Manarcaud

Manarcad Manarcadu
town
Manarcaud Church
Manarcad Location in Kerala, India
Coordinates: 9°36′45″N 76°35′0″E / 9.61250°N 76.58333°ECoordinates: 9°36′45″N 76°35′0″E / 9.61250°N 76.58333°E
Country	India
State	Kerala
District	Kottayam
Population (2009)
• Total	40, 053
Languages
• Official	Malayalam, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	686019
Telephone code	0481
Vehicle registration	KL-
Nearest city	Kottayam
Literacy	90%
Lok Sabha constituency	Kottayam
Assembly Constituency	a
Climate	Moderate (Köppen)

Manarcad (pronounced Ma - nar- cad) is a small town in Kottayam district of Kerala state, South India. It is known for the Manarcad Perunnal, the annual feast at the St. Mary's Church,which is usually held in the first eight days of September. It is located about 9 km from the town of Kottayam and is on the way to tourist town of Thekkady.

History

Manarcad Sri Bhagavathy Temple

The mythological belief associated with Manarcad Sri Bhagavathy Temple is: There lived a pious Brahmin in Thanniyil Ellam in Elambanakkadu. He was a great devotee of Kodugalloor Amma, and visited Kodugalloor Temple often. Due to his old age and failing health, he prayed to continue his devotion towards kodugalloor amma”.That day night Amma told him in a dream “When you wake up, you will find a Kuda (traditional umbrella) near you.I will be with that Kuda. You will never again need to come to Kodugalloor to worship me. he found it as directed. When he reached near Elambanakkadu, he broke his journey to take some rest placing the Kuda on the ground. But after taking rest, he was not able to lift the Kuda. He met the local ruler and informed the matter. An Astrologer was summoned and he detected the holy presence of Kodugalloor Amma.He again got Amma’s direction in his dream – to build a Bhagavathy Temple in the nearby Choorakkadu (bamboo forest) which was the abode of a Nagarajan (Snake God). Thus the Temple was built with popular support. During that time, a Yakshi (Demon) named Elambi was creating problems in that area. It is believed that Amma killed Elambi and her cronies. Elambi’s Mani (bell) was thrown southwards in the area. Since the Mani was thrown, Elambanakkadu came to be known as the forest where the bell was thrown, which worded Maniyerkadu – later became Manarcad.

St. Mary's Church

The desire of forefathers for a holy place to pray and perform religious ceremonies for the Pilgrim Christians was the root cause of construction of the church. They fasted and prayed for this purpose. On the eighth day of their prayer, they all had a vision. Holy fathers compared Virgin Mary with The 'Sakshipettakam' which was created by Mossaih according to the order of God. The circumference of this 'Sakhshipettakam' was 8 muzhams (around 12 feet). The number connected with the salvation secrets of Virgin Mary and her son Jesus Christ was also considered to be 8). The vision was to build the church in the forest where a calf and cow were lying down, where the fish and deer could be caught and Acacia Instia and canes were scattered around. (Acasia Redhirama, the wood which used to fabricate the 'Sakshipettakam' and Acasia Instra which was the Holy Fathers dreamt of were of the same species.

The stone inscriptions found at the church reveal that the church was built more than 1000 years ago. Archaeologists have found that these stone inscriptions were memorial stones set up at the tombs in 910 A.D. and 920 A.D. and the writing on them is in Malayalam and Tamil scripts prevalent 600 years ago. Afterwards, on several occasions, the church was rebuilt and renewed. In the 16th century, there was not a single church in the land which was not re-built in the Portuguese style. It is believed that the Manarcad church also was re-built at that time in the model of the Kottayam Cheriya Pally. This church is under the faith of Jacobite Syrian Church. The head of the Jacobite church is Patriarch of Antioch Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II.

People

The majority of the population depends on agriculture, but recently there is not much agricultural land. Manarcad has now became a satellite of Kottayam town, and a good residential area.

Manarcad is one of the most densely populated villages in Kerala. Manarcad perunal rasa which is held on September 6 of every year is known as the biggest rasa in south Asia.

Culture

Manarcad has good shops where you can make profitable shopping of local products.

Manarcad has been declared as a pilgrimage center by the Patriarch of the Jacobite Syrian Church.

Economy

Nowadays NRI's act as the financial backbone for this small urban village.

Agriculture

Rubber, pineapple, pepper and coconut plantations contribute to the agricultural income. Few paddy fields remain unaltered.

Media

Kolo Suryoyo is a publication by St Mary's youth association,Manarcad.It is a Very popular Christian Magazine. Margadeepthi magazine is also publishing from Manarcad

Main attractions

St.Marys Church, Manarcad Devi Temple, Vijayapuram SriKrishna Temple, Vennimala, naalumanikkatt,Paalamuri bridge.

Festivals

Main festivals in this area are Manarcad palli perunnal (Manarcad church). Pathamudayam (a ten-day festivity at Bhagavathi temple), Nadathurakkal (Manarcad church), Pattukalam Koodicha (a 41-day festival at Bhagavathi temple), Kumbha Bharani ( a one-day festival at Bhagavathi temple) and Meena Bharani (a one-day festival at bhagavathi temple). Other attractions are procession during Sreekrishna Jayanthi at vijayapuram sreekrishna swamy temple, where people from all walks of life participate in the festival activities. The bhagavathi temple is believed to be older than 2000 years. People from all religions take part in church and temple events with harmony.
Other attractions is a procession by the church, which is considered to be one of the longest and heavily packed religious processions in the world. On seventh day of the feast a very old image of Mary unveiled for devotees and this known as nadathurakkal.

The latest attraction in this town is 'Evening Breeze'. In the evening, most of the people in this town wish to spend some time at this place. The old food items are available at this place.

AMMAVEEDU a charitable organisation is also very near to this Pilgrim center .This organisation includes many inmates who are lonely in life . This organisation has 35 inmates now . Most of them are very aged and sick .

Institutions

St Mary's English Medium School
St Mary's Higher Secondary school
St Mary's College
St Mary's I T C
St Mary's Hospital
St Mary's School Of nursing
Infant Jesus Bethany Academybr.

• And many Government Schools.

Transportation

Buses provide the main public transportation and are available 24/7. The nearest railway station is in Kottayam (8 km). More than 200 other buses make travel more comfortable.

Getting there

By Road	Kottayam-Kumali
By Rail	Kottayam Railway Station
By Air	Cochin International Airport

Important Phone Numbers

Office	Phone Number
Police Station	0481 2370288
Ambulance	0481 102
Telephone Exchange	0481 2370000
KSEB	04812370728
Sri Bhagavathy Temple	04812370418
St.Mary's Church	0481 2372700
St.Mary's Retreat Home AMMAVEEDU	0481 2379494 / 9447140977
State Bank of Travancore, Manarcaud Branch	0481 2372502

Sub Areas

Thalapady
Irattunada
Kavumpady
Maalam
PerumanoorKulam
Erumapetti
Kuttiyekunnu
KaniyanKunnu
kuzhipurayidom south
valleauzham
ellivalavu
palamuri

Nearby Places

Oravackel, Areeparambu, Pampady Puthuppally, Panikkamattom, 6th Mile, Palamuri

Sports and games

Manarcad has its own sports history. There is a variety of football Naadan panthukali in which they use a small leather ball the size of a cricket ball. This game has five innings, and normally it will take three hours to get finished.

See also

• Manarcad church

External links

• Manarcad St.Mary's Church, Official website
• Manarcad church