Church of Our Lady of Presentation, Batticaloa
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Church of Our Lady of Presentation ( ta, காணிக்கை மாதா கோயில்; locally known as Thandavanveli Church; formerly known as Church of Our Lady of Sorrows ta, வியாகுல மாதா கோயில்) is a church of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Batticaloa The Diocese of Batticaloa ( la, Dioecesis Batticaloaensis, ta, மட்டக்களப்பு மறைமாவட்டம்) is a Roman Catholic diocese for south-eastern Sri Lanka. The current bishop is Joseph Ponniah. History The Di ...
in Thandavanveli. The church is one of a landmarks and catholic historical places in the district of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. According to the recorded documents, it is known as the first and oldest church in the district.


History

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
arrival to India and Sri Lanka, particularly to
Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mo ...
, influenced the people of Batticaloa. Christian missionaries arrived in Batticaloa in the 1550s, before the military presence of the Portuguese in 1622. The Church of Our Lady of Presentation was built as a palm-leaf
hut A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...
in 1624 due to missionary expansion. St. Joseph Vaz secretly visited this church during the persecution of
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
against Catholics. Vaz revealed himself as a priest to some of the faithful Catholics. Later, Vaz was betrayed by an apostate and arrested by Dutch. He was tied to a yellow cheesewood tree close by the Church of Our Lady of Presentation and was beaten as a punishment. The Batavian Code of the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
of 1642 restricted practice of religion to
Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...
thus Catholic worship was forbidden. The church was burnt by the Dutch and then rebuilt in 1660 by the people with the permission of the Kandyan king. It is said that a statue of Mary at the church has some burn marks at the foot, and it is taken in procession every year on the feast. The church was damaged by cyclone in 1907 and again suffered by 1978 cyclone. In 1918, Thandavanveli became a new parish created by bishop Robichez. The church's original name was Church of Our Lady of Presentation, and later it was changed as Church of Our Lady of Sorrows. However, it returned to its original name with the reconstruction of edifice.


Location

The church is located in the A15 highway (Trincomalee road), and situated in Thandavanveli, which is in municipal council area of modern Batticaloa town, and 1 km away from the main administrative location, Puliyanthivu.


See also

*
Presentation of Mary The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in the East as The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, is a liturgical feast celebrated on November 21 by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Anglo-Catholic Churches. The feas ...
*
Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows ( la, Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows ( la, Mater Dolorosa, link=no), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names ...
* St. Mary's Cathedral, Batticaloa


Note


References


External links


St. Joseph Vaz
{in lang, ta Churches in Batticaloa Tourist attractions in Batticaloa District