1. Devasahayam Pillai was canonized as a saint of the church by Pope Francis on 15 May 2022.
25 Facts About Devasahayam Pillai
2.
Devasahayam Pillai trained the Travancore forces on European lines and introduced new weaponry and gunpowder.
3.
At this point, he took the name "Devasahayam Pillai", which is the translation into Malayalam of the name 'Lazarus.
4.
Devasahayam Pillai was baptised alongside her husband as a matter of course.
5.
Devasahayam Pillai was given the baptismal name "Gnanapoo Ammaal".
6.
Devasahayam Pillai remained in prison for three years, during which time the king of Travancore came under tremendous pressure from the Europeans seeking his release.
7.
Devasahayam Pillai was initially ordered to be seated backward on a buffalo and paraded to the Kuzhumaikkad border, where he would be released and could enter into Dutch-controlled territory.
8.
The original Royal order was later altered, and Devasahayam Pillai was taken on the back of a buffalo to Aralvaimozhy border, where he was tortured by ten different karyakkars, on the advice of the ministers, before being released into a mountainous forest area, on the other side of which was the kingdom of the Pandya kings, traditional rivals of Travancore.
9.
Devasahayam Pillai was let off in the forested hills near Aralvaimozhy.
10.
Some people believe that soldiers went up the forested hills and tried to shoot Devasahayam Pillai, but were unable to fire; after which he took the gun in his hands, blessed it and gave it back to the soldiers to shoot him to death, if they wished to.
11.
Devasahayam Pillai's body was then carelessly thrown out near the foothills at Kattadimalai.
12.
Devasahayam Pillai's body was later recovered by some people of the region and carried to the church at Kottar, in present-day Nagercoil.
13.
Devasahayam Pillai's mortal remains were interred near the altar inside St Xavier's Church, Kottar, Nagercoil, which is the diocesan Cathedral.
14.
Some Hindu organizations objected to this initiative, claiming that there is no evidence of religious persecution in Travancore during the given period, and that Devasahayam Pillai was executed for sedition.
15.
However, documents dating back to the period encompassing Devasahayam Pillai's lifetime show that religious conversion of court officials to Christianity was not tolerated.
16.
Devasahayam Pillai is the first Indian lay man who is not part of any religious institute to be elevated to the rank of "Blessed".
17.
On 21 February 2020, Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Devasahayam Pillai, clearing his way to canonization.
18.
Devasahayam Pillai is the first Catholic in India who is neither an ordained minister nor a religious to be officially recognized as a saint.
19.
Devasahayam Pillai was declared a martyr and Blessed on 2 December 2012, at a solemn ceremony held in the Diocese of Kottar at Carmel Higher Secondary School Grounds, Nagercoil, near the place of his burial.
20.
Devasahayam Pillai is the first lay person from India to be beatified by the Catholic Church.
21.
Devasahayam Pillai's witness to Christ is an example of that attentiveness to the coming of Christ recalled by this first Sunday of Advent.
22.
On 21 February 2020, Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Devasahayam Pillai, clearing his way to canonization.
23.
Devasahayam Pillai is buried in the Cathedral of St Francis Xavier at Kottar in Nagercoil.
24.
Devasahayam Pillai's tomb was restored and beautified after the declaration of martyrdom and beatification.
25.
At the spot on the hillock where Devasahayam Pillai was killed, a rock makes bell-like sounds when knocked with a stone.