Various myths and theories have been forwarded and expounded with regard to the origin of the Paravas.
Edgar Thurston quotes from Historica Eccliasastica that the Paravas and Parvaims referred to in the Bible are the same. He adds that in the time of King Solomon ,the Paravas were famous among those who made voyages by sea. (Thurston) Continue reading The Origin of Paravas
When Dhanushkodi was swallowed by sea in 1964, and when the postal services and mails to Ceylon got disrupted and left the Postal administration confounded with no way to keep their service on to Ceylon, it was Celestine Machado who offered the ready solution. He unhesitatingly offered his as well as his relalatives’ boats as carriers of postal mails to Colombo till situation improved. The mails from India reached Colombo within eight hours. The grateful Indian postal department, for this act of National Service honoured him by issuing a First Day Cover in 2010. Continue reading Celestine Machado
It is on record that the Pearl Fishery was going on from the first century after Christian era.
One famous Greek Mariner by the year 80 A.D. went round the whole Arabian Sea from the mouth of the Red Sea to the Bay of Bengal and wrote the details of this circumnavigation in a book known as Periplus Maris. This book describes the Paralia as starting south of Quilon and proceeding to the Korkai emporium through the Cape of Comarin. Continue reading Fr. Adrian Caussanel – on Paravas – 2
Rev. Fr. Adrian Caussanel ( 1850- 1930 ) was one of the French Jesuit missionaries who began his mission in Tuticorin in 1889 –and served in erstwhile Tinnevely District till 1930. Fr. Caussanel sj, took up recording history of the communities he served and wrote “ Historical notes on Tinnevely district.” Two chapters of this document deal with Paravas. And these were written between 1910 and 1916. Continue reading Fr. Adrian Caussanel – on Paravas
Augustine Pereira, son of Ignatius Xavier Pereira and Maria Michelammal was born on 11th February 1854 at Tuticorin.
His mother , a very pious and devoted lady ,brought him up in deep faith in our Lord ; and sowed the seeds of love for people . Continue reading Fr.AUGUSTINE PEREIRA -The Founder of congregation of Immaculate Conception
Among the many who fought for Independence in the erstwhile Tirunelveli district, a few like Veerapandiakattabomman, Pulithevan, Subramaniya Bharathi and V.O. Chidambaram Pillai have been extolled in history.
There were many others — nearly 400 of them — whose sacrifice of life, limb, health, livelihood, property has been left unrecorded for posterity and has been allowed to pass into oblivion without much notice by scholars or ordinary people. A few others were lucky to have occasional and miserly references in a few pages of history.
One such great warrior who merits a much larger space than what he gets in Thoothukudi district’s history is Joseph Pichaiya Rodriguez popularly known as J.P. Rodriguez.
Born in Thoothukudi on May 2nd, 1891 and educated at St. Xavier’s school in Thoothukudi, and later in St. Joseph’s college, Tiruchirappalli, he married Roselin Corera in 1917, and had thirteen children — one among them was the famous actor Chandra Babu whose name was Panimaya Dasan.
J.P. Rodriguez joined the freedom movement in 1921, following Gandhiji’s call during his visit to Tirunelveli. His close associate in the Freedom Movement was Masilamani Pillai, a well-known Catholic freedom fighter of Thoothukudi; another was Pe. Kandasamy also of Thoothukudi. These three were the ring leaders in the freedom movement in Thoothukudi.
J.P. Rodriguez had close contact with Congress leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Kamaraj, Satyamoorthy, and Indira Gandhi. The rapport that J.P. Rodriguez had with Nehru was so good that Nehru who travelled with him on a ship from Ceylon, readily accepted his invitation to pay a visit to Thoothukudi.
During Nehru’s visit to Thoothukudi, Rodriguez arranged a grand and impressive reception for him. Responding to the call of Gandhi, he, as one of the Congress leaders of the district, led the masses of Thoothukudi in the agitation to boycott foreign cloth, and the agitations to picket toddy shops. In these agitations his wife Roselin also took an active part.
J.P. Rodriguez, started a journal Suthanthra Veeran in Tamil to conscientise and educate Tamil youth in the Freedom Movement. Worried by the fervent exhortations to Tamil youth to rebel, aired in the journal, and the tangible response they elicited, the British government unleashed a reign of terror on the journal and its founder, J.P. Rodriguez. His press was raided, the types were confiscated, cases for seditious activities were registered and the journal was banned and closed. Further, the British confiscated his properties worth Rs. 2.5 lakhs. Undeterred by all these suppressions J.P. continued his participation in the struggle for freedom.
J.P. Rodriguez assisted by one Valerian Fernando from Veerapandiapattinam formed The National Christian Army and recruited youth to fight against the British might. He even went to Ceylon to recruit youth from the island. In this he reminds one of Nethaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
During his sojourn in Ceylon he started another journal Yavana Barathan and wrote articles such as ‘Yeniin Pathai’ in Gnanathoothan.
He took part in the Salt Satyagraha in 1930 and was arrested along with Masilamanipillai and Pe. Kandasamy and sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs. 200 or two months under the Salt Act.
J.P. Rodriguez in 1957 in Gnanathoothan recalled this arrest and the hardship he and his friends underwent. He said, “When Masilamani, Pe. Kandasamy and I were arrested in 1930 in Thoothukudi, there was a big agitation in the town. They arrested and kept us in the police station for a long time and locked us in separate cells in the Thoothukudi Sub–jail at 11 a.m.”
“The Police and administrative officers did not give us anything to drink or eat. The floors of the cells into which we were pushed into were uneven and uncomfortable either to sit or to spread oneself. There were no mats, no pillows, no blankets. The cells were dark and damp and there was no light — not even a night lamp! There were no windows — no air or breeze. The sepoy ordered us not to shout or cry out even if a scorpion or snake stung or a rat bit us. The sepoy further instructed us that in the event of any such calamity we might have to keep silence till the next day till the prison doctor might turn up.”
Despite all these taciturn threats and warnings J.P. Rodriguez and Masilamanipillai protested against prisoners removing the urine pots.
After some time, J.P. Rodriguez was removed to Vellore Central jail and Tiruchirapalli Central jail to undergo the sentence.
In 1939, J.P. Rodriguez was arrested again and imprisoned for his participation in the Freedom Struggle. After his release he was exiled to Ceylon where he started a weekly magazine Kalachakram.
1n 1941, he was again arrested for participating in individual satyagraha. His famous saying was “I will fight for the liberation of my motherland till the last drop of my blood in my body.”
After having spent some years in Colombo and Hatton where he had a shop, he returned to India and settled in Chennai in 1943 and joined Dinamani.
Though he was settled in Chennai, he visited Thoothukudi often and engaged himself in the freedom struggle till India attained independence.
M. Pitchai Savariammal Associate Professor, Department of History,St. Mary’s College, Thoothukudi
Isaac Miranda was a colourful personality of Manapad. Most of the time, he sported a thick green shirt, a white dhoty—- held in the hip by a two inch broad leather belt, and a pair of green goggles that rested on his nose.
He will be remembered as the actor who donned the role of Lucifer in all the Tamil plays enacted, and also the unforgettable Longinus, the Roman centurion, who pierced the side of our Lord on the cross in the Passion play .
No Tamil play in Manapad between 1920 and 1940 was staged without a couple of scenes of Lucifer and it was only to facilitate Isaac Miranda to do his role as Lucifer.
As Lucifer he appeared with sharp horns, ,long teeth, wide wings, and a long tail complete, painted jet black and once even in white, ——to ape an European Lucifer.
‘’Isaac —Lucifer” would invariably jump out of a rock from hiding, singing,
‘ Pathalam Vedhalam Pathalam Vedhalam; Aadhi Parabarana Devanai Edhirtha . vedhalam Pathalam, Vedhalam Pathalam’
The audience would sit up electrified by the acting of Isaac.
Satan in Milton’s in ‘Paradise Lost’ says ‘ It is better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven’. if only Satan had witnessed Isaac in Lucifer’s role surely he would have said, ‘’ it is better to be Isaac than to serve in heaven.’He imitated Longinus as if he was in the Mount Calvary. So Real and So true.
I have always admired the entrepreneurship of Isaac Miranda. He was ready to try out new schmes for augmenting the family kitty. Not for him the attractions of Ceylon and the easy money made there those days!
Young men who lament about the lack of opportunities may have to learn from him. He had two regular jobs. One, supplying fish to families and the other to supply Petromax lights to functions in churches like night devotions, novenas, benedictions, processions, marriages, and public functions like marriages. This ,in those days when one did not have electricity in the village. It was a difficult job.
I am reminded of a story, I heard sometime back . Isaac Miranda used to go to a particular housein Kings street, to light a petromax light. One day when he turned his back to pick up a can of spirit, a little boy named Mervyn tried his hand on the mantle and the whole thing disintegrated to a dust pinch. When Isaac Miranda spotted the mischief maker he gave one solid slap. Mervin shot back ‘’ Centurion Badava” for which he received further lashes from his grand father.
In addition to fish and petromax supply , he took up photography and sometime tried an Electric Laundry—-25 years before electricity came to Manapad.
He was very much In demand in all the marriages to sing the Portuguese “LEVATHO’
He understood the meaning of Joie de vivre and enjoyed it to the full. I have heard the stories of his stormy youth, but with advancing years he became quite subdued. Obviously his prayer was “ Give us this day our Daily Bread’’. He did not believe in accumulating wealth.
He was the perfect image of a self made and self reliant man.
By Very Rev. Fr. Anslem Miranda. S.j.
Thallayyapillai of Manapad was a versatile genius. He was a poet, composer, singer, and a Pattas – Maker. He was a man of simple habits and sported the longest moustache I had ever known. Definitely his long moustache could not rival the one in the Guinness book of records but surely it was long enough to be wound around and knotted in any part of his big head.
He was hardly fifth standard educated but could compose with perfect ease innumerable Palais ( probably Pamalais—ed) for every occasion ; feasts, processions, and funerals of prominent citizens of Manapad. Of course he was at his best , when he was under the influence of inebriating spirit.
Thallayya Pillai’s Pattas Industry added to the grandeur of every festive occasion in Manapad. His pattas was a small Hand Grenade made out of Gunpowder, and small stones wrapped tight inside old newspapers and fastened to a string. When flung with force on a hard surface it exploded with a loud bang.
During the feast of St. Antony he was more than inspired. He sang his Palais after Benediction throughout the Novena and on the feast day, at every street corner during the procession.
I wonder whether the custom of singing Palais still continues. And even if it does, can the Palais come up to the standard set by our Poet Laureate? It looked as if no joyous or sorrowful occasion was complete without Thallayyapillais Pattas and Palais.
All in all , he was one of those grand old men, who knew how to live by their wits and to live with dignity with very few wants. For the rest ,they believed in God who feeds the birds of the air and clothes the Lilies of the field.
By Very Rev. Fr. Anslem Miranda.
Manuel d’mel of Manapad was Michael Angelo and Raphael the great masters of Renaissance rolled into one. Perhaps in another age or in another country he would have gone down in the history of art as one of the greatest of his times. Continue reading THE UNFORGETTABLE MANUEL D’MEL.
The success story of F.X.Pereira of Tuticorin who went to Colombo and established business in 1889 and won the laurels of many islanders as well as Europeans including the British Governor and his wife Lady Ridgeway, has been briefly told in this web already. Continue reading I.X. Pereira – THE CEYLON MINISTER