| Maravankudieruppu | |
| — town — | |
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| Coordinates | |
| Country | India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District(s) | Kanyakumari |
| Nearest city | Tirunelveli, Trivandrum |
| Parliamentary constituency | Kanyakumari |
| Assembly constituency | Nagercoil |
| Civic agency | Nagercoil Municipality |
| Population • Density |
5,000 • 1,250 /km2 (3,237 /sq mi) |
| Sex ratio | 900:1000 ♂/♀ |
| Literacy | 99% |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) |
| Area | 4 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi) |
| Website | www.maravankudieruppu.com |
Maravankudieruppu (மறவன்குடியிருப்பு) is a village in the juridiction of Nagercoil Municipality, located three kilometres (2 miles) south of Nagercoil, the capital of Kanyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is a predominantly a Catholic village, mostly centered around the church of Our Lady of Snows. The shrine refers to the basilica of Saint Mary Major on the Esquiline Hill in Rome, where legend says that snow fell in the summertime. It is bordered on the west by Vattakarai, Pattakasalian Vilai and Kalaisirakkum Kudieruppu to the north, Keela Maravankudieruppu to the east and on the south by a water canal, which flows from Pechiparai Dam.
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Falling under the Catholic Church's jurisdiction of Kottar Diocese, this is an individual parish. There are about 1200 Catholic families in the parish, with a population of over 5,000. The current church was built in the late 1950s by the local population in a community effort, including women and children, mostly during the weekends. The whole structure is supported by seven concrete arches, but no pillars. The door frames are made from stone.
The town has a very high literacy rate, above 80%. Many of the people choose the teaching profession. The primary industries are timber trading and processing and cultivating rice, coconuts and bananas.
Legends say, Thiru Swamiadiyan Thirupappu Nadar of Kamanayakkanpatti (150 miles away), whose ancestors are the 16th century Christian converts during the times of Italian missionary Constanzo Beschi,conquered this whole village, and settled here and majority of the people of Maravankudieruppu trace their origins to him.
The Angelus bell (Thirikala Mani) rings at noon, and women converge on the fish market. No Sunday lunch is complete without red meat such as mutton, beef, chicken and pork. Consuming alcohol inside the house or at the dining table is a big taboo, even though drinking in a bar is acceptable. Food has a blend of Tamil-Kerala taste and some of the commonly made dishes/snacks at home are Puttu (steamed rice cake), appam, dosai (rice pan cake), idi-appam (rice noodles), phazhaya kanji, ulundan kanchi and pappadam. Acchi murukku (Rose Cookies) and mundiri kotthu find prominence during the Christmas season.
Some dishes served are:
New Year, Christmas, Easter and the ten-day Church festival to Our Lady of Snows in August are the most celebrated holidays and festivals. Community Dining (Asanam) is also an important day in the year, when all the parishioners pool their resources, cook in the church ground and enjoy a common meal.
This parish is well known for its contributions to social welfare. The below listed self made establishments support this:
A proposal was brought in by the church parish council to demolish the existing one and construct the one with a budget of Rs.1Cr (appx 2Mn USD). Those who oppose this are of the contention that this the existing structure is an engineering marvel, with no pillars, and also of the view to protect the heritage. Their claim to leave the as such, and build the new one nearby.On November 2011, the civil patrons of the church got a stay order from the district court,to stop demolishing the church, citing its architectural values.
Verhagalum vizuthukalum-Book of Maravankudieruppu