KNOW ABOUT PARAVARS..... Roche says that along with establishing a strong faith in the Paravas the Jesuits wanted an indigenization of ritual and worship. In an effort to supplant and divert the hoary attachment of the Paravas from their festivals at Madurai and Tiruchendur, the Jesuits sought to establish shrines and festivals which would transpose Catholic liturgy on to an Indian matrix. Venantius says that Xavier himself, after seeing the Paravas’ deep attachment to their old tribal Mother Goddess, Meenakshi (deity of fish eyes), obtained for them the statue of Our Lady of Snows (Nossa Senhora das Nevis) from the Augustinian convent of Manila. The Paravas call her ‘Panimaya Matha’ (Tamil translation of Our Lady of the Snows) and Parava Matha (Mother of the Paravas). The annual feast of Our Lady of the Snows has thereafter been the feast of the entire Fishery Coast. Today this strong bond of exclusive identity is not so rigid as before. The people of the various religions (It is the feast of all the religions) visit the strike on the feast day. The feast of Our Lady of Snows which was introduced in 1582 at Thoothukudi has had great repercussions not only on the religion and the culture of the Paravas but has also affected their politics, economy and society very much because “indigenous Hindu festivals (thiruvizhas) in South India were not only religious events; they were also social events replete with processions (suthukalam), the pulling of temple carts (thers), dramas and music (natagams and bhajanams), floats (saparams) and festoons (kodis).”
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 15:03:44 +0000
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