The Our Lady of Seven Dolours Church, Vellicode, was a stone church constructed using chisel or hammer dressed rubble. It was a fusion of Indian and European architecture. It stood on a big public rock at Vellicode in the Tamil Nadu state in India.
As in many other churches, there were three doors in front. They represented Father, Son and Holy Spirit mentioned in the Bible. There were four side doors. They represented the four apostles who wrote the Bible. Ten pillars represented the ten commandments.
There were ten stone pillars in the middle. Besides, four pillars remained attached to the walls.
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| The base stone |
Further, each door frame was made of single piece of stone. Each step also was made of single piece of stone. No wonder -among the churches - it was the Taj Mahal of this region.
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| Statue of Mother Mary in the Our Lady of Seven Dolours church, Vellicode. |
A few members are blessed with money.
The church cars – called chapparams- were taken in procession on the last day morning and on the night of the penultimate day.
The
present writer's father- Mr. T. Vyakappan- was the contractor for constructing the church. He received
subscription from the people for the construction, and he was only the
contractor for erecting the church. Mr. Maria Arulappan teacher (my
class-teacher in the standard III) was the Mudutham (equivalent to president)
and Dharmanathan contractor from the Kizhakku vilai area was the kanakkapillai
(equivalent to cashier). They collected the money and gave it to Mr. Vyakappan.
Major contribution came from his brother, Mr. T. Maria Susai, B.A. B.L. who was
working at the Secretariat, Trivandrum. As a contractor, Mr. T. Vyakappan,
advanced the rest of the money in the initial stages. He started the work in 1946 and
completed 95 percent of the work in 1960.
By 1960, Mr. T. Vyakappan became very poor. He could not continue the work any further. Everyone thought that he could not do anything. The general view was this: "If we collect money and give it to him, he will not use it for finishing the work. He will use it for his private purposes". Therefore, the villagers took up the work and completed it.
There was a commotion in front of the church immediately after the Bishop finished his speech. Many villagers led by Puthu vilai Mr. Yesudhason and Erattan Vilai Mr. Innasimuthu wanted to felicitate Mr. T. Vyakappan through a public meeting in front of the church. A section opposed it stiffly. Ultimately, Mr. Varuvel of Kizhakkuvilai gave his place for conducting a meeting. They persuaded Mr. T. Vyakappan, who was sitting in his house, to attend the meeting and the latter obliged. They garlanded him and gave a memento. Mr. T. Vyakappan spoke a few words. He specifically mentioned Kizhakkuvilai Mr. Ambrose who gave Re. 5/- for erecting the church despite his diligent condition.
Then, Mr. T. Vyakappan
filed a civil suit at the Padmanavhapuram court in Thuckalay for the recovery
of money advanced by him for construction. The Bishop of Kottar was the
respondent. The advocate was a Mr. Francis who fought the case voluntarily
without any remuneration. Mr. T. Vyakappan lost the case. The court asked Mr. T. Vyakappan to get the money from the laity. The Bishop of Kottar
had not asked him to construct a church.
It was a very wrong step taken by Mr. T.Vyakappan.
True or false, the villagers used to say that he had turned down Re.2000/-
offered by the Bishop of Kottar for the construction of the church under the
wrong principle that Vellicode would build a church using the money of the
people of Vellicode only. Many felt that it was an autocratic decision of Mr.
T. Vyakappan. In fact, many villagers resented it.
Though Mr. T. Vyakappan lost the case, the
villagers agreed to pay Re.7000/- to him and executed an agreement. Mr.
Sabarimuthu of Puthu vilai and Mr. Mickael of Kizhakku vilai tried their level
best to repay the money during their stint. However, they could pay only about
Re.3500/- in several instalments of Re.50/- or 100 until his death. Mr. Vyakappan died of penury and prostate
cancer on 6 February 1970. Even if they had given the money, it might not have made much difference to his life because money value had fallen drastically.
However, everyone in the village used to say that Mr. Vyakappan constructed
it. How much it is true or not Mr. T. Vyakappan alone knew.
At
first, they worked for this end latently. Then they floated the idea of constructing a
new church among the laity. They said that Vellicode needed a modern concreate
church as in other parishes. Then, they prepared a blueprint for a new church and
circulated it among the priests and nuns. A nun hailing from Vellicode told me that
she had seen the blueprint.
Then
the matter percolated to the people. Seldom the laity knew that they were
carrying out the agenda of two or three priests. Many among the laity started discussing
the pros and cons of constructing a new church and majority of the people came
to the conclusion that a new church could be constructed. About 50% wanted a
new church, about 30% wanted to preserve it and about 20% remained
neutral. Some, in 30%, opposed the idea but chose to remain silent just to
avoid controversy. At this time, a man donated Re. one lakh to the Parish
Priest for the construction of a new church, requesting him not to disclose his name to anyone.
By
2009, the vociferous people among the laity wanted to pass a resolution in
favour of constructing a new church. Accordingly, the Parish Priest convened
the meeting (called "Oor koottam" in the common parlance).
It was not customary for me to participate in
the meetings in the preceding 30 years. However, I decided to express my
opinion, lest someone might say that I did not do my duty of expressing my
opinion to the people at the appropriate place at the appropriate time.
Therefore, I attended the meeting and said, “I stand here not to oppose the
idea of constructing a new church. However, it need not be by demolishing the
present one. A new church could be constructed in a place near to the present
one, if necessary, by buying some property. The present church could be used
for some other purposes like marriage functions. We must conserve the present
church for its heritage value.
This
is the only stone church in our area. A stone-church of this kind is not going to be
constructed in future in any place. Many countries like the USA, Israel
conserve the old structures. We go to different pilgrimage places not to see
the present structures but to see the old structures. We must preserve it for
the benefit of the posterity.
I
say this, not because my father was the contractor for constructing the church
but because I realize its heritage value. I apply this principle everywhere. Recently, the Government of Tamil
Nadu demolished the roof and the upper parts of Padmanabhapuram Hospital
building, at Thuckalay, which had been constructed by a former king. I immediately
wrote a letter to the President of India requesting him to prevent the destruction
of such heritage buildings. Though I could not prevent the total destruction of
the hospital, no other old structures are being demolished now.
Majority
opinion in these matters is meaningless. We talk about “majority opinion and
washing the hands”. That kind of mistake we should not commit. I request you to conserve the church for the
benefit of posterity.”
Everyone
listened with rapt attention. None interrupted. In total desperation the
meeting passed a resolution authorizing me to construct a new church after demolishing
the present one. A Mr. Christuraj said, “Your father constructed the present church.
You construct a new one in that place. We are not against you or your father.”
They did it knowing well that I would not do it.
After
the meeting, no one came near to me. I stood alone. The general opinion was that
I did my duty. They had expected this from me.
Next
year, there was a rumor that the then Bishop of Kottar, Rt. Rev. Peter
Ramigious, would pay a visit to Vellicode. I called on him at Bishops’ house. At this
time, I happened to meet a Rev. Fr. Thobias (late), who was an eye- witness to
the construction of the church and explained my predicament to him. He agreed
to convey the hardships faced by Mr. T. Vyakappan for the construction of the
church and its heritage value to the Bishop.
When
the Bishop came to Vellicode, there was another meeting of the laity. A large
number of people attended the meeting. Everyone wanted a new church. They said
that there was not enough space in the church to accommodate the people. The
Bishop said, “The population is steadily falling down and there is no
necessity for a new church. Those with four or more children, please raise your
hand.”
Only
two men- myself and another man- raised their hands. Then, he asked those
with three children to raise their hand. Two more responded. Then the Bishop
said, “See, there are not enough children. The existing church is enough.”
Then
the members said, “The tiles are leaking. We need a concreate church.”
The
Bishop retorted, “You can have a thatched roof rather than a concreate one.”
He then wrote something in the minute book and left.
Later,
a Mr. Gnanamuthu remarked, “It is a miracle. Holy Mary saved the church.”
Another
man said, “I have been praying to save the church.’
Then
the Kottar diocese was bifurcated into Kottar diocese and Kuzhithurai diocese, and
Vellicode fell into the latter. A Rt. Rev. Jeromedhas Varuvel became the Bishop
of Kuzhuthurai.
One
day, I called on him and handed over a letter requesting him to protect all
stone churches in the new diocese in view of their heritage value. He read the letter while
walking and observed, “It is a good idea. People must come for general
purposes like this one.” He nodded his head and put the letter in his shirt-pocket.
However, the demand for demolishing the church gathered
momentum. I dissociated myself from all deliberations but wrote letters to the Bishop of Kuzhuthurai, Bishop of Kottar,
Archbishop of Madurai, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India requesting them to prevent the demolition of the church.
Simultaneously, as the church was standing in a public
place, I sent letters to the Madras High Court- extending a copy to the Supreme
Court- requesting it to prevent its destruction. In response, the Village
Administrative Officer (VAO) came to my house for some clarification.
However, I was in America and Malaysia while speedy steps
were taken for the demolition. I had to stay in America for six months. I could
not do anything. However, I managed to send a letter to Holy Father Pope.
They, apparently, obtained the permission of the Prime
Minister of India through suitable persons and pulled the church down to the
ground on August 26, 2019. They, then eradicated it with vengeance without leaving any vestige. They did not spare even the stone cross that had been in existence from time immemorial. This happened only after my return from America.
My political work, apparently, prompted the High Court to
remain passive to demolition.
The
letter addressed to the Pope had not been delivered, and it returned after the
destruction of the church. I thought that it was destiny.
The church might not have been pulled down, had there been rule of law in India. I attribute it also to destiny. We can do our duty and leave the matter there. Thus, the posterity lost a wonderful stone-church. Some said that their prayers to protect the church ended in vain.
The laity (people of Vellicode) did not own enough land for the construction of a church. There was a small church called Kurusadi atop a big rock at the centre of Vellicode. The rock was a public property. The R.C. Primary School at Vellicode possessed about 35 cent of land and there was equal area of land for a common cemetery. The families in the south wanted to erect the church in the school playground. The families in the north wanted to construct the church on the rock. Finally, they decided to construct the church on the rock after demolishing the Kurusadi. At what stage Mr. T. Vyakappan entered the scene is not known. What is known is that he blasted the rock up to a certain level and used the rubble for the construction of the church.
Before the advent of the Kurusady, there was a stone-cross atop
the rock. Some men living in Vellicode had planted it.
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