds of life. Thank you my Lord. Secondly, I record my hearty thanks to my parents, who are now in heaven for having me brought up to this level. What I am today is only by their care, nurture and blessings. Thank you my parents. Thirdly, I express a deep sense of gratitude to my beloved wife, who keeps motivating me, for standing behind and before me in all my falls and downs and for tirelessly keeping me stand up. Thank you my dear life. Fourthly,  I express my sincere gratitude to Dr.S.SUBRAMANIA PILLAI, Principal, Arignar Anna College, Aralvoimozhi, for making a lasting in�uence on my career. While I was his student in B.A.HISTORY, I admired his way of teaching. Often, I used to dream if I could teach like him in case I become a teacher. Now, I imitate his way of teaching. Academically, he is a great genius with innumerable post graduate degrees and doctorates. Thank you very much sir for your valuable 'Foreword' to this book.  Finally, I thank my cute daughter, both my sisters, all my friends, colleagues, well-wishers and all others, who wished me to accomplish the task of publishing this book successfully. Thank you every one and all.   

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FOREWORD     FOREWARD  

 

 

                                                                          02.12.2020. Though the author at the outset declares that the book deals with the origin and growth of Holy Family Church at Vadakkankulam, it is a detailed presentation of the growth of Vadakkankulam village itself together with the formation of churches of different faiths and the spread of Christianity in the Southernmost part of Tirunelveli District.    As a History teacher, Thiru. T. Srinivasan, one of my best students, has left no stone unturned in tracing the history of the Church with an eye on even minor details. It is interesting to read that the spread of Catholicism started with the initiatives of a rustic woman Sandhayi from the village Thoppuvilai, close to the eastern coast in 1680 A.D. The �rst thing Sandhayi did in the midst of the forest was the construction of her hut after

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clearing of some trees and plants. After making her abode, Sandhayi erected a Cruzadi facing her house with palm leaves'.   The author introduces the great luminaries of Catholic Church at important junctures. The meeting that Sandhayi had with Rev.Father John De Britto has become a milestone event in the history of Vadakkankulam. It was narrated in an interesting story like style, the contributions of Rev. Fr. Xavior Mary Varghese and Rev. Pr. De Sao in the development of the Church and its activities are recaptured with authenticity. The word ‘Vadakkankulam’ originated from "Vadakku  koon-kulam" is a hither to unknown fact brought out by the author and it makes interesting reading. The core of the book lies in the narration of the con�ict between Nadars and Vellalas, who all embraced Catholicism at different stages.   The Church with two inner naves and one altar because of partition walls speaks volumes of the dimensions of the caste con�ict. We can cherish the humour in the information that the Holy Family Church as it is always called, was to Laymen in those days, "Trousers Church" because of its similar architecture. The walls inside the church dividing the so-called upper castes and lower castes were �nally demolished by Rev. Fr. Coussanal in 1910 A.D. The opposition to this proposition and the various steps he took to overcome this, are recounted with minute details.   The architectural splendour that caused the town to be called "Little Rome" is described in a picturesque manner. The history of the church intermingled with the growth of Vadakkankulam - from a sleepy hamlet to a vibrant cosmopolitan town - is depicted in an effusive manner. The divergent sects of religions, Christianity in particular led to the establishment of educational institutions in a competitive manner to the bene�t of common folk.   

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Thiru T. Srinivasan, the author, might have toiled hard in collecting sources of information both primary and secondary in writing this book as an authentic document of the history of Vadakkankulam.  My heartiest congratulations to Thiru. T. Srinivasan for this hard endeavour. We expect more books of this genre from him in the years to come.

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PREFACE History very rarely reveals some unique facts or uniqueness. Here lie a few rare historical facts about the Holy Family Church at Vadakkankulam. First of all, it has the history - credit of converting the �rst person from Nadar community into Catholic Christianity. Lately, Nadars became loyal Catholics throughout the state on large scale. Second is that all the other communities, who were devout Hindus earlier were Christianized on settling in Vadakkankulam. People from Vellalars, Asariyars (Kammalars) and Mudaliyars were not in Christianity in other places. Third is that a peculiar kind of caste discrimination was prevalent among the Catholic followers. Christianity preaches a basic principle of ‘universal brotherhood’ which means there is no caste division among the Christians. The earlier Priests of Vadakkankulam parish allowed casteism in the church in order to get more converts. Even there was a wall of separation within the church to make the believers to sit separately based on caste.  Later, the same casteism threatened the administration of church itself. Very lately if not too late, caste distinctions were abolished and the wall of separation was removed. This led to different kind of social struggle for equality in Tamilnadu. Thus, the history of Vadakkankulam church bring out a lot historical information. It is very interesting to read it. Hope it would serve the purpose of publication.

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CONTENTS Dedication

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Acknowledgements

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Foreword

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Preface

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Chapter 1 VADAKKANKULAM - AN INTRODUCTION 15 Chapter 2 SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY IN TIRUNELVELI DISTRICT 17 Chapter 3 ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH

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Chapter 4 CASTE CONFLICT OVER THE CHURCH

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Chapter 5 SERVICES OF THE CHURCH

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Chapter 6 THE ROLE OF VADAKKANKULAM CHURCH 91 Chapter 7 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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1. VADAKKANKULAM - AN INTRODUCTION The book entitled ‘History of Vadakkankulam Church’ is an attempt to bring out the history of the Parish of Vadakkankulam from its inception. Christianity came to Vadakkankulam with the settlement of a Christian lady in this forest area. This also coincided with the emergence of the village in 1680. It was the �rst congregation of the Thoothukudi Diocese. This Church has a history of its own for more than three and a half centuries. The most signi�cant event in this Parish was then Nadars’ crusade against the caste discrimination within the church. Vadakkankulam is popularly called as the 'Little Rome' because of the role of the church as a better centre of great religious, educational and cultural activities. The primary sources kept at the Jesuit archives in Kodaikanal and Concordia seminary archives in Nagercoil constitute the original evidences for writing this book. An attempted research is made in this book to trace the historical signi�cance of the holy family Church of Vadakkankulam. It has a conspicuous history of more than 350 years. The history of this Church is not taken by any other research scholar till now. This Church is historically signi�cant since it was the �rst Nadar congregation of the Thoothukudi diocese and other importance of this Church is that it was one among the 14 churches congregated by the Jesuits in the Madurai province. In the last quarter of the 17th century, Vadakkankulam emerged to be a new village with the settlement of a Christian nodal lady in the foothills of the Western ghats  

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