Exploring Kanyakumari: Kottar St.Xavier's Church

Place : Kottar St.Xavier's Church, Kanyakumari District

Location : Kottar is a part of Nagercoil town and situated
on the Nagercoil - Kanyakumari Highway.

St. Xavier, an outstanding and dedicated priest visited the
coastal areas of Tamil Nadu from Goa and he did not miss
the opportunity of visiting Kottar in Kanyakumari district,
which was a commercial centre at that time. During his stay
at Kottar, he used to worship St. Mary in the small temple.

He was popularly known as ‘Valiya Pandaram’ among the
people of Kottar. While he was in Kottar, he averted the
invasion of Padagas on the people of Venad, which was
appreciated by the king, who became closer to the priest.

In recognition of Xavier’s services, the king allotted a land
for him for the purpose of constructing a Catholic church at Kottar.

In 1942, in commemoration of the fourth centenary of the
arrival of St. Xavier in India, a beautiful tower to the saint,
a grotto to Our Blessed Mother and a small shrine to St. Ignatius,
who sent him to India, were constructed in the Cathedral premises.

In 1955, the church was further extended and the chapel
of Our Lady was incorporated into the enlarged church.

The Church of St. Xavier enjoys a great fame as a place of
miracles from early times.