Church Of Our Lady Of Presentation, Batticaloa
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Church of Our Lady of Presentation (; locally known as Thandavanveli Church; formerly known as Church of Our Lady of Sorrows ) is a church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Batticaloa in Thandavanveli. The church is one of the landmarks and catholic historical places in the district of
Batticaloa Batticaloa (, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu'', ; , ''Maḍakalapuwa'', ) is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the Batticaloa District. The city is the seat of the Eastern Univers ...
,
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. According to the recorded documents, it is known as the first and oldest church in the district.


History

Portuguese arrival in India and Sri Lanka, particularly in
Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...
, influenced the people of
Batticaloa Batticaloa (, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu'', ; , ''Maḍakalapuwa'', ) is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the Batticaloa District. The city is the seat of the Eastern Univers ...
. 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, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, clay, hid ...
in 1624 due to missionary expansion. St. Joseph Vaz secretly visited this church during the persecution of
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
against Catholics. Vaz revealed himself as a priest to some of the faithful Catholics. Later, Vaz was betrayed by an apostate and arrested by the 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 ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
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 traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...
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 Puliyanthivu () is an island of Sri Lanka and part of Batticaloa town. It has important infrastructures such as government buildings (District Secretariat. Municipal council, Post office, Public library, Teaching hospital, Bus stand, etc.), banks ...
.


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 fea ...
*
Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows (), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows (), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are Titles of Mary, names by which Mary, mother of Jesus, is referr ...
*
St. Mary's Cathedral, Batticaloa The Cathedral of St. Mary (; ''Śānta Mariyā Āsana Dev Mædura'') is a Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Batticaloa in Puliyanthivu. The cathedral is a landmark and Catholic historical icon in the district of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. It ...


Note


References


External links


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