| South Kallikulam | |
| — village — | |
|
|
|
| Coordinates | |
| Country | India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District(s) | Tirunelveli |
| Nearest city | Tirunelveli |
| Parliamentary constituency | Tirunelveli |
| Assembly constituency | Radhapuram |
| Civic agency | Panchayat |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) |
| Website | www.panimatha.com |
South Kallikulam (Tamil: தெற்கு கள்ளிகுளம்) is a panchayat village located in Tirunelveli district in the Indian state of Tamilnadu. The village is famous for the Our Lady of Snow church located at the heart of the Terku (South) Kallikulam.
Contents |
The history of South Kallikulam extends up to the early 18th century. It is believed that the first inhabitants of Kallikulam were migrated form some southern part to the current village location. It was an unoccupied arid land till the first occupants moved here to start a living by farming. They built a temple for Sudalai Madan, a Hindu deity worshiped in the Tamilnadu. There were a lot of disputes over the ownership of the land of the village. Over the time of period new families started to move here from surrounding places.
In 1770 AD, a thatched church was built in the name of Holy Mary by the village people with the help from the priest from Vadakkankulam a town located about 15 km south to Kallikulam.....
South Kallikulam is located at which is very southern part of the South India peninsular. It is located about 6 km east to Valliyur on the route to Tiruchendur in Indian state highway (SH) - 93. The nearest pivotal towns are: Chempadu & Valliyur to the west, Thisayanvilai to the east, Tiruchendur to the northeast, Nagercoil to the southwest.[1]
South Kallikulam has a rich heritage of diverse group of religions. Though it doesn't have a large crowd of people in the village there are people who practice the major religions of India: Hinduism, Chritianity and Islam. Even though it has different religion practitioners, practitioners of Roman Catholic is predominant in Kallikulam. It has three Roman Catholic churches, a mosque and a couple of Hindu temples too. Each church has different patron saints in which Our Lady of Snows church located in the center of the village is very famous around the place for its significant history behind.
The Church of Our Lady of Snow is a Roman Catholic Marian church in Kallikulam, Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the Catholic pilgrimage centers in India dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In recent times it became popular because of vision and apparition of Mother Mary. Locally, Our Lady of Snow, is known as Panimatha (Tamil: பனிமாதா). Panimatha is a Tamil word. In Tamil 'Pani (பனி)' means 'Snow' and 'Matha (மாதா)' means 'Mother'.
Every year, the annual feast of Our Lady of Snow is celebrated from 27 July to 5 August. The feast starts with a flag hoisting ceremony on 27 July in the evening. A flag with Our Lady of Snow's image is raised up the flagpole (Tamil: கொடிமரம்) situated just opposite to the church. On the 7th day of the feast, in the morning, a special mass is conducted on the Apparition Hill. On the 9th day, at night, a car procession is conducted. Three very large cars participate in the procession. Our Lady of Snow's statue is placed in a Car and taken through the village streets. On the 10th day of the feast, at 6.00 am, the car procession comes to an end and the cars are parked near the church for worship. Then a celebratory mass honoring Our Lady of Snow is conducted. The feast comes to end with the evening novena on the 10th day