The Hindu : Kerala News : Mahe church fete begins tomorrow

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Monday, Oct 04, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Mahe church fete begins tomorrow

By Our Staff Reporter

MAHE, OCT. 3. This sleepy town is all set to receive thousands of devotees from various parts of the region on their pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. Teresa of Avila here to invoke blessings of the reformer of the Carmelite Order during the 18-day feast beginning on October 5.

The `Mahe Perunnal', as the annual feast is known in popular parlance, attracts a large number of devotees to the shrine situated in the centre of the town and the mood of festivity prevails in the entire area during the feast time that continues till October 22. The climax of the festival is on October 15, the feast day, when devotees will be seen rolling along the road in front of the shrine or dragging themselves on their knees from the main door of the shrine to the statue of St. Teresa of Avila which is only exposed for public veneration during the feast period. Devotees flicker candles or present votive offerings of silver and gold in thanksgiving for graces received.

Oldest place of worship

The shrine is one of the oldest places of worship in the region. According to Geo Payyapilly, parish priest at the shrine, the origin and early history of the shrine is found in `De Missione Mahnensi in Malabaribus', a valuable record dated July 1, 1757, kept in the Carmelite Archives in Rome. An Italian priest came here and established a mission in 1723 when King Beyanoor, Raja of Kadathanadu, was the ruler. The shrine was erected in 1736.

The shrine suffered damage in the war between the French and the British in 1960. According to Fr. Payyapilly, the shrine was renovated or reconstructed by Abbe Duchenin in 1788. The tower of the shrine was renovated in 1855. The entire church was again renovated and opened for divine services in 1956. The main attraction during the feast is a small wooden statue of St. Teresa of Avila. According to a legend, when a ship carrying the statue along the West Coast stopped at Mahe, the crew understood that it was the will of St. Teresa of Avila that the statue be enshrined in the place. Another legend has it that the statue was caught in a fisherman's net in the sea here.

Religious amity

The shrine is also a place of religious harmony as people of all faiths in the region venerate the shrine. ``It is really wonderful that the devotion to the wonder worker of Mahe (St. Teresa of Avila) has been fostered in this non-Christian locality for the past two centuries,'' Fr. Payyapilly said.

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