Devasahayam Pillai - Puliyoorkurichy - 3

Shrine built over the miraculous fountain of water always flowing out
from the rock ever since Martyr Devashayam quenched his burning thirst







Water still flowing out of the rocks collected by shrine employee
and given to devotees


Close view of the Rock hole . Water is collected from this hole



With inputs from
Family and Friends Download As PDF

Devasahayam Pillai - Puliyoorkurichy - 2

Miraculous rock fountain


The marks seen on the rock are impresses made by his knees and elbows




Banner seeking donations for the construction of new shrine


The old shrine Download As PDF

Devasahayam Pillai - Puliyoorkurichy - 1

Place : Puliyoorkurichy, Kanyakumari District

Location : Puliyoorkurichy is 2 km east of Thuckalay and situated
on theThiruvananthapuram - Kanyakumari Highway.


Captain De Lannoy’s Christian faith interested Devasahayam and
De Lannoy enlightened him on the faith, leading to his conversion
in 1745.

On Devasahayam’s acceptance of the Christian faith,he was
baptised at the church at Vadakkankulam village
(in the present Tirunelveli District of Tamilnadu),
where the Jesuits had a mission.

Devasahayam’s conversion to Christianity did not go down
well with his larger family or with the officials in the palace of
Marthanda Varma.

Accused of treason and of divulging state secrets to rivals and
Europeans he was ordered to be taken to the then
state border at Aralvaimozhy where he was to be banished.


While marching towards Aralvaimozhy, Devasahayam Pillai
quenched his thirst by letting water gush through a small hole
on a rock, the very place where he knelt to pray.




Entrance of the shrine







The shrine in Puliyoorkurichy



Plan for building a new shrine - now the work is going on


Front view of the shrine


Inside the shrine


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Devasahayam Pillai Birth Place - Nattalam 2

The Sword and Axe used by Neela Kanda Pillai during war,
carefully preserved in the shrine.



Sword and axe



With inputs from
Historian Benny Sir
Family & Friends



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Devasahayam Pillai Birth Place - Nattalam 1

Name : Nattalam (Birth Place of Devasahayam Pillai) , Kanyakumari District

Location : Nattalam is 4 km south of Marthandam.

Marthandam is 45 km from Nagercoil and situated
on the Kanyakumari - Thiruvananthapuram
Highway.

Devasahayam Pillai was an 18th century convert from
Hinduism to Christianity

Born in the erstwhile Travancore Kingdom, he was an official
in the court of the Travancore king, Maharaja Marthanda Varma,
during which time he came under the Christian influence of a
former Dutch naval commander, Captain Eustachius De Lannoy.
He is believed by Roman Catholics to have been martyred.

In 2004, the Roman Catholic Church in India recommended
Devasahayam Pillai for the process of beatification to the Vatican.


Shrine built by Fr.S.Joseph at Nattalam , birth Place of Devasahyam Pillai





Stone showing that Bishop Marianus Arokia Samy, Bishop of Kottar
blessed the shrine on 30.12.1976.





Ruins of his home, opposite to the shrine


Picture of Devasahayam pillai inside the shrine Download As PDF