St. Antony's Shrine

One thing can be surmised, that the Pallars were not the original inhabitants, because: If they were there, the village would have been called as "Pallapalayam" (not Puliakulam), as it was wide-spread custom in those days. Either the Pallars from Perur area might have come and settled down here (of course not yet baptized) or more probably, they must have belonged to the Pandiyan garrison when Coimbatore fort was built during Madura Nayakar’s time, when the Poligar system (Pallayakarar) was instituted and Coimbatore became the important capital for 30 Palayams of Coimbatore region. Thirumalai Nayakar sent garrisons from Madurai, to guard the forts of Coimbatore and Sathiyamangalam. Hence the fort must have been built about the middle of the century, either by Vishvanatha Naick, (1529-1564) or more probably by Krishnappan Nayak (1564 -72) In 1820, it was a small chapel. Fr. De Geils built a new Church in 1859. It was renovated in 1892. The new Church was built and consecrated on 12th June 1987. The original inhabitants are all old Christians, converted by St. John De Britto. The speciality of the Shrine is, it draws thousands of devotees irrespective of religion, caste, and language every week on Tuesdays. The flow of faithful starts in the early hours of the day and continues the late night. On all days there are pilgrims to the Shrine and people turn to St. Antony for all their needs. The Shrine has situated only 4 km from the Coimbatore City and plenty of buses are available from the town. The playground area, behind the church compound, was cleared against great opposition from the unlawful occupants and was fully encircled by compound walls by Fr. M.M. Chinnayan. A new two-storied building was constructed for the High school by Fr. John Joseph who continued the preparatory efforts of Fr. Gurusamy and Fr. P. Irudayam for Ramanathapuram area to be detached from Puliakulam and constructed a new modern church and a Presbytery there It was consecrated by Bishop Ambrose on 16-07-1995 On Tuesdays 4 holy masses are held here, followed by St. Antony's novena. The feast of St. Antony is celebrated on 13th June.

Church Road - Puliakulam, Ramanathapuram, Coimbatore - 641 045