PARAVAS OF TAMILNADU

PARAVAS OF TAMILNADU

Encyclopedia > Parava
 Conversion of paravas by Francis Xavier, in a 19th-century colored lithograph
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Conversion of paravas by Francis Xavier, in a 19th-century colored lithograph
Parava or Paravas, also known as Bharathar, Paravar, Meenparavar and Fernandos, is one of the oldest Tamil castes.

Traditionally, the Paravas had been for centuries, Pearl-Divers - until the 19th century, when pearl-oysters in the Gulf of Mannar, between India and Sri Lanka, became scarce. Tuticorin city in Tamilnadu, India, still a stronghold of the Parava community, was the centre of the pearl trade. The Paravas later diversified into fishing, salt-making and other maritime professions.

Paravar also refers to the people living on the coast of Tamilnadu state in India and in parts of Northern and Western Sri Lanka (Ceylon). (In Tamil language and literature, the coastal areas where they lived were called 'Neythal Thinai') - The other old Tamil castes, the Maravars (Devars) and Kuravars live in the neighbourhood and in ancient times were believed to be akin to the Paravas. Now, the Paravas are also commonly referred to as 'Fernandos'. Significant numbers of well-educated paravas, many of whom have diversified into major professions and business also live in the major cities of southern Tamilnadu and in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Paravas in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) migrated from India during the British colonial days ; many prosper in trade and business in Sri Lanka and now generally speak Sinhala, the language of Sri Lanka. (see Bharatakula)

Paravas were the first whole community in India to get converted to Christianity in the mid 16th century. The name 'Fernando', a predominant surname and other surnames were acquired from the Portuguese, under whose influence the Paravas came into, in the 16th century. There are as many as 100 or more of these surnames - Fernando, Fernandez, Motha, Mascarenhas, Victoria, Miranda, Devotta, De Cruz, De Souza, Gomez, Dalmeida, Vaz, Desoyza, etc., which were given by St. Francis Xavier, other missionaries and Portuguese officers during the 16th century.


In the olden days, the Portuguese called the area where the Paravas (or pearl-fishers) lived as "La Pescaria" - or land of the pearls.


Occupation
Paravars had traditional sea based professions, such as pearl-diving, fisheries, navigation, salt making, etc., Their engineering skills in ship-building in the olden days were profound. Their invention of the Catamaran gave one of few tamil Loanwords to the world's languages. The Palm yard and dry plantation crops were their traditional agriculture-crops. The present successful business community Nadar caste were traditional palm-toddy tree climbers brought to this region by the Paravars for their palmyards. The Paravars have a long tradition of learning and are one of the earliest communities with high literacy because of their traditional navigating lifestyle and the influence of Christian missionaries. The riches brought back from long sea trips were incorporated into houses, built with costly teak woods.


History of Paravas:
As in other old Tamil caste such as Devars, Paravars are also are very proud about their caste heritage. There are many historic reasons for the closer relations with the Pandiyan kingdom of Madurai. Tuticorin the port city of the Pandiyan kingdom, has always been a stronghold of the Paravars. The Paravars were the chiefs of the coastal region and they ruled their areas as subordinates of the Pandyas of the Sangam age([1][1]. The Paravars head quarter was Korkai harbour during the regime of Pandiyan Kingdom and they all spread into 22 fishing hamlets namely Rajackal Mangalam, Kovalam, Kanyakumari, Kumari muttam, Kootapuli, Perumanal, Idinthakarai, Kuthenkuly, Uvari, Periathalai, Pudukarai, Manapad, Alanthalai, Thiruchendur, Virapandianpatnam, Thalambuli, Punnaikayal, Palayakayal, Tuticorin, Vaippar, Chethupar, Vembar & Mookur in the pearl fishery coast of Gulf of Mannar and adjacent Comerin coast. 

The paravas once a very powerful people and no doubt derived much of their ascendancy over other tribes from their knowledge of navigation and pearl fishery. They had a succession of kings among them, distinguished by the title Adiarasen Some of these chiefs seem to have resided at Uttara Kosmangay near Ramnad. The story of this city itself is clear evidence to this fact. Later, the leaders were called by names Thalaivan, Pattankattiyars, and Adappannars. Kumarimuttom can be considered as the western boundary for the community as the people are inhabitants of also Muttom and Pillaithoppu.


Religion and Paravas
The first well-documented history of the Tamil land is reflected in the literature of sangam which is found grouped in Ettuthogai and Pathupattu. These first three centuries sangam age works talk a lot about Paravar or Parathar community which extended from Rameswaram to Kanniyakumari. The main profession of paravars is fishing in the sea. In olden days they were even involved in manufacturing salt. They were experts in pearl and chank fishing. Ahananooru of the Sangam literature depicts of Paravar profession. Korkai, the famous harbour town of Pandya kingdom was thickly populated by paravars. In olden days paravars were engaged in trading with Greece, Rome, Egypt, China, Java, Burma and Ceylon. Korkai pearl was the most famous item exported from Tamil land.


Paravars worshipped Varunan. Pattinapalai (200 AD) gives a vivid picture of Varunan cult of Paravars. The fisherfolk call the sea as Mother Sea and revere her as Goddess. Ahananooru talks about sea Goddess. The records of the Travancore Census Report 1931 mentions about the inscription at the Cape Comorin temple. It talks about a Paravar King Villavaraya of Cape who ruled the coastal land for about 800 years. It is also believed that the temple at Cape was built by the Paravars for their Sea Goddess. The Paravars' natural attachment to Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple also can be attributed as a great sign of their reverence to their Mother Goddess.


When the southern people started changing their religion under the northern influence, paravars also followed the suit. During the Cholas and later Pandiya kings regime Paravars were believers of Saivisim. There were many highly learned and spiritually bolstered Saivites in Paravar Community.


From 1311 onward the Muslim rulers began to invade Pandiyan Empire and continued repeated onslaught on them. In 1323 they captured the Pandian Kingdom. The Muslims being very powerful at sea and having the support of local Kings started forcing the Paravars to embrace Islam. But they failed every time. In 1516 the Muslims captivated whole pearl fishery on lease from Udaya Marthanda Varma and Paravars were brinked to the state of slavery. And for the first time ever in the history the Paravars lost their right over the pearl fishery.


Day by day the Muslims and their arrogance became more stronger and the parava community was left helpless. Unaided by the neighbours and exposed to the danger of being wiped out by the tyrannical Muslims, Paravars found timely help from an unexpected quarter. The Portuguese expressed their willingness to help if they consented to become Christians. After studying the suggestion Paravar community decided to embrace Christianity en masse. Thus, in 1533, nearly 30,000 Paravars got back their right over Pearl fishery. In 1542 Saint Francis Xavier came to Pearl Coasts to strengthen their Christian faith.


During the baptism of Paravars, the Portuguese happened to be God-fathers. So they had given their names to Paravars. Even after 460 years these surnames are still prevalent in the paravar community. 68 such names are existing amongst which Fernando, Fernandes are mostly used.



History of Conversion of Paravas to Christianity:
The Paravas were a Tamil fisher caste who inhabited the fishery coast extending from Cape Comorin Kanya Kumari to the isle of Mannar (Rameswaram) along the gulf that bears the name. The Paravas plied the trade of pearl fishing, diving for pearls to the bottom of the deep where they could stay for many hours. The season for pearl-fishing came round once in three years in the months of march and November when, in the absence of the strong winds, they were able to carry on their operations undisturbed- for pearls in March and for seed-pearls in November. They undertook these expeditions after elaborate preparations consisting of examination and sounding of the ocean. At the spots where they selected for beginning their operations- which generally in the vicinity of the Mannar and Tuticorin – there they would establish whole colonies of pearl-fishers which would be abandoned at the end of the season. (Silva Rego Documatacao Vol.-II pp359-60)

The Paravas paid a small tax to the state for permission to scour the deep for pearls. In the first quarter of the 16th century, this contribution which was paid to the Pandyas (Tamils) till then, came to be shared by the two powers between whom the coast was divided – the king of Travancore, Chera Udaya Martanda, who annexed the southern half of the coastal territory and the Vanga Tumbichi Nayak, who possessed himself to the north. In 1516, however the state dues were farmed out by a Muslim who on account of the profits he has realized, became the virtual master of the coast Documentacao vol.- II p361).


According to Barbosa, he was so rich and powerful that the people of the land honored him as much as the king. He executed judgement and justice on the Muslims without interference from the constituted authority. The fishers (parathavars) toiled for him for a whole week at the close of the season, and for themselves for the rest of the time except on Fridays when they worked for the owners of the boats (Dames, The book of Duarte Barbosa Vol.-II pp123-24).

The Portuguese, who were the masters of the seas, coveted this business and soon wrested it from the Muslims. In 1523, Joao Froles, whom the Portuguese king appointed as Captain and Factor of the fishery coast, succeeded in farming out the dues of 1,500 cruzados a year (Corea oriente Portuguese vol.-II PP 778-79,786-87). The Muslims wouldn't yield to their rivals without a struggle. But the brunt of their attacks was visited upon the Paravas. For in their attempt to baulk the Portuguese of their gains, they constantly harassed the poor fishers. In consequence, the Portuguese had to maintain a flying squadron to beat off the attacks of the Muslim Corsairs-as they termed their enemies. Just at this juncture, Vijayanagar, which had earlier connived at the occupation of the coast by the King of Travancore and Tumbichi Nayak, vigorously intervened in support of the Pandya king. The Vijayanagar forces inflicted severe defeat on the Travancore army, and with the appearance of Vijayanagar on the fishery coast there was cessation of hostilities between the Portuguese and the Muslims (Silva Rego –Oriente Portuguese Vol.-II pp362-65). About the year 1536 an incident occurred which threatened to throw the coastal people into the throes of a violent internecine warfare. In a scuffle between a Muslim and a Parava at Tuticorin, the Parava had his ear torn out by his adversary, who out of sheer greed for the ring it bore, carried with him. Now there was in the estimation of the Paravas no greater affront than to have one's ears boxed and much worse, to have the rings torn off. The incident sparked off a civil war between the Paravas and the Muslims, and it was soon apparent that the Paravas would be beaten in the struggle. A Muslim flotilla guarded the coast making it impossible for the Paravas to ply their trade, and offering five fanams (panam, the then currency, even today in Tamilnadu its common for the tamil to term money as panam) for a Parava head (Luceana , Historia da Vida do padre S.Francisco Xavier , vol.-I liv II , cap .VII).

Happily for the Paravas, there happened to arrive atCape Comorin (present day Kanya Kumari) at this time Joao da Cruz, a horse dealer who was high in Portuguese favour. He was a page of the Zamorin who had sent him to Portugal towards the end of 1512, when he was negotiating a treaty with Albuquerque. He was converted to Christianity while he was there and was admitted to the order of the Christ. He was now no longer in the service of the Zamorin, having incurred his displeasure for changing his religion. Joao da Cruz, who was waiting payment for his deal at the cape (Kanya Kumari) , was approached by the Paravas for advice. Da Cruz could see no way of saving them from their predicament other than conversion to Christianity. For then they would be entitled to the protection of the Portuguese and could, as a matter of right, invoke the aid of thePadroado Portuguese. The Paravas had no alternative but to agree and Da Cruz led a deputation of twenty pattankattis (leaders) of the Paravas to cochin to wait on Pero Vaz, the Vedor da Fazenda, and Miguel Vaz, the Vicar-General. These pleaded the case of the Paravas before Nuno da Cunha, the Governor, and it was decided that they be helped against their Muslim opponents. Accordingly a Portuguese squadron appeared before Cape Comorin (Kanya kumari).

The Muslim flotilla sought safety in flight and the Paravas freed from bondage could from now on ply their trade independently of the farmers, both Muslim and Portuguese. In the meanwhile, Da Cruz persuaded the King of Travancore not to object to the conversion of the Paravas in a body to the Christian religion, assuring him that if he was friendly with the Portuguese he could depend on his supply of war steeds, the mainstay of the army in those days.


The Paravas apart from getting converted also had to shell out 60,000 fanams to Portuguese as protection money. This was further used to induce more conversions. I Miguel Vaz thereupon visited the Paravas accompanied by four priests and administered baptism to about twenty thousand people. In a few years, the number rose to eighty thousand men, women, and children and the Christianity spread among these people, settled both on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts (Documentacao Vol.-II PP 257-59; Schurhammer ,art cit. pp304-07). The Paravas now had the protection of the Portuguese fleet and could follow their profession undisturbed.



Paravars in Indian freedom Struggle :
The Tuticorin , also called as muthukulithurai ( pearlharbour) was in the stronghold of the paravars , where first Indigenous ship was set to sail by V.O.Chidhambaram during the British rule in India. This was an attempt to check the dominance of British in the export and imports by sea. Holding very strong Catholics tradition from Portuguese and later by Saint Xavier, paravars had to face to British as both as Indians and also as a Catholics. The British tried hard to impose their lutherican sect.

Family Names
Surnames (in Tamil pronunciation Algungem (a Portuguese word) existing among Paravars (Bharathars). To mention a few among them:

Almaida,
Alvarus,
Britto,
Cardoza,
Carvalho,
Coreira,
Coonghe,
Croos,
Cruz,
Dalmeida,
De Mel,
De Croos,
De Cruz,
De Rose,
De Vaz,
De Silva,
Devotta,
Desouza,
Fernando,
Fernandez,
Gomez,
Gosta,
Gonsolvez,
Gagoo,
Guthalane,
Lopez,
Lobo,
Leon,
Morais,
Machado,
Mascarenhas,
Motha,
Moral,
Moduthagam,
Mel,
Miranda,
Mendiz,
Moduthoms,
Menez,
Paiwa,
Paldona,
Pasangha,
Perera,
Pereira,
Periez,
Pinheiro,
Pimento,
Rayen,
Rodrigo,
Rodriquez,
Roche,
Ravel,
Siguiera,
Soris,
Vaz, (now more popular than it's original version of 'Vas')
Vaiz,
Valdaris &
Victoria.
Also some Tamil names are existing. They are

A. Kattar (Adutharai Kathar),
Poobalarayer,
Villavarayer,
Pattamkatti,
Chandra Varma &
Kalingarayer. (anybody belong here?- a number of them in kovalam and in kottar, nagercoil)
The above are only family names and not Caste names. The above names are used not only by Paravars. The names are also used by those who were converted to Christianity by the Portuguese. Mainly people who live in Tamilnadu (Paravars), Kerala, Goa & Philippines.



Paravar, Parathavar, Parathar, Bharathar, Bharatakula (amongst Sinhalese)
Paravar an important community of fishers in Sri Lanka also known as Bharatakula amongst the Sinhalese gets mentioned in a 3rd century B.C inscription in Tamil Nadu---------------------- MADURAI SEPT.14. A rare 3rd century B.C. Tamil Brahmi inscription found near Madurai recently has brought to light the fact that not only Pandyas and Cheras but the chiefs of the coastal region in the State also patronised Jainism in the early period. The discovery by a team of epigraphists, who undertook a survey at Arittapatti in Melur taluk, is a remarkable evidence of history of early Tamil politics, culture and language, State Archaeology department sources said here recently.


The inscription was found engraved in a cave of a hillock, where early Jain monks stayed and preached their faith. It is just four feet away from another Brahmi inscription discovered by some scholars in 1971. "Since this new inscription is carved with very thin strokes and illegible, it had not attracted the attention of the scholars so far in spite of their frequent visits to this cave," say the sources.


The inscription, engraved as a single line with 33 letters and running for 3.10 metres, reads as follows: ilanjiy vel mapparavan makan emayavan nalmuzhaukai kotupithavan. It means, "Emayavan, son of Mapparavan, chief of Ilanji, has caused the carving of this auspicious cave." It has been written in the Bhattiprolu (Andhra Pradesh) casket inscription method and so all short consonants have long strokes. As the orthography of this inscription resembles that of Mangulam inscriptions (also in Madurai district), its date may be assigned to 3rd century B.C., say the sources.


`Ilanji' denotes the name of a place, while `Vel' means chieftain. Ilanji Vel might have been a ruler of a small territory around Ilanji. There is also a village near Courtallam with the same name. Emayavan, chief of Ilanji, was the son of Mapparavan. `Paravar' denotes the people of coastal region settled in southern districts of Tamil Nadu. `Muzhaukai' means the cave in which the inscription is found and the prefix, `nal' auspiciousness.


The same word, `Nalmuzhaukai' occurs in Varichiyur Brahmi inscription also. The previous inscription found at Arittapatti also bears the word `Muzhagai', which also means cave. One of the Sangam works, `Madurai Kanchi' refers to the Paravar defeated by Padyan Nedunchezhian. Even the Velvikudi copper plate speaks of the defeat suffered by Tenparavar at the hands of a Pandya king, the sources point out.


All this evidence makes clear that the Paravars were the chiefs of the coastal region and they ruled their areas as subordinates of the Pandyas of the Sangam age. The previously discovered Brahmi inscription at Arittapatti also mentions about a chief from Nelveli (now Tirunelveli region). The inscription throws light on the proximity the chiefs of Nelveli to the Pandyas of Madurai in the Sangam age.


As many as 60 Tamil Brahmi inscriptions were found during the past over 100 years from 15 villages including, Mangualm, Anaimalai, Azhagarmalai, Tiruvadavur, Keezhavalavu, Tirupparankundram and Varichiyur . The epigraphists, comprising P. Rajendran, V. Vedachalam, C. Santhalingam and R. Jayaraman, as per directions of the Commissioner of Archaeology, R. Kannan, undertook the survey.


Courtesy: http://www.hindu.com/2003/09/15/stories/2003091503060500.htm



Planting of the Roman Catholic Faith in Pearl Fishery Coast (India) Christianity in ancient India


It is admitted on all hands, that one of the greatest and most successful group conversion movements in India was that of the Paravars in the 16th century.


The first great effort of the Catholic Church in modern times to conquer India for Christ, dates from the year 1498 when the adventurous caravels of the Portuguese Admiral Casco Da Gama sailed into the port of Calicut. Soon the flag of Portugal floated on the seaboard from Morocco, round South Africa to the Persian Gulf and round the Indian Peninsula. In 1534 there were Portuguese factories at trading centers at Bassein Goa, Cochin, Quilon and Colombo. On the fishery and Coromandel Coasts, in Malacca and beyond. And as Pope Leo XIII has written: “Everywhere the flag of Portugal was under the shadow of the cross: the conquests of Portugal were so many conquests of religion”. The conversion of the Paravars is an instance in point.


Who are the Paravars?


Rev. Father Henry Heras S.J. gives the following description of the Paravars in his Mohenjo Daro, “The People and the Land”. Paravanad – the country of the Paravas (Bird – in tamil “paravai”). They are still numerous in the Coromandel Coast in South India and in Ceylon. The Paravars were a section of the Minas. In a footnote Father Heras says that during the time when it was a fashion to claim Aryan descent, the Paravars started to call themselves Bharathas (also Bharathars, Parathars, Parathavars) identifying themselves with the Bharathas of the Vedic period. The Mohenjo Daro inscriptions clearly show that their ancient and real name was Paravar.


There were two subdivisions in the Paravars. Pagal Paravas and Nila Paravas, i.e. Sun Paravas and Moon Paravas. The Paravas of South India and Ceylone are Moon Paravas. The Moon Paravas seem to have been the more important of the line. They constituted one fourth of the whole Mina stock. In the middle of their land, the exact location of which cannot be ascertained, the sign of the Moon was hoisted. The country where the Paravas lived was sometimes called Paravanad – once only in the inscriptions – on account of their political importance and their riches. Their main city was called Paravarpalli, the city of the Paravas. The king of the Paravas always received the title of Minavan and his banner had two fishes on it.



Conversion of the Paravars:
Inscrutable are the ways of God. The occasion for the conversion of the Paravars was the squabble about a Parathi being insulted and her husband getting his earlobe torn by a Muslim. This act was considered the greatest insult and the sturdy Paravan killed the aggressor on the spot. A conflict ensured in which many Paravars lost their lives. They retaliated by calling to their aid men from other villages and took their measures so secretly that in one day they contrived to massacre a large number of Moors. The Muslims, rich and mighty, now swore to exterminate the Paravars and got the promises from the Hindu rulers not to let one paravar escape. They offered five fanams for every head brought to them. Only when they lowered the price to one fanam (about two annas – anna: the exist money in the ancient times in India) did the dissatisfied Hindu stop the massacre.


Don John de Cruz: It was in these circumstances that Don John de Cruz pointed out to the Paravars the way out of the difficulty. Conversion to Christianity would forever secure them the Portuguese protection. Who was Don John de Cruz? According to Rev. Father Schurhammers, the highest authority on St. Francis Xavier and his works he was a chetty born in Calicut. In 1513, hardly fifteen years old, he had been sent to Lisban by the Zamorin, as his envoy, to King Manuel had been received there very honorable and baptized under the above-mentioned name. In 1515 he was raised to the Knighthood with the insignia and privileges of a Chevalier of the Order of Christ. It was he who persuaded the Paravars to send fifteen leading men to Cochin. However, the Portuguese Captain Pero Vaz de Amaral, to make sure that the Whole Caste was ready to join the Faith, made seventy more of their people come to Cochin to endorse the decision. This was done. Meanwhile, the Moors, getting wind of these negotiations and fearing that their prey and the pearl fishing would escape them, dispatched two envoys to Cochin in order to bribe Pero de Vaz, not to allow the baptism of the Paravas. But in vain. “Heaps of gold of my own size”, answered the captain, “will never make me desist from my purpose”. He then had the eighty-five Paravars baptized by the Vicar General, Michael Vaz who was just at the time in Cochin (Probably December, 1535), and he put at their disposal a fleet, which with the vicar of Cochin and four priests along with the neophytes, sailed to the rescuer. Within a short time the Moors got the deserved punishment and Paravars once more were put I possession of their pearl fishing rights. About Twenty Thousand of them in Thirty Villages were baptized. This is how, concludes humorously Texieira, “Our Lord saved so many souls by means of one torn ear-lobe”.


The Paravars and the Saint: On May 6, 1542,



St. Francis Xavier
St Francis Xavier arrived in Goa and after a stay of five months in Goa, he left for the Pearl Fishery Coast about six hundred miles from Goa, taking with him three Tamil Students from the college (One of them was in Deacon’s order the others were catechists to serve as interpreters). They arrived in Tuticorin in September 1542.

We cannot do better than quote the words of St. Francis Xavier regarding what he did for the Paravars:


“This country is too barren and too poor for the Portuguese to live in and the Christian inhabitants here have no priests; they just know that they are Christians and nothing more. There is no one to say mass for them! No one to teach them the Creed, the Pater, Ave and the Ten Commandments of God. So I have been incessantly occupied ever since I came here. I went diligently through the villages one after another and baptized. In this way I have christened a multitude of children who, as the saying goes, did not know their right hand from their left. Then the young boys never let me say office or, ear or sleep till I have taught them some prayer. It makes me understand for the first time that “Of such is the Kingdom of heaven”. Their petition was too Pious for me to refuse it without anxiety. So I began with the profession of belief in the Father Son and the Holy Ghost and the taught them the Apostles’ Creed, the Pater and Ave. I have found very great intelligence among them and if they had anyone to instruct them in religion, I doubt not that they would turn out excellent Christians.


"Every Sunday I collected them, all men and women, boys and girls, in the church. They come with great readiness and with a great desire for instruction. Then in the hearing of all, I began by calling on the name of the most Holy Trinity. Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and I recited aloud the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary and the Creed in the language of the country. Then I repeated the creed myself, dwelling upon each article singly. Then I asked them as to each article. Whether they believed it unhesitatingly and all with a loud voice and with their hands crossed on their breasts professed aloud that they believed it. I take care to make them repeat the Creed oftener than the other prayers; and I tell them that those who believed all that is contained in them are called Christians. After explaining the Creed I go on to the Commandments teaching them that the Christian law is contained in these ten precepts and everyone who observes them all faithfully is a good and true Christian and is certain of eternal salvation. And then, on the other hand, whoever neglects a single one of these is a bad Christian and will be cast into hell unless he is truly penitent for his sin."


St. Francis Xavier made the catechistical instruction interesting by his singing and by making the children sing. The instruction is ended by the Salva Regina, begging the aid and help of our Blessed Lady.



Catechists and Teachers:


St. Francis Xavier appointed catechists and teachers in all the villages to continue the work he had begun. It was his method to be liberal to the teachers and catechists, to pay them a part of their salary in advance and to encourage them in every way. At the same time he let them feel that they were carefully watched and must be on their guard not to fail in their duty. They were to baptize newborn infants, preside at the prayers and perform other offices of the kind.


To meet the heavy expenses of paying the teachers and catechists St. Francis Xavier had recourse to a pious stratagem.


Four hundred crowns a year had been set-aside for Queen Catherine of Portugal from revenue of the Pearl Fisheries and the sum was supposed to provide Her Majesty with slippers. St. Francis Xavier seems already to have persuaded the governor to pay it over to him, so sure were they both that the pious Queen would gladly let him have it for the salaries of the Kanakapillais (catechists are known even today by this name along the Fishery Coast – they are doing small works in Catholic churches). In asking her permission to consent to what had been done, he reminded her that she could have no better shoes or slippers to climb into Heaven than her charity towards the children of the Fishery Coast. For many years the Queen’s slipper money was donated by her to this mission.



Conclusion:


It is true that the Paravars were baptized eight years before the arrival of St. Francis Xavier. But they were only nominal Christians. It is St. Francis Xavier who made them real Christians by teaching them the truths that they have to believe, the commandments they have to observe and the Sacraments they have to receive. If his work has lasted for Centuries, it is because he gained the hearts of the children and through them brought their kith and kin to the path of virtue.


St. Francis Xavier was a man of vision. He understood the great necessity and utility of employing zealous catechists and teachers to keep up the faith of the neophytes. To have zealous catechists and teachers, money is needed. He found ways and means to pay the teachers and catechists well. Little wonder that the catechists and teachers did their work joyfully.


After four Centuries, it is not rare to find catechists paid only a pittance and that too not regularly.


The Fourth Centenary of the death of the great Apostle must give a fillip to the teaching of Christian doctrine to young and old by priests and nuns and zealous Catechists must be employed who will be given family wages to extend the Kingdom of God in this sub-continent – Mother  India.


By [[+ Rt. Rev. Mgr. Francis Tiburtius Roche S.J.]] (Late First Indian Bishop in Latin reign of Tuticorin) in New Leader Dt. 3rd December, 1952.


(Issued on Panimaya Malar – Thanga ther (Golden Car) 2000).