Daniel Paramanandam the first deacon of Home Church, Nagercoil (19th century)

Introduction :Kanyakumari district  has produced   many remarkable   personalities  who had become milestones in the political, social, religious, educational  and intellectual map of our district and country. And through this post I want to share the accomplishments of  the great men  of Kanyakumari district with my country men.

I would like to salute the great souls of our district by  highlighting their  invaluable contributions   in their respective fields  for the cause of our district and our country. I am  neither  following chronological seniority nor the merit of  the personalities, but here I  present  the  profiles and accomplishments of them as it comes to my mind.

I would like to introduce  a great  unsung  personality, Daniel  Paramanandam of  Nagercoil, who was chosen as the first deacon of the  historical Nagercoil Home Church. By becoming the first deacon of Nagercoil Home Church, Daniel Paramanandam had become a historical  milestone in  the Church  history of Kanyakumari  district.

The history of the London Missionary  Society began in South Travancore in the year 1806 with the arrival of  the legendary  LMS missionary  Ringeltaube at Mylaudy  in 1806, in  kanyakumari District.  Ringeltaube supported by Mylaudy Vethamanickam started the evangelical work in Kayakumari district  and established the first  7  LMS churches  and some primary schools in  the district .  Charles Mead and Charles Mault succeeded  Ringeltaube and  expanded the missionary work throughout  Kanyakumari  district in a successful manner.  As a result there  arose a big gap between the demand  and supply of LMS  pastors.  In this context, the Deputation of Dr. Mullens of LMS arrived at Kanyakumari District in 1866.

A new era began  in the history of  of the LMS in Kanyakumari District  in the year  1866, in connection with the arrival  of  Revd. Dr. Mullens  in February 1866 as a Deputation  from the Directors of the London Missionary Society.   As a result  of the discussions between the  Missionaries  of the Travancore District Committee and  Revd. Mullens ,   the Deputation   willingly agreed to establish a Native Pastorate  in the LMS  Mission in Kanyakumari district. Accordingly  Devadasan, Zachariah, C. Masillamani  and Yesudian were ordained  as Native Ministers  in 1866. Like the ordination of the above four Native Ministers,  the offices of the deacons  in each important Church were also established  in 1866 in the District. The first three deacons of the Nagercoil Home Church  were Messrs. Daniel Paramanandam,  Nathaniel, and P.D. Devasahayam.

,

Daniel Paramanandam  was a contemporary of Bishop Caldwell ,  Rev Charles Mault and Rev. Charles Mead. Mr. Daniel Paramanadam  was a great  friend and close companion of Rev. Charles Mault and Rev.Charles Mead of the London Missionary Society and he  was very much loved by them. He was known in short as Paramanandam deacon.

Daniel Paramandam  deacon's family :   Mr.  Daniel Paramandam's wife  Mrs.  Paramayee Fanny was a blood relative of the great Maharasan Vethamanickam of Mylaudy, the first Protestant Christian of South Travancore.  They were blessed with  seven daughters and one son. The  famous  christian writer and poet Rev. C .Masillamani , the grandson of Mylaudy Maharasan Vethamanickam , married  Esther Fanny Paramanandam , a daughter of Paramanandam deacon on the 29th March 1855  and then after her demise he married her sister  Jocabed Fanny in 1872.  And Rev C. Masillamani's  first son was the great church historian Mr.C.M.Agur, B.A. who wrote the monumental 1188 pages book  called  Church History Of Travancore , in 1903, in English.   I  will deal with Rev. C. Masillamani and his remarkable   son  Church Historian Mr. C.M.Agur ,  separately later in another post.

Paramanandam Deacon's great grandson Padmasri Handel Manuel: Mr.Joseph Munshi  married Marthal Fanny Paramanandam , a beautiful daughter of Paramanandam deacon and  this loving couple had nine children namely Jonadab,  Ambrose, Robert,  Joshua,  Lysa,  Schaffter,  Packiam,  Muththa,and Sohusa.

Mr. Ambrose's daughter Daya  married   Dr. Manuel and this couple's first son was the world famous pianist organist, music conductor and music composer Padma Sri  Handel Manuel.  Handel Manuel became as the first Indian  Conductor of the Madras Musical Association, at the age of 23 and also Handel served as the Choirmaster  and organist at St. Andrew's Church , Chennai ,  till death.  Moreover Handel the great-grandson of Mr Daniel  Paramanandam and   was the founder Director  of the Madras Philharmonic  and Choral Society.  In recognition of his western musical  genius  , the Government of India honoured  Handel Manuel  with the prestigious Padma Sri Award in 1983.  Handel was  recognized  throughout  the world  for his musical genius and the Government of UK ,  honoured  him with a life  membership  of  the Royal School of Church Music, London, in1987,  a unique and rare honour  for any non British  citizen . Moreover when Sri.  C. Rajaopalachariar, the first and the last  Indian Governor General  of the Republic Of India  composed a song to be sung by the famous  Bharat Ratna  M.S.Sublakshmi in United  Nations Organization ,  Sri. Rajaji invited  Handel Manuel  to compose music for  that song , and Handel composed music for the song and won the applause  internationally.   Handel Manuel  passed away  on 22nd October , 1994 and the Hindu , published  a half a page tribute  about him.  Mr. Vijay Manuel the worthy son Handel Manuel has been associated with the great Music Composer Ilyaraja for the last forty years and Vijay has been serving as the main  Organist and Pianist  in Ilyararaja's  musical team. There is hardly any music composition by Ilayaraja without   Vijay's  musical accompaniment.

Paramanandam deacon  and Dr. Robert Caldwell :    Paramanandam and his family enjoyed the love and confidence of  The LMS.  Missionary Rev. Charles Mault and his wife  and their daughter  Elysa was practically brought up in the house of Mr. Paramanandam . As a result Elysa Mault became very fluent in speaking Nageroil Tamil.   Bishop Dr. Robert  Caldwell  married Elysa  Mault and this historical  marriage was  conducted in the  Home Church, Nagercoil  on 20th March, 1844.  Mrs Elysa Caldwell  moved to Edayangudi after  the marriage, and  helped Dr. Caldwell in many useful ways.

Dr. Robert  Caldwell wrote the monumental and epoch making  book, A  Comparative Grammar of Dravidian Languages  and laid the foundation for the Dravidian cultural and political renaissance. Whenever Dr Caldwell and Elysa  visited  their  Woodlands Estate in Asambu hills , Kanyakumari district, they  used to visit  Paramandam's family whenever possible. While  Paramanandam was very sick and nearing  his demise Dr. Caldwell and his wife visited  Paramanandam and prayed  for him  .Paramanandam's family treated   these  visits of Dr. Caldwell as a mark of  great honour .

Conclusion :Mr . Daniel Paramanandam had the privilege of moving with great religious and intellectual leaders of his time like Dr. Caldwell , Charles  Mault ,Charles  Mead  and  others   and made a lasting impact  in the church and social    history  of Kanyakumari disrtict.  

He and his  grandsons  C.M.Augur and London educated geologist Ezra Masillamani  and his   great- grandson  Padma  Sri Handel Manuel  had become milestones  in the history of Kanyakumari district.
P. BABU MANOHARAN, M.A,.[Rights reserved. This Article will be altered or modified if needed later].