Christianity in Tamil Nadu - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

in the state of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

is believed to be 2000 years old. It possibly was introduced to Tamil Nadu by St. Thomas Didymus (the twin), one of the Apostles of Jesus Christ between 52-72 AD. But the colonial age brought a large number of Portuguese, Dutch, British and Italian Christians. Priests accompanied them not only to minister the colonizers but also to spread the Christian faith among the millions of non-Сhristians in Tamil Nadu. Currently, Christians are a minority community comprising 6% of the total population. Christians are mainly concentrated in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu - Kanyakumari

Kanyakumari District

Kanyakumari District ) is a district of Tamil Nadu state, India and is the southernmost land area of mainland India.The district is the second most urbanised district in Tamilnadu, next only to Chennai and ahead of Coimbatore. It also has the highest literacy and education levels in the...

(44% of the population, 2001), Thoothukudi

Thoothukudi District

Thoothukudi District, also known as Tuticorin District, is a district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. Thoothukudi is the district headquarters. It is also known for Pearl cultivation with abundance of pearls found in the seas of Thoothukudi...

(17%, 2001) and Tirunelveli

Tirunelveli District

Tirunelveli District is a district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The city of Tirunelveli is the district headquarters. A unique feature of this district is that it encompasses all five geographical traditions of Tamil Literature; kurinji , mullai , marudham , neithal and palai...

(11%, 2001).

The Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

, the Church of South India

Church of South India

The Church of South India is the successor of the Church of England in India. It came into being in 1947 as a union of Anglican and Protestant churches in South India. With a membership of over 3.8 million, it is India's second largest Christian church after the Roman Catholic Church in India...

(C.S.I.) and other evangelical denominations all together constitute the entire Christian population in Tamil Nadu. The Latin Rite of Roman Catholic Church is the oldest and the largest among all. With 15 dioceses including the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madurai, the Latin Rite has a homogeneous presence throughout the state. In 1996, the Syro-Malabar Rite of R.C. Church created its first `Diocese of Thuckalay` in Kanyakumari district, (which was under the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Changanassery in Kerala till then), of Tamil Nadu. The same year the Syro-Malankara Rite of R.C. Church has also newly established the `Diocese of Marthandam` (bifurcated from its Archdiocese of Trivandrum) in Kanyakumari district

Kanyakumari District

. St. Thomas Mount

St. Thomas Mount

St. Thomas Mount, or Parangimalai is a small hillock located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Located near the neighbourhood of Guindy and very close to Chennai International Airport, St. Thomas Mount is associated with St. Thomas, the apostle of Christ, who is believed to have been martyred here...

in Chennai, the place where St. Thomas

Thomas the Apostle

Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...

, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, was believed to have been martyred, is an important pilgrimage site for Indian Christians. The Santhome Basilica, supposedly built atop the tomb of St. Thomas, and the Vailankanni

Vailankanni

Velankanni , officially spelled as Vailankanni , also spelled as "Velanganni" , is a Parish under Tanjore Roman Catholic Diocese and a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu...

Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health

The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health is located at the small town of Velankanni in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. The Roman Catholic Basilica is devoted to Our Lady of Good Health...

—revered churches by India's Roman Catholics—are good examples of majestic church architectures in Tamil Nadu. The Church of South India

Church of South India

and the Pentecostal Mission Church are headquartered in Chennai. Christian missionaries have contributed to the state's development in the fields of education, healthcare and literature.

Important Basilicas

The Tamil Nadu churches hold a special place in the history of Christianity in South India and are among the important religious places. Some of the most important and most visited churches in Tamil Nadu are listed below.

Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health

The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health is located in the small town of Velankanni

Velankanni Town

in the state of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

in Southern India

India

. The Roman Catholic Basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

is devoted to Our Lady of Good Health

Our Lady of Good Health

Our lady of Good Health, popularly called "Our Lady of Vailankanni" is artributed to Mary, mother of Jesus, in the small town of Velankanni, Tamil Nadu, India, located on the shores of the Bay of Bengal. A Basilica artributed to both Portuguese and Indians stands in and around the sites of the...

. Devotion to Our Lady of Good Health of Velankanni can be traced to the mid-16th century and is attributed to three miracle

Miracle

A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...

s at different sites around where the Bacilica currently stands: the apparition of Mary and the Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

Child to a slumbering shepherd

Shepherd

A shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...

boy, the curing of a lame buttermilk

Buttermilk

Buttermilk refers to a number of dairy drinks. Originally, buttermilk was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cream. It also refers to a range of fermented milk drinks, common in warm climates where unrefrigerated fresh milk otherwise sours quickly...

vendor, and the rescue of Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

sailors from a violent sea storm.

Although all three apparitions ultimately resulted in the erection of a shrine

Shrine

A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....

to our Lady, it was the promise of the Portuguese sailors that was the proximate cause of a permanent edifice being built at Velankanni. The chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

was dedicated on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (September 8), the day of their safe landing. More than 500 years later, the nine-day festival and celebration is still observed and draws nearly 2 million pilgrim

Pilgrim

A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...

s each year. The Shrine of Our Lady of Vailankanni, also known as the "Lourdes

Lourdes

Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France.Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous...

of the East," is one of the most frequented religious sites in India

India

San Thome Basilica

San Thome Basilica is a Roman Catholic (Latin Rite) minor basilica

Basilica

in Santhome

Santhome

-History:The word Santhome or San Thome is derived from Saint Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. The local Christian belief is that the apostle came to India in A.D.52, was martyred in A.D.72 at St.Thomas Mount in the City and was interred in Mylapore. A church was built over his...

, in the city of Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

(Madras), India

India

. It was built in the 16th century by Portuguese

Portugal

explorers, and rebuilt again with the status of a cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

by the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

in 1893. The British version still stands today. It was designed in Neo-Gothic style, favoured by British architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

s in the late 19th century.

Christian tradition holds that St. Thomas arrived in Kerala from Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

in 52 A.D. preached between 52 A.D. and 72 A.D., when he was martyred on St. Thomas Mount

St. Thomas Mount

. The basilica is built over the site where he was believed originally to be interred.

San Thome Basilica is the principal church of the Madras-Mylapore

Mylapore

Mylapore is a cultural hub and neighborhood in the southern part of the city of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, India. Earlier, Mylapore used to be called Vedapuri....

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

Archdiocese. In 1956, Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII

The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....

raised the church to the status of a Minor Basilica

Basilica

, and on February 11, 2006, it was declared a national shrine

Shrine

by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India

Catholic Bishops' Conference of India

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India is the episcopal conference of the Catholic bishops of India. It was first convened in September 1944, in Madras . Currently the CBCI has 212 members and 38 honorary members, and is headquartered in New Delhi, the capital of India...

. The San Thome Basilica is a pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

centre for Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s in India. The church also has an attached museum.

Poondi Madha Basilica

Our Lady of Lourdes Basilica, Poondi, is a Catholic pilgrimage centre located in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

, South India

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

. Poondi is a small village located in Thiruvaiyaru

Thiruvaiyaru

-External links:**...

Taluk (also spelled as Taluka), about 35 km away from Thanjavur. It is considered as one of the Roman Catholic pilgrim centres similar to Velankanni, which houses the famous Poondi Madha Shrine that attracts pilgrims from all over India.

Martyrs and saints

Tamil Nadu has produced a few Christian martyrs

Christian martyrs

A Christian martyr is one who is killed for following Christianity, through stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake or other forms of torture and capital punishment. The word "martyr" comes from the Greek word μάρτυς, mártys, which means "witness."...

and Christian saints as Persecution of Christians

Persecution of Christians

Persecution of Christians as a consequence of professing their faith can be traced both historically and in the current era. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith, at the hands of both Jews from whose religion Christianity arose, and the Roman Empire which controlled much of the land...

happened at times due to christophobia or religious intolerance

Religious intolerance

Religious intolerance is intolerance against another's religious beliefs or practices.-Definition:The mere statement on the part of a religion that its own beliefs and practices are correct and any contrary beliefs incorrect does not in itself constitute intolerance...

in the past. Thomas the Apostle

Thomas the Apostle

is believed to have been killed in Chennai

Chennai

. The Christian martyr John de Britto who did missionary work in Tamil Nadu was beheaded in Oriyur

Oriyur

Oriyur is a small village located in Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is 35 kilometers from Devakottai, Sivagangai.It is a Christian pilgrim center, as it is home to the martyrdom of St. John de Britto, a Portuguese Jesuit better known as ‘Arulanandar’ in Tamil. It was in this place...

. Devasahayam Pillai

Devasahayam Pillai

Devasahayam Pillai was an 18th century convert from Hinduism to Christianity in the southern part of India.He may have been an official in the court of the Travancore king, Maharaja Marthanda Varma, during which time he came under the influence of the former Dutch naval commander, Captain...

has also been recommended for beatification

Beatification

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...

after his martyrdom at (Kattadimalai) Aralvaimozhi

Aralvaimozhi

Aralvaimozhi ' is a panchayat town in Kanniyakumari District in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is a small village situated in southern India....

in Kanyakumari district

Kanyakumari District

Contributions to literature

Christians of Tamil Nadu who have made concrete contributions to Tamil language

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

and Tamil literature

Tamil literature

Tamil literature refers to the literature in the Tamil language. Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution...

are

Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai
Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai
Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai , also known as Mayavaram Vedanayagam Pillai, was an Indian civil servant and Tamil poet and novelist who is remembered for the authorship of Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram, recognized as the "first modern Tamil novel"....

(1826-1889)
Henry Albert Krishna Pillai (1827-1900)
Dr.Abraham Pandithar
Abraham Pandithar
Rao Sahib Abraham Pandithar was a Tamil musicologist and a traditional medicine practitioner from Madras Presidency, British India.-Biography:...
Xavier Thaninayagam
Xavier Thaninayagam
Reverend Xavier S. Thani Nayagam was a Tamil scholar known for setting up the International Association for Tamil Research and organising the first World Tamil Conference...

Christians who had been born in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, but were adopted to Tamil culture

Tamil culture

Tamil culture is the culture of the Tamil people. Tamil culture is rooted in the arts and ways of life of Tamils in India, Sri Lanka, and across the globe...

and made major contributions to Tamil language and literature are

Roberto de Nobili
Roberto de Nobili
Roberto de Nobili was an Italian Jesuit missionary to Southern India. He used a novel method of adaptation to preach Christianity, adopting many local customs of India which were, in his view, not contrary to Christianity.Born in Montepulciano, Tuscany in September 1577, Roberto de Nobili arrived...

, also known as Thaththuva Bothagar
Constanzo Beschi
Constanzo Beschi
Constanzo Beschi, also known under his Tamil name of Vīramāmunivar or Constantine Joseph Beschi was an Italian Jesuit priest, Missionary in South India, and renowned poet in the Tamil language.-Early years and formation:Born in Castiglione delle Stiviere, Mantova, Italy, a place very close to...

/ Constantine Joseph Beschi, also known as Veeramaa Munivar
Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg
Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg
Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg was a member of the Lutheran clergy and the first Pietist missionary to India.-Early life:...
Robert Caldwell
Robert Caldwell
Bishop Robert Caldwell was an Evangelist missionary and linguist, who academically established the Dravidian family of languages. He served as Assistant Bishop of Tirunelveli from 1877. He was described in The Hindu as a 'pioneering champion of the downtrodden' and an 'avant-garde social reformer'...
George Uglow Pope
George Uglow Pope
George Uglow Pope popularly known as Rev. G.U. Pope or G.U. Pope was a Christian missionary who spent many years in Tamil Nadu and translated many Tamil texts into English. His popular translations include Tirukkural and Tiruvachagam. His efforts were recognized by the Royal Asiatic Society in the...

World's oldest church structure

The Thiruvithamcode Arappally

Thiruvithamcode Arappally

Thiruvithamcode Arappally , or St. Mary's Orthodox Church, is a church located in Thiruvithamcode, Tamil Nadu, India.The church today is operated by the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan, Baselios Mar Thoma Didymos I proclaimed the church as an...

or Thomaiyar Kovil or Amalagiri church, as named by the then Chera

Chera dynasty

Chera Dynasty in South India is one of the most ancient ruling dynasties in India. Together with the Cholas and the Pandyas, they formed the three principle warring Iron Age Tamil kingdoms in southern India...

king Udayancheral , dedicated to Holy Mother Mary, built by Thomas the Apostle

Thomas the Apostle

in 57 AD at Thiruvithancode

Thiruvithancode

Thiruvithamcode is a small panchayat town located in the Kanyakumari district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.Name in Tamil: திருவிதாங்கோடு....

in Kanyakumari district

Kanyakumari District

of Tamil Nadu is one of the oldest existing Christian Church structures in the world today. It is now declared as an international St. Thomas pilgrim center.

Christian pilgrimages

Notable Christian churches and pilgrimage sites in Tamil Nadu.

Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health
Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health
The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health is located at the small town of Velankanni in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. The Roman Catholic Basilica is devoted to Our Lady of Good Health...

, Velankanni
San Thome Basilica, St. Thomas Mount
St. Thomas Mount
St. Thomas Mount, or Parangimalai is a small hillock located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Located near the neighbourhood of Guindy and very close to Chennai International Airport, St. Thomas Mount is associated with St. Thomas, the apostle of Christ, who is believed to have been martyred here...

Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
Poondi Madha Basilica
Our Lady of Snows Basilica
Our Lady of Snows Basilica
Our Lady of Snows Shrine Basilica is located at Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the Catholic pilgrimage centres in India dedicated to the Virgin Mary.-History:...

and Mountain Church in Kallikulam
St. Antony's Church at Uvari
Uvari
Uvari is a coastal village with about 3,000 households and a population of 10,000 in the Tirunelveli district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India...
St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral Church at Kottar
Kottar
Kottar is a locality and a thriving bazaar area of Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu state, India; though a part of Nagercoil today, it is the original town around which the city of Nagercoil, near the southernmost tip of Peninsular India, grew. It was an ancient trade center of both Pandyas and Cheras at...

List of denominations

Apostolic Christian Assembly
Apostolic Church
Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
Bible Believing Churches in India
Bible Crusade Missionary Society
Blessing Youth Mission
Church of Christ (Non-Instrumental)
Dohnavur Fellowship
Eternal Light Ministries
Evangelical Christian Church of India
India Gospel League
Indian Pentecostal Assemblies
Madras Pentecostal Assembly Church
Maranatha Full Gospel Churches
Prince of Peace Church
Tamil Baptist Churches
The Pentecostal Mission
The Pentecostal Mission
The Pentecostal Mission or New Testament Church formerly known as Ceylon Pentecostal Mission , is a pentecostal denomination which originated in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. The international headquarters is now situated in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India...

Important Basilicas

Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health

San Thome Basilica

Poondi Madha Basilica

Martyrs and saints

Contributions to literature

World's oldest church structure

Christian pilgrimages

List of denominations

Further reading

See also