Uvari is a coastal village with about 3,000 households and a population of 10,000 in the Tirunelveli district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is 75 km from Tirunelveli and 45 km from Kanyakumari.
In ancient Tamil history, the people were called Paravas of the Neithal (ocean) land. The sister town of this village is known as Kezha Uvari which is famous for an ancient Shiva temple, Sri Suyambulingaswamy Thirukovil. Today little is left except the remnants of gate arches carved out of rock and an abandoned temple, a little away from the newly constructed main temple.
More recently, in the 1530s, Portuguese and Spanish missionaries from Goa had a strong influence when the Paravas converted to Christianity en masse. The priests, acting as godfathers, gave surnames such as Fernandes to most of the villagers.
According to local tradition, the crew of a Portuguese ship sailing near Uvari about 450 years ago contracted cholera. In an attempt to avert death, the ship's carpenter carved an image of Saint Antony of Padua from a block of wood. Soon after, the entire crew regained its health. When the ship docked at Uvari, the sailors set up the statue inside a hut in the village. In the 1940s, the villagers built a church with the original statue of St. Anthony holding the infant Jesus in his hand on the altar. St Anthony is said to perform many miracles daily, and Uvari is visited by pilgrims of different religions from all over South India.
The Kappal Matha Church (our lady of health), with the form of a ship carrying an airplane, is also well known and worth a visit. The original church of St. Mary was damaged by sea erosion, and replaced by this one built in 1974. There are three shrines and many grottos.
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