Keelavaippar or Kilavaippar is a small village on the eastern coast of south

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, inhabited predominantly by

Paravar Paravar (also known as Bharathar or Bharathakula and sometimes colloquially as 'Fernando') is a Tamil maritime community, mainly living in the state of Tamil Nadu in India and in Sri Lanka. Pandyas aka Bharathavars are the Ancient Sea Farers and ...

s. Fishing is the primary occupation, as it has been throughout Paravar history.

Religion

On the eastern bank of the

Vaippar Vaippar is a village panchyat in Tuticorin district, Tamil Nadu, India. A famous dargah where the grave of Shamsuddeen Shaheed a minister of Badusha Sulthan Syed Ibrahim Shaheed of Erwadi Erwadi is a village in Ramanathapuram District, Tamil ...

river is the church of Our Lady of Assumption, one of the first churches built by the

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 ...

in the sub-continent. The

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

record shows that a church dedicated to Our Lady of Assumption existed as early as 1571. The feast of Our Lady of Assumption is celebrated annually on 15 August, being preceded by a flag hoisting ceremony on 6 August and with

novena A novena (from Latin: ''novem'', "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pen ...

prayers on all subsequent days until the feast itself. Keelavaippar is one of the ancient five

Padroado The ''Padroado'' (, "patronage") was an arrangement between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Portugal and later the Portuguese Republic, through a series of concordats by which the Holy See delegated the administration of the local churches and gra ...

parishes of the

Pearl Fishery Coast The Pearl Fishery Coast refers to a coastal area of southern India, extending along the Coromandel Coast from Tuticorin to Comorin ruled by Paravars. The coast took its name from the presence of pearls along the coast, and the numerous pearl ...

. Even after

Tuticorin Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and he ...

was made a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

, it continued to be a part of the

Mylapore Mylapore, also spelt Mayilapur, is a neighbourhood in the central part of the city of Chennai, India. It is one of the oldest residential parts of the city. It is also called Tirumayilai. The locality is claimed to be the birthplace of the cel ...

Padroado diocese. In accordance with an agreement between the

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and the Portuguese government, the parish was joined with Tuticorin diocese on 4 April 1930. This parish was made into seven Basic Christian Communities on 11 December 1994. In 1995 a parish council was constituted with the representatives of the Basic Christian Communities. St. Antony's grotto in the beach was enlarged in 1995 and a grotto of the Child Jesus was constructed inside the campus in 1996. {{coord missing, Tamil Nadu Villages in Thoothukudi district