Devasahayam Pillai

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Devasahayam Pillai, depicted on the front cover of a booklet sold at Kathadimalai (the site of his execution).
Devasahayam Pillai, depicted on the front cover of a booklet sold at Kathadimalai (the site of his execution).

Devasahayam Pillai was an 18th century convert from Hinduism to Christianity in the southern part of India. Born in the erstwhile Travancore Kingdom, he was an official in the court of the Travancore king, Maharaja Marthanda Varma,[1] during which time he came under the Christian influence of a former Dutch naval commander, Captain Eustachius De Lannoy. He is believed by Roman Catholics to have been martyred.[1]

In 2004, the Roman Catholic Church in India recommended Devasahayam Pillai for the process of beatification to the Vatican.[1] This led to controversy as some believe he was executed for sedition, and deny that there is any evidence of religious persecution in Travancore during that period.[2]

Contents

[edit] Catholic account of his life

[edit] Early life

Devasahayam Pillai (named Neelakanta Pillai at birth)[1] was born into a high caste Nair family at Nattalam in the present-day Kanyakumari District of India, on the 23rd of April, 1712. His father hailed from Kayamkulam, in present-day Kerala state and his mother from Thiruvattar town in Kanyakumari District. In the Nair matriarchal traditions of the day, Devasahayam Pillai was raised by his maternal uncle, and was inculcated with Hindu beliefs and traditions early on.[citation needed]

Devasahayam’s family had much influence in the royal palace of Maharaja Marthanda Varma, king of Travancore, and Devasahayam went into the service of the royal palace as a young man.[citation needed] His capabilities and enthusiasm did not go unnoticed in the palace, as he was soon put in charge of state affairs under Ramayyan Dalawa, the Dewan of Travancore.

[edit] Conversion to Christianity

In 1741, Captain Eustachius De Lannoy, a Dutch naval commander, was sent on command of a Dutch naval expedition by the Dutch East India Company to capture Colachel, a port under the control of Travancore, and establish a trading post there. In the battle (Battle of Colachel) that followed between the Travancore forces and De Lannoy’s men, the Dutchmen were vanquished. Many Dutchmen, including De Lannoy and his assistant Donadi, were taken as prisoners, while the rest either ran away or were killed.

De Lannoy and the Dutchmen were later pardoned by the king, on condition that they serve in the Travancore army. De Lannoy later earned the trust of the king and went on to become the commander of the Travancore armed forces, winning many battles and annexing various adjacent territories to Travancore.

It was during their influential roles under the King of Travancore that Devasahayam Pillai and De Lannoy became well acquainted. De Lannoy’s Christian faith interested Devasahayam and De Lannoy enlightened him on the faith, leading to his conversion in 1745.[1]

[edit] Baptism

On Devasahayam’s acceptance of the Christian faith, he was baptised at the church at Vadakkankulam village (in the present Tirunelveli District of Tamilnadu), where the Jesuits had a mission. Devasahayam’s conversion to Christianity did not go down well with his larger family or with the officials in the palace of Marthanda Varma. Pillai was married[1] by this time.

[edit] Accusations and Charges of Treason

Though there was a certain degree of religious tolerance in Travancore in the 18th century, the high caste Nair community strictly adhered to its caste codes, traditions and Hindu beliefs. Thus, it is highly possible that any deviation was not tolerated. Roman Catholic sources allege that the Brahmin chief priest of the kingdom and members of the royal household and the Nair community brought false charges on Devasahayam to the Dewan, Ramayyan Dalawa,[citation needed] and that Devasahayam was divested of his portfolio in the administration and was later accused of treason and of divulging state secrets to rivals and Europeans. He was ordered to be taken to the then state border at Aralvaimozhy, where he was to be banished.

[edit] Other traditions

Devasahayam was marched all the way to Aralvaimozhy by soldiers, over the period of a few days. As was customary in those days for very cruel criminals, his body was painted with red and black spots, and he was intentionally marched through populated areas.

While halting at Puliyoorkurichi, not far away away from the Padmanabhapuram Palace of the Travancore king, it is believed by Christians that God quenched his thirst by letting water gush through a small hole on a rock, the very place where he knelt to pray. The water hole is still to be found in the compound of a church at Puliyoorkurichi, about 15 km from Nagercoil.

It is also believed that the leaves of a neem (Margosa) tree in the village of Peruvilai, to which he had been tied while being marched to Aralvaimozhy, cured illnesses of sick people in the village and around. Many more miracles are attributed to Devasahayam Pillai.

[edit] Death

In 1752, the original order of the King and his Dewan was to deport him from Travancore, into the Pandya country, at Aralvaimozhy. He was let off in the forested hills near Aralvaimozhy. There, he is believed to have begun deep meditations, and the people from the adjacent villages began visiting the holy man. Christian sources allege that at this time, high caste Hindus plotted to do away with Devasahayam.

Locals still believe that the soldiers went up the forested hills and tried to shoot Devasahayam, but were unable to fire; after which he took the gun in his hands, blessed it and gave it back to the soldiers to shoot him to death, if they wished to. The soldiers took the gun back and fired at him five times.

It was at Kattadimali in Kanyakumari district that Devasahayam Pillai was killed on 14 January 1752.[1]

[edit] Controversy

In 1984, a group of laymen took the initiative to seek the beatification of Devasahayam.[3] This is unusual for a layman,[1] but he is regarded as one who was totally devoted to Christ.[4] At the start of the 21st century, thousands of Christian devotees were offering prayers at his tomb.[4]

Tamil Nadu Catholic Bishops' Council recommended his beatification, following scrutiny of available historical evidence.[4] Bishop Chrysostom said that in moving this forward, that the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) did not intend any controversy.[4]

However, Professor A Sreedhara Menon, a historian and author of books on the history of Travancore, says, "Leave alone execution, not even a single case of persecution was recorded in the history of Travancore in the name of religious conversion. It is a concocted story and figment of imagination."[2]

MGS Narayanan, former chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research, said there was no record of an army chief by this name in Kerala's history.[2]

P Parameshwaran of the Hindu spiritual organisation Vivekananda Kendra accused the CBCI of an attempt to hurt Hindu sentiment. He insisted that Devasahayam was recorded as a palace employee, not an army chief; that he was executed because he had tampered with palace records and passed them to De Lannoy; and that Raja Martanda Varma executed him only after confirmation of the sedition.[2]

[edit] Places of Interest

Devasahyam Pillai is buried in the Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier at Kottar[1] in Nagercoil, the place where St. Francis Xavier celebrated Mass and which had been his principal residence while doing his missionary work in the southern part of India.

Devasahyam Pillai’s clothes and other belongings are kept in a church in the small town of Vadakkankulam, in Tirunelveli District of Tamilnadu State, India. They are exposed at the church on 15 August every year, the feast of Mary’s Assumption.

Puliyoorkurichi, location of the water fountain believed to have quenched Devasahayam’s thirst,[5] is on the Nagercoil - Trivandrum highway.

Aralvaimozhy, where Devasahayam was killed, is also on the Nagercoil - Tirunelveli highway. At that spot on the hillock (called Kaatadimalai locally), devotees believe that rocks fell and were broken at that moment. One rock at the place makes bell-like sounds when knocked with a stone.[5] Thousands visit the place every year.

[edit] References

[edit] Sources

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i CBCI report, The Hindu, Jan 10, 2004. Retrieved 26 Nov 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d Balram Mishra, "Deafening silence?" Daily Pioneer, January 20, 2003. Cited at HinduWisdom.com. Retrieved 26 Nov 2007.
  3. ^ MARTYR DEVASAHAYAM : Servant of God
  4. ^ a b c d CBCI report at NewIndPress.com, January 13, 2004. Retrieved 26 Nov 2007.
  5. ^ a b "Historical evidences" with photos, at devotional website