Thoothoor

History

The Catholic Church plays a conspicuous role in the day-to-day life of the fishermen of Thoothoor village. The conversion of the Hindu fishermen of this village may be traced back to A.D. 1544. The event cumulated in the works of St. Francis Xavier, who is said to have converted 10,000 Mukkuva fishermen living in thirteen villages along the coast (from Pallam to Poovar—Neerody, Marthandanthurai,Vallavilai, Eraviputhenthurai, Thoothoor, Poothurai, Thengapattanam, Enayam, Midalam, Vaniyakudy, Colachel, Kadiapattanam, Muttom and Pallam) in December 1544. Immediately after this conversion, Hindu temples and idols which had been built earlier were removed and replaced with a cross and thatches for worship. In due course, they were converted into churches.

In 1600, the Thoothoor Parish Church was brought under the Padroado. Subsequently, this Parish came under the Diocese of Cochin. In 1838, St. Thomas Church, Thoothoor and other adjacent coastal Churches from Pallithura to Erayumanthurai were brought under the Diocese of Varapuzha. This unification brought the Padroado–Propaganda dispute to a crucial stage. Ultimately St. Thomas Church, Thoothoor was brought under the Diocese of Cochin with its revival in 1850.

The Diocese of Thiruvananthapuram was founded on 1 July 1937[1]. But only in 1952 were all the coastal Churches from Pallithura to Erayumanthurai added to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Trivandrum or Thiruvananthapuram Diocese. Thu,s at present Thoothoor Parish Church is one of the Foranate Churches of Trivandrum Diocese.

Geography

Thoothoor is a coastal village is situated on the Arabian Sea coast. It is the headquarters of Thoothoor panchayat, consisting of five villages, namely Thoothoor, Chinnathurai, Eraviputhenthurai, Poothurai and Erayumanthurai. These five villages together are commonly just called Thoothooor. Thoothoor is geographically located in Vilavancode Taluk, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu India. It is located 45 km west of Nagercoil, the headquarters of Kanyakumari District and 40 km southeast of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala State. Thiruvananthapuram Airport is the nearest airport and the railway station is at Parassala or Kuzhithurai.

Thoothoor is almost exclusively a fishing village, even though a little group of people are involved in agriculture, especially in coconut plantations, besides their primary occupation in other professions. The fishing operation in this village is most often restricted to a coastline the length of one-kilometer. Its total population is about 6,000. This village is bounded in the north by the A.V.M Canal [Anantha Victoria Marthanda], south by the Arabian Sea, east by Poothurai village and west by Chinnathurai village. But most of the people of this village are settled in the north of Thoothoor Panchayat up to a length of about 500 meters due to the danger of a tsunami. Recently the Tamil Nadu Government constructed a housing colony named St. Thomas Colony in this zone. Those who are settled in the above zone also consider themselves part and parcel of the village of Thoothoor. As per Government demarcation, this zone is part of Ezhudesam Town Panchayat. But this zone also merged with the village.

Economy

As of 2007, Thoothoor is the home of several significant economic sources. The main business is Shark catching, using modern equipments such as GPS and other Navigation tools. The average cost of one fishing boat is 15–20 lakhs in Indian currency. Fishermen usually go fishing in the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. Boat owners travel in and around Tamil Nadu state and neighboring states such as Kerala, and the more distant state of Maharashtra. Now a few boat owners have moved to the Andaman & Nicobar Islands for deep sea fishing. The sweat of our boat owners and fishermen working with them make wonders to their generation. Fisherman support their families by fishing and hence their families are able to afford higher education. Thus, just like modern cities most of the kids are getting higher education in a good atmosphere with a tremendous amount of good energy. The positive energy flows and flourishes in success's path on each and every Thoothoor native. The children should be very proud to have had such hard working ancestors and parents. The main road allows money to be exchanged from the shark business and shark merchandise, as well as some other fish on a small level. In terms of jobs, in Thoothoor there are a few main sectors, a large number of people from this place are working in their respective industries such as IT, manufacturing, education, educational management, the medical field, business management, mechanical engineering, marine engineering, electrical engineering, lawyers, etc. All such people are trained professionals, graduates, and a few PhD holders in mathematics, history, Tamil and physics. There are masters in IT professional, fish merchandise, teachers in education sectors and a few health services. A few hundred people are working in the Persian Gulf in countries such as UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, etc. A fewer number of people working are in the UK, the USA, Canada and New Zealand. The mechanical engineers and marine engineers work on international and local ships. Some MBAs are working at south Indian bank. Some marine engineers work in international ships in the deep sea. They travel to various countries. There are a few hundred natives of Thoothoor working in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, and Thiruvananthapuram. The few people working locally work in small businesses and agriculture.

Agriculture resources are:

Transportation

Education

Education plays a vital role in Thoothoor. The Government Primary School provides education to the poor. The private schools include:

The above said educational institutions are providing educational service for the educational uplift of this village and neighbouring villages and towns.

Religion

The territory is a Catholic Christian community. This Region was converted to Christianity during Saint Thomas the Apostle Period. Thoothoor Ferone church was built by foreigners in about 1600.