Maravankudieruppu is Nadar village in the jurisdiction of Nagercoil Municipality, located three kilo metres south of Nagercoil, the capital of Kanyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Village created by Swamy Adiyaan Thirupappu and his descendants. Thirupappu or Thiruvadi is the suffix of the Thirpappur Royal clan originated from Thirpappur who founded the Venaad Dynasty. It is predominantly a Nadar caste village, mostly centered on 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, Pattasalian Vilai and Kalasamirakki Kudieruppu to the north, Keela Maravankudieruppu to the east and on the south by a water canal, which flows from Pechiparai Dam. The literacy rate of Maravankudieruppu is 17% The prominent business is timber Industry, both manufacturing and trading. Agriculture also equally is maintained well.
Demography and Church
The Church is built on the Kurusady Thattu. It follows the Roman Catholic Rite but maintains pure Thamizh rituals. The Priests are deputed by the Kottar RC Diocese and is an individual parish. There are more than 1500 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 first church was built in 1730 on the south east end of the Kurusady Thattu, and on the banks of the Channel, where the St.Thomas Cross was identified. The Second enlarged church was build east of the Water Channel in 1810. The third large Church was built on the Centre of the Kurusadi Thattu. The whole structure of the Church is supported by seven concrete arches, without any pillars. The door frames were made of stone. The church was solely built only by the contributions of the parishioners.
Cuisine
The Angelus bell 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 Paandiya and Chera taste. Some of the commonly made dishes/snacks at home are Ittili, Dosai,Puttu, Aappam and Edi-Aappam. Variety of Porridge finds their place in the kitchen like Pazhaya kanji, Ulundam kanchi, Chiru Payiru Kanji, Perum Payiru Kanji and with grated Coconut, Thuvayal and Pappadam. The festival sweets like Acchi murukku, Athirasam, Panniyaaram and mundiri kotthu find prominence during the Christmas season. Some regular dishes served are:
Sports: football is most popular game in The village. Every body well know football game. Thukka Pattu, a tradition by which the parishioners visit every Catholic house singing requiems in an around 8 sq km, knocking the doors to collect rice, coconuts, grams and money to prepare gruel. In Church premises, The parish people cook porridge/gruel and all the people take it after the Palm Sunday Holy Mass. கூட்டான் சோற ு: A tradition by which all the children gather and share all the rice/grams/spices shared from home, and find a commonplace mostly under the tamarind tree and cook their meal themselves, replicating what their mom does daily in her kitchen. Its mostly organised by the eldest unmarried woman of that locale. Chutru Vaanam Kallara Vasippu Mulaippaari and Kummiyadi kazhari and Chilambam
Festivals
Thamizhar Aruvadai Thiruvizha, Eucharistic Procession, Good Friday&Easter, 31 days of May Month for Mother Mary, Community Dining, 10 Day Village Festival and Christmas, are the most celebrated festivals.
Social Contributions
This parish is well known for its contributions to social welfare. The below listed self made establishments support this:
St. Mary's Primary School and was the first school to cater to the people of the southern part of the town, extending till the shores of the Indian Ocean.
The Church Building was an Engineering Marvel and was built by the sweat of the Village People. The Church has the Parish Council to manage and administer the Spiritual Activities of the Church. Without the wish of the Village People, the church parish council had proposed to demolish the existing church. 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 them 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 building, citing its architectural values. The plan is further dropped, when the Parish Priest, who promised the parish council to bring in a major share of donations from Germany, announced bluntly in a Sunday Mass, about his in inability to find any donors during his visit abroad. 17 February 2012 is observed as a 'Black Day', as, on that day of 2012, few vandals and hooligans demolished the altar and removed the statues & shut the church doors permanently, in spite of the court stay order. Now the whole issue is pending before the High Court of Madurai Bench. On 23 August 2012, 2:00 AM, the entire Southern wall & the arch pillars of the church were demolished by a gang of masked hooligans armed with axes/knives by a bulldozer. FIR was registered against 20 persons, all belonging to the parish, mainly consisting of Parish Council members. On Sept 13, the Bishop of Kottar condemned this activity. While the court battle is still on, the parishioners started building a new massive church, with the similar architecture but bigger in size and as of now, it has reached the completion of the roof.
