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