The First Protestant Christian of Travancore Kingdom ;  part  II :

The formation of the first nucleus of the Protestant Church of Travancore  at Mylaudy :  Forthwith from the morning of the next day of  his arrival at Mylaudy ;  Vethamanickam  started preaching the Gospel of Christ  at  Mylaudy to his family members, during the early years of 19th century . First , Vethamanickam   started to teach about the gospel Christ  to his family members  in his house ,   with the guidance of  " Church Catechism " .On hearing  his teachings  on the Gospel  of Christ and   Church Catechism ,  the headman of his family  Perumal [Gnanamuthu] and also  Vethamanickam's  brothers  and sisters accepted  Christ. Following Vethamanickam's family members , his friends  and  other relatives  willingly  came forward to believe  the Gospel of Christ.   In all ,about thirty persons  of  Mylaudy  started to profess Christ publicly and put themselves under Vethamanickam's instruction  and pastoral  leadership .  Thus Vethamanickam  laid the foundation  for the formation of the nucleus of the Protestant Church of Travancore at Mylaudy. The form of worship adopted by the early Christians at  Mylaudy  was Lutheran.  Vethamanickam introduced the Common Prayer Book of the Lutheran Church then  in  use at Tanjore, and also Vethamanickam taught  its rites to the Mylaudy Christians ,to the extent possible for him. .

Vedhamanickam introduced the well meaning Native Christian names to the Christian Converts :

Vethamanickam  changed his wife's name as  Satthiayi and his daughter's name  as Pakkiayi and Annaa .His eldest son Chidambaram was called Devasahayam . His nephew's wife was called as Jesudial,  he changed the name of the head man of his family  Perumal  as Gnanamuthu. The heathen names of his other family members were also  changed  into  Christian names ;  the name  Agni was changed into Joseph, Sivan into Pakkianathen , Abirami into Santhayi, Owvai into Annanthayi ,  Sivagami into Mary . Thus thirty persons' heathen names were changed by Vethamanickam into meaingful Christian names.

Vethamanickam  met persecutions boldly : On account of his conversion  to Christianity,Vethamanickam was forced to face many new challenges and threat  from the  people, including his own relatives and they started to harass and hate him  due to  prejudice  and unwanted fear.   A report of his preaching   reached the  Palace and the native Government who could not tolerate the introduction of a new religion in Travancore.  The people in general molested and persecuted him with great horror and terror. By his indomitable will power and  by the power of  prayer , Vethamanickam  met the persecutions and challenges boldly.

Vethamanickam's Second  Visit to Tanjore ; As a great visionary and missionary Vethamanickam wanted to extend  the missionary field throughout the length and  breadth  of Travancore  ,and  to actuate his vision quickly and effectively he  believed that the service of a Foreign Missionary  or an experienced Ccatechist would be  of  great help. So  in February 1805 he started his second visit to Tanjore not as a heathen but as a believer of  Lord Jesus Christ ; leaving nearly one hundred and fifty persons under the immediate missionary and spiritual care of Gnanamuthu [Perumal] . When he reached Tanjore  ,he was happily welcomed by  Revd. J.C. Kohlhoff and with great enthusiasms . Vethamanickam talked about his "Little Flock"  at Mylaudy and and told   Rev J.C.Kohlhoff  that he had come for the second time in the hope of inducing him to send a Missionary to Mylaudy, Travancore.   Revd  Kohlhoff  was  pleased with Vethamanickam's words  and sincerely wanted to  help him ,  so  Revd. J.C. Kohlhoff sent Vethamanickam and  native Catechist by name Yesudian with an introductory letter to  a new  LMS Missionary by name Mr W. T. Ringeltaube, who has just arrived and  was staying at Tranquebar , the Head Quarters of the Danish Mission

The Historical Meeting Between Vethamanickam and Mr. Ringeltaube. : The great Church historian Mr. C. M. Agur writes that  "That visit of Vedamanickam and his friend to Ringeltaube has been likened to that visit to Peter at Joppa by the men sent from Caesura, both followed by a similar resolve " .Mr. W.T.Ringeltaube,  welcomed Vethamanickam  with great gladness as he had already heard about Vethamanickam and his inspiring  history  from  Revd J.C. kohlhoff   and other Tanjore Missionaries.  Mr . Ringeltaube  interestingly interacted with Vethamanickam and  advised  him  to make his people at Mylaudy , continue steadfast in their new Christian faith and to gather as many souls as  possible  for Christ. Mr. Ringeltaube gave him a good collection of  Christian tracts for use and promised that he would follow him to Travancore as soon as he had acquired some knowledge of the Tamil language.   The Church historian C.M. Agur writes  " Vedamanickam now returned home through Tanjore, full of hopes and better pleased than ever". After his visit and meeting with the great Mr. Ringeltaube ;  Maharasan Vethamanickam returned to Tanjore and remained there till the  Lent days were over , hearing the sermons on the Passion and returned to Mylaudy at the end of May .  On the request of Vethamanickam , the Tanjore Mission Missionaies sent Yesudian Catechist [with his wife and two sons Aaron and Moses  ] to assist Vethamanickam in his missionary work at Mylaudy.  On arrival at Mylaudy  , Vethamanickam  becamr  really glad to notice that the divine Christian worship he had instituted was still being regularly and sincerely performed and followed.

Gospel preached at Wiyaravilley : In spite of   great opposition from various angles in various hues and dimensions ,  Vethamanicakam  resumed  his missionary work of preaching  the Gospel   to the people around , with great vigorous and vibrant inspiration and determination  .As a result of his tireless spiritual endeavour, he happened to have the joy of gathering a few additional Christian followers in a neighbouring village called Wiyaravillai.  Eventhough Vethamanickam was doing the evangelical work at Mylaudy and it's surrounding places very efficaciously,  he  was very ardently  awaiting the arrival of  the LMS  Missionary Mr. Ringeltaube.

The arrival of the legendary LMS Missionary Ringeltaube at Mylaudy :   At last , on  the day break of 25th  April 1806, Mr. Ringeltaube left Vadakankulam  in Tirunelveli district,and  travelled over the arid and dry plains  and at noon crossed the Aramboly pass[ 8 miles East of Nagercoil ] which opened to his sight the new country where he was blessed to labour for 10 years and entered Nanjil Nadu, in South Travancore  .  Mr W.T. Ringeltaube arrived at Mylaudy  on the 25th , April , 1805 ; and he was welcomed by Vethamanickam and family members  with immense joy.  Mr. C.M. Agur quotes a letter of  Mr. Ringeltaube ,  " I reluctantly obeyed , and proceeded round the southern hills to a village called Mylaudy, from whence , formerly two men came to Tranquebar to request me to come and  see them,  representing that 200 heathens at this place were desirous to embrace our religion . I lodged two days at their houses , where I preached and prayed ; some of them knew the Catechism...........I spent here the Lord's day for the first time, very uncomfortably in an Indian hut.......:.Perhaps my disappointment contributed to my unpleasant feelings; I had expected to find hundreds eager to listen to the word ; instead of which , I had a difficulty to make a few families attend for an hour"[The  Church  History of Travancore  by C.M. Augur, pages  497-498] . This historical  day of Ringeltaube's arrival at Mylaudy on  the 25th  of April, 1805  ,is even today celebrated as the birthday of Protestant Christianity in Travancore. This historical day[event] changed the social , educational , cultural , political , religious , economic and intellectual history of  Travancore [Then Kanyakumari district was a part of Travancore  Kingdom].

                                  { Part  III will follow soon ]
P. BABU MANOHARAN,M.A,.{Rights reserved. This Article will be altered or modified later if needed].