New Viruthakirikuppam

New Viruthakirikuppam is a village. It is in Virudhachalam taluk near Neyveli in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu state in southern India. It is fifteen kilometers far from Virudhachalam. Mudhanai is five kilometer far from it. It is in between Etakuppam and Pazhaya Viruthakirikuppam. There is a primary school and a church dedicated to Our Lady of Good Health. The church is under the Iruppukuricy parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore. There are two hundred Hindu families, about seventy Christian families and six families of barbars.

PEOPLE

Around eight hundred people live in this village. Many of them are Hindus. Around hundred and fifty people are Christians. Around fifty people are barbers. They live in unity. If something bad happens to any one, all gather for help and support. They support each other. Christians’ houses are in the middle of the village.

CHURCH AND TEMPLES

There are three temples and a churches in the village. The Christian church is very famous. the church is in the middle of the village and opposite of the bus stop. People can see the church as the get down from the bus. though the church seem to be small, it holds three hundred people inside. there is a lot of place around and in front of the church. there are about forty coconut trees and four mango trees. there is a pore well near the church. boys and girls play both in morning and evening in front of the church. one of the temples is near the primary school. it is dedicated to pragathiswayer. Another one is at the south-end of the village. it is not built fully.

FESTIVAL

The village is known for its festivel of Our Lady of Good Health, when about six lakhs of people gather there for the feast.the festival falls in the month of may. the festival starts with hosting of the flag on 10th of may and the second day (may 11th) with a small car and the third day is the grand celebration takes place. the third day celebration starts around 10.30 p.m and before that people gather for praying with their families in the church. the celebration is very grand. people form the parish and near Hindu-villages take part in the celebration. Hindus are more than the Christians. two-third of the devotees are Hindus.

CAR PROCESSION

Car procession is very famous in the festival. the car is about sixty-feet tall. Around two hundred devotees carry the well-decorated car. it starts about 10.30 p.m on 13th of may. there are three cars in procession. the first one is for archangel, Michael, the second one is for st. Joseph, the worker and the third one is for the patron of the village, our lady of good health. the first one is small in size, the second one is medium in size and the third one is very tall and broad in size. all the three cars are carried by the people. it shows of their unity and co-operation in celebrating the festival. though there are only hundred and fifty Christians in this village, great things happen because of their unity. the cars go through the Christian streets for more than three hours. The Hindu people take main part in the car procession. The car is prepared by the usual agents and they take three or four days to make it.

THE SOIL the soil is good for all kinds of agricultural works. The main basis of the local economy is agriculture, including sugar cane, ground nuts, green grain, dall and other crops. people cultivate groundnuts a lot in this area.