10th
May 2019.
This
19th Century Sacred Heart
Church is also in the list of places to be visited during our Idaikattur Visit.
This Gothic style architecture Church was built by a French Missionary Fr R P Ferdinandus Celle SJ, who took charge of Idaikattur Church in 1878 CE. He passed away on 29th Dec 1899 CE at the age of 59 and his bones are transferred to this Church on 13th June 1911. CE. The
present Church was built a replica of Rheims Cathedral of France. This Church was declared as a tourist spot by
the Tamil Nadu Government.
HISTORY AND LEGEND
Fr R P Ferdinandus Celle SJ, wanted to built a new Church to accommodate 1000 people,
since the old thatched roof church was very small. To mobilize the required
fund he went to his native country, where he met the French Anglican lady Mary
Anne. She got cured from her severe heart ailment through prayer of Jesus. As a
token of her gratitude to the sacred heart of Jesus, she gave 2000 franks and
requested Fr R P Ferdinandus Celle SJ to built a church similar to Rheims Cathedral
of France. When the Church was solemnized is not known. The Church was renovated and solemnized on 07th July 2007. The person Arulanandham Pillai who was helpful in constructing this Church was passed away on 29th December 1896 at the age of 76.
LEGAL BATTLE:
In
the process of construction and miscalculation Fr R P Ferdinandus Celle SJ,
encroached a land measuring 1500 sqft which was objected by the adjacent land
owner. When Fr R P Ferdinandus Celle SJ, came
to know about this, told the adjacent land owner, that a mistake was happened
and the structure also cannot be altered at that stage. When Fr R P Ferdinandus Celle
SJ told that, he was ready to pay the cost of the land for which the Villagers
didn’t agreed. The Villagers filed a suit in Madras High Court against Fr R P Ferdinandus Celle SJ. The civil case
prolonged for about 26 years.
A Commission was appointed by the Judge to resolve this problem. The head of the
commission got a dream of angles constructing the Church, on the previous day
night of visit to this place. When the commission personnel visited the spot and the head of the Commission
was shocked to see the similar Church which he had seen in his dream. The head
of Commission convened a meeting with the Villagers. The 26 years long legal battle came to an end
when the villagers had agreed to donate a land of measuring 25 x 150 feet,
which was above the encroached area.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Since
the Church was said to be built by the angles Fr R P Ferdinandus Celle SJ, erected 153
stucco images of angles, which are brought from France. 4o saints relics in
four elliptical shaped wooden bowls are also installed in the alter.
ARCHITECTURE
Even-though
this Church was said to be the replica of Rheims Cathedral of France, it has
some additional features. The Church was
built with 200 different types of bricks with lime mortar. The inner columns / pillars are embedded with Gothic
style of arches, which rises raises up
to the vaulted roof. The arches are decorated with rows of beads,
flowers, garlands made of terracotta. The hallow bricks are
used to reduce the heat. Also there is a vacuum gap between the inner vaulted
roof to reduce the sun heat, inside the shrine.
The
stained glass has the art work of events happened in Jesus life. The stucco
work of Saints, angles, Jesus foster father St. Joseph, mother of sorrows and
the Holy family are the great beauty and
best example of French ancient art work.
The
Historical event of Kilavan Sethupathi’s son in-law Kattayadevan conversion to Christianity
is shown in the form of stained glass art work. The main alter depicts the doctrine of the Christianity
ie, the father, the Son Jesus and the
holy spirit are shown clearly.
Special
prayers are offered for heart ailments & cancer, to remove obstacles for
marriage, to get success in operation, to get rid of debt, etc,. Apart from regular prayers special
prayers are conducted on Sundays, First Friday and Saturday of every month.
CONTACT DETAILS:
The
land line +91 4574 267212 may be contacted for further details.
The
e-mail address sacredheartblessings@gmail.com
The
website address: www.shsi.org
HOW TO REACH:
Town
bus route nos 99F from Periyar bus
stand, 99M from Mattuthavani bus stand
stops at Muthanenthal and from there share autos are available to Idaikattur.
All
the buses to Manamadurai from Madurai stops at Muthanenthal.
Nearest
Railway station is Manamadurai.
LOCATION: CLICK HERE
---OM
SHIVAYA NAMA---
thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome Sir...
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