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The History of Shirva Parish
A curious and interesting history lies behind the origin and spread of Christianity in Shirva. As required documents are not available, it is difficult to write it elaborately. With the help of the few records available and with the prevalent tradition it has been possible to shed lights on a few topics.
Origin of Christianity in Shirva :
It is not possible to tell exactly when Christianity originated in Shirva. But it is commonly believed that it spread here during the period from 1534 to 1600 when Christianity spread in the west coastal districts of South Kanara and North Kanara.
Churches in Shirva :
The traditions confirm that Churches were founded here a few centuries back. It is certain that till 1911 two churches existed here, one upper church and the lower Church. We cannot tell definitely which of them was built earlier, but it is certain that the lower Church named N. S. de Saude Church was built earlier then the other. Tradition says that this church was located in Kodi near the 6th milestone on Shirva Katapady Road. Nayaks of Bidanore, specially during the days of Venkappa Nayak (1586-1630) brought the whole of west coast under their jurisdiction and laid solid foundation for a strong government. As Christians were good agriculturists the Nayaks encouraged them in their territory. This resulted in the spread of Christianity from the coastal area to the interland and in the erection of number of churches. It can be guessed that the Church at kodi was constructed at this period.
Another tradition says that a Church existed Mannettu a border of Shirva and Kuthyar village at the end of the 17th century. It is also believed that a Bishop passed away there and was buried and whose remains were taken away to some other place later.
When we paid a visit to this place the owner of the land showed us the remnants of a building destroyed centuries back and told us that the Church existed there. His ancestors had told him that the Church was destroyed by Tippu Sultan. One can still see the remnants of the walls. They were hidden by the plants and creepers. There is a field in front of it which does not yield anything inspite of best efforts of cultivation.
The owner of the plot also showed us a stone, which was about six feet in length and height and said that it was called Marystone. We could not see any carvings of Mother Mary or of others inspite of our minute observation. We do not know why this stone was called Marystone, but it is certain that it was one of the ruins of the Church.
Destruction of the Churches :
It was the time when Tippu was ruling Mysore. He suspects that the Canara Christians were helping the British in their battle with him. From 1783 to 1785 thousands of Christians of Mangalore and nearly places were massacred. Tippu’s soldiers destroyed Church after Church, which were dearer to the hearts of the Christians than their own lives. Tippu’s wrath fell on Shirva also and both the Churches at Kodi and Mannettu were leveled to the ground.
Reconstruction of the Churches:
After Tippu’s death in 1799 Canara Christians began to reconstruct the Churches. Before 1815 as many 23 Churches, including four in Mulki Varado, were rebuilt. Before Tippu destroyed the churches there were four churches including the Saudi Church of Shirva in Mulki Varado. It is learnt that four Churches were rebuilt in Mulki Varado before 1815. It is presumed that Saude Church of Shirva was also rebuilt before this period. It was rebuilt not in the original place Kodi but about a few meters from the present Mahalaxmi Narayani Temple. At that time the temple did not exist there. Even now this area is called as Old Church area.
The upper Church, dedicated to St. Francis Xavier was built in 1859 by Fr. Joachim Borges. It was located in a place where the present cemetery exists.
The place where the lower church of N. S. De Saude was built was a gift from a well-to do Bunt family. The ancestors of late Chandayya Hegde’s famous Kodu House hold had no girl child in their family. It may be recalled that at this time Bunts followed Aliya Santhana Kattu where only women could be the owners of the land. They offered to donate a piece of land to the Saude Church if a girl child was born in their family. God heard their prayer made through Our Lady of Health and blessed them with a girl child. The Kodu Bunt family was thrilled and donated the land willingly as they had promised.
The Church authorities of Saude Church used to honour this Bunt family every year on the occasion of the parish feast. Fr. Gregory I. G. D’Souza stopped this practice.
Goa-Verapoly friction
Between 1831 and 1886 there existed a friction between The Bishops of Goa and Verapoly regarding the spiritual jurisdiction over the people. As in other parts of the district Shirva was not an exception. While the lower church of N. S. De Saude owed allegiance to the Bishop of Goa, the upper Church of St. Francis Xavier supported the Bishop of Verapoly. The people of both these churches tried their best to win the supporters to their side. The fact that for a long time the people of the same religion fought with each other regarding the spiritual jurisdiction of the two bishops was really sad.
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