Kuthenkully

Village in Tamil Nadu, India

8°13′01″N 77°46′48″E / 8.21694°N 77.78000°E / 8.21694; 77.78000Country

IndiaStateTamil NaduDistrictTirunelveliDemonym(s)Kuthenkulian, KuthenkuzhianLanguages

• OfficialTamilTime zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)Vehicle registrationTN-Nearest cityTirunelveli
Nagercoil

Kuthenkully (also called Kuthenkuli, Kuthenkuzhi, Kūttaṉkuḻi) is a village in Tamil Nadu, India. It is in the Radhapuram taluk of Tirunelveli district. The village got its name from the Tamil word for Nataraja, Kūttaṉ).

Even before the arrival of Francis Xavier in the Pearl Fishery Coast in the year 1542, the inhabitants were Christians as they belong to the Paravar community which embraced Catholicism as the result of their contact with the Portuguese. By the end of 1537, the entire community had declared itself to be Catholics which is well known as the mass conversion. Kuthenkuly is one among the villages of the Pearl Fishery Coast. The village belongs to the Diocese of Tuticorin, whose patron saint is Francis Xavier. Kuthenkuly was known for the large number of teachers. The people are engaged in various occupations and living in different cities and countries and fishing is one of the major occupations.^[1]

Kuthenkully has a Catholic church under the patronage of Saint Quiteria and one dedicated to the Epiphany. People of the village celebrate Christmas, Epiphany, the feast of Saint Quiteria (Kitheri ammal) in May and also the Nativity of John the Baptist.