Maravankudieruppu 3.47

Maravankudieruppu is a village in the jurisdiction of Nagercoil Municipality, located three kilo metres (2 miles) south of Nagercoil, the capital of Kanyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is a 100% Catholic village, mostly centered on the church of Our Lady of Snows. The shrine refers to the basilica of Saint Mary Major on the Esquiline Hill in Rome, where legend says that snow fell in the summertime. It is bordered on the west by Vattakarai, Pattakasalian Vilai and Kalaisirakkum Kudieruppu to the north, Keela Maravankudieruppu to the east and on the south by a water canal, which flows from Pechiparai Dam.Demography and ChurchFalling under the Catholic Church's jurisdiction of Kottar Diocese, this is an individual parish. There are about 1200 Catholic families in the parish, with a population of over 5,000. The current church was built in the late 1950s by the local population in a community effort, including women and children, mostly during the weekends.The whole structure of the Church is supported by seven concrete arches, without any no pillars. The door frames are made from stone.In times where the churches in India were built with donations from Europe, this church was solely built by the contributions from the parishioners.The town has a very high literacy rate, above 90%. Many of the people choose the teaching profession. The primary industries are timber trading and processing and cultivating rice, coconuts and bananas.