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Manapad

            Fisher Women in search of drinking water, Manapad, Tamilnadu

Manapad (Tamil: மணப்பாடு) is a coastal village in far south India, 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Tuticorin and 18 km (11 mi) south of Tiruchendur. St. Francis Xavier came to Manapad in 1542, when he began missionary activity on the Fishery coast. He lived in a grotto cavern on the seaward face of a cliff and held mass at a chapel of the Captain's Cross, built from a ship's mast after a storm in 1540. Holy Cross Church, built close to the sea in 1581, has a relic fragment believed to be from the True Cross of Jerusalem. From 1 to 14 September, every year, the cross is publicly displayed for thousands who attend the festival season.

Traditional stories say that in 1540, a Portuguese trading vessel, while sailing around the Cape of Good Hope on its way to the East, encountered a violent storm splitting its sails and snapping the hind mast, leaving it at risk of foundering. The captain, who was devoted to the veneration of the Holy Cross, implored and entrusted the safety of the vessel and that of the crew to the crucified Christ. He also made a vow that he would construct a cross from a portion of the splintered mast and have it planted on the shore where they alighted in safety. By chance, the vessel, after having drifted for several days, sought haven in the then well known port of Kulesakharapatnam.

A miracle is said to have occurred when the cross was still in the form of a log cut off from the broken mast. When the mast was lying on the shore, an inhabitant of the village who had trampled on filth had cleansed his foot on this log. No sooner had he wiped his leg than he felt a pain and instantaneous swelling. That night the man had a vision in which it was revealed to him that the ailment was due to his defiling the log intended for a sacred purpose. He was asked to wipe the muck off the log, smear the log with oil, and then apply the same oil to his foot to cure it. Early next morning, the patient was carried to the log, and to the amazement of the crowd that had collected there, the man was cured immediately and able to walk back home unaided. This remarkable event made the planting of the Cross by the captain an occasion of great piety and festivity. From then onwards, the name and fame of the captain's cross spread throughout the Coromandel Coast.

Taken on: February 15, 2013

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Sets appears in: • Black & whites • Personal faves more » • [ bw ] • Fine ayrt • 2014 uploads • Manapad • Manapadu & Tiruchendur • Diptych • Tamilnadu « less

Camera: Nikon D700, f/11.0, 1/800 sec, 50mm, ISO 320 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D700
Lens:	24.0-120.0 mm f/4.0
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/800)
Focal Length:	50mm
ISO:	320
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Cloudy
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CC (Macintosh)
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