Idaikattur
| Idaikattur இடைக்காட்டூர் | |
|---|---|
| city | |
  Idaikattur Location in Tamil Nadu, India | |
| Coordinates: 9°42′N 78°29′E / 9.7°N 78.48°ECoordinates: 9°42′N 78°29′E / 9.7°N 78.48°E | |
| Country |
 India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Sivaganga |
| Elevation | 70 m (230 ft) |
| Population (2009) | |
| • Total | 18,658 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Tamil |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| PIN | 630 560 |
| Telephone code | 914574 XX |
| Vehicle registration | TN 63 |
Idaikattur is a village panchayat in Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Idaikattur - quiet village and holy place for two faiths
Geography
Idaikattur is located at .[1] It has an average elevation of 700 metres (2290 feet).
History
Idaikattur is a quiet village away from rushing highways, yet quickly reachable from Madurai (30 km). For a big village, it has two important holy places to boast of.
It is a holy land where famed Siddhar Idaikaadar lived and hosted Navagrahas during a famine. A small navagraha temple stands there as a testimony. Rajinikanth used to visit and worship this temple every year. is The village also have a more prominent and internationally acclaimed more than 100 years old Church ‘built by angels‘.
Demographics
As of 2001 India census,[2] Idaikattur had a population of 18,658. Males constitute 45% of the population and females 45%. In Idaikattur, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Agriculture
A vast majority of the workforce is dependent on agriculture (72.8%). The principal crop of Idaikattur village is paddy. The other crops that are grown are sugarcane and groundnut.
Schools
- Idaikattur Panchayat Board Primary School, Idaikattur
- Idaikattur higher secondary school,idaikattur
- SACRED HEART MIDDLE SCHOOL, IDAIKATTUR
Temples/Churches
- Navagraha temple(Idaikaatar Sitthar)
- Sacred heart of Jesus
- Muruga temple
- Perumal kovil
Sacred Heart of Jesus
This unique church of the sacred heart of Jesus was built in 1894 AD by a French missionary Fr. Ferdinand Celle SJ. This is a replica of the Rheims Cathedral in France. Since the church was said to be built by angels, Fr. Ferdinand Celle SJ has placed 153 depictions of angels in and around the church He has depicted the relics of forty saints in four elliptical shaped wooden bowls, which rest over the wooden heart in the main altar portion. We pray for all the devotees of the sacred heart continuously through these heavenly beings.
Pascaa - The greatest stage drama forever
Pascaa is a Festival that was celeberated by the Israel people in ancient days.Pascaa means crossing past.Here in Idaikattur,this festival is being celeberated for two days by the villagers on the next Friday and saturday of the Good Friday,every year,for the past 139 years.In this event,the Life history of Jesus is staged as a drama,upto the death of Christ on the first day and upto the ascention on the second day.
The whole drama was scripted from Bible by a group of uneducated villagers,called " ANNAVIYAR" and the dialogues are never changed for this 3 generations which coincide anywhere and anytime in the common life.Based on the ancient Tamil cultural dramas of Tamilnadu,this epic attracts tens of thousands of people from across the country.The lyrics of the songs of the drama which were pened by the same Annaviyar,composed with a mixture of western and classical music before 139 years, are proved as the best classicals of the two centuries.
The artists,numbering to a 100,are all the nativities of the village, inherit the ancient farmers of the village,who are in high positions of the society gather on this particular dates in the village from all over the world to submit themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Idaikattur.
The whole programme is a citadel for all the villagers apart from their religion and community.
The 139 th year of pascaa is scheduled on 1st and 2 nd of April,2016.
The proposal for the guinness record is also submitted and the it is on the process.
Politics
Idaikattur comes under Manamadurai assembly constituency (SC) is part of Sivaganga (Lok Sabha constituency)
To get there
On Madurai-Rameswaram NH between Madurai - Manamadurai lies ‘Muthanendal’ a non-descript small village. The speeding half-body Sand laden lorries in this route where notorious terror machines. Once you cautiously handled this stretch, and crossed ‘Thiruppachethi‘ - the village famous for long aruval !! (’thirupaachi aruva’) - the traffic is much less and the road inviting. It is easy to zip past ‘Muthanendal’, a non-descript bus stop & a few shops after a curve without noticing it.
This is the place to slow down to a halt to reach Idaikattur. A small sign board will inform you that ‘Idaikattur Shrine - 1km’ just a few paces before this point. It will help you to slow down. We have to take a 90 degree left turn just before the bus-stop and climb up to cross river Vaigai. The bridge is completely hidden as you approach the spot, so it is easy to miss it. Idaikattur is just a half kilometer after crossing the river.
References
- ↑ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Idaikattur
- ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.