A 53-foot-high bronze statue of Adaikala Matha would soon be installed at the Elakurichi Church built by Veeramamunivar in the district.
“All parts of the statue have been completed and they would be fitted soon. The statue would either be installed at Matha Kulam or some other place on the church premises before this year-end,” said Fr. S. Lourdusamy, Rector and Parish Priest of the church.
Nearly 25,000 kg of bronze, contributed by devotees, has been used for making the statue, the Father said.
A thin gold plate would cover the face of the Mother’s statue, and 500 grams of gold would be used for the purpose.
Great contribution
Devotees have contributed 100 grams of gold, Fr. Lourdusamy said.
Sculptors of Swami Malai are working on the statue. In 2012, the Matha Kulam was renovated with an approach road and a resting shed with the funds sanctioned by the State government. The church was established by Father Constantine Joseph Beschi (Veeramamunivar) and a statue of the Mother (2.5 ft) was installed between 1716 and 1720 A.D.
Elakurichi was one of the most prominent places where Veeramamunivar worked.
He had spent most of his missionary life here. His body of works include Thembavani , an epic on St.Joseph, Thirukavalur Kalambagam , a bouquet of poems on our Lady of Refuge, prose works: Vedhiyar Ozhukkam, Vedha Vilakkam , grammatical works on classical and spoken Tamil, and Tamil dictionary Saduragarathi .
The car festival of the church is celebrated every year and hundreds of Christians from all over the world visit the place during the festival.
