The killers of Devasahayam wanted to make sure the dead body of the Servant of God should not be discovered by anyone. With this in mind, after making sure that there was no life in it they rolled the body down the hillock into the bush below, meaning to leave the body as food for wild animals.
In Prison at Aralvaimozhy
The last prison of the Servant of God before his valiant death was at Aralvaimozhy, at the gate of the kingdom on the east confines. Devasahayam was brought to that place so that people might not know where he was. It is there that prisoners could be put to death in secret. The order from the King was that people should not be allowed to meet Devasahayam at all. But when the news of his presence in Aralvaimozhy spread people from the surrounding Christian villages such as Periathazhai, Koothankuzhy, Manapad, Vadakkankulam, Thovalai, etc., streamed to him daily, “so much, that the garrison looked more like a populous fair than a solitary place”.
The wife of the Servant of God Devasahayam came to meet him there. He consoled his wife who was all in tears and encouraged her to trust in Jesus Christ. Then he advised her to go out of Travancore and live at Vadakkankulam. She bade a tearful farewell.
Third and final sentence to death and the plan to execute the Servant of God secretly
Ramayyan Dalava, the prime minister and Singaram Annavi the Secretary, who had demanded the imprisonment and torture of Devasahayam Pillai, were disappointed and worried that Christianity might spread more if the Servant of God was allowed to live any longer. Therefore they planned to have him killed. They approached the king and reported that his orders were not obeyed and Nilakandan was preaching his religion. The prison guard was immediately changed and a jailer unfriendly to Christians and to Devasahayam was appointed. The guards were also changed. The new officials obtained from the king an order to execute Devasahyam Pillai secretly.
Devasahayam’s life during the years of torture
Bishop Clement reports that every morning and night Devasahayam spent some time for contemplation of “heavenly things” Often during the day, too, he raised his mind to God and prayed briefly. He read aloud books of piety, especially the lives of saints, for the benefit of the bystanders, too. In addition to the fast prescribed by the church, the Servant of God fasted on all Fridays and Saturdays in homage to the dying Christ and to the Mother of God. Devasahayam was open and obedient to priests, especially to his Missionary, Fr. Buttari whom he would contact through messengers and letters. He carried out his directions and counsels very promptly. Only thrice a priest could visit him at the dead of night. He made his confession and received communion. The priest was happy to meet a “living martyr”. Devasahayam was glad to “confess his recurring sins with compunction and be finally refreshed and strengthened by the most holy Eucharist. Once a priest brought him communion secretly (during the day) and Devasahayam received it with great piety and devotion. He desired to receive these sacraments oftener, but it was not possible. Access to him was difficult for priests.
The Mid-night Execution
At the dead of mid-night on 14th January 1752, as he lay in a restless state of prayer and sleep, Devasahayam was awakened by the soldiers and ordered to come out to another place. He is said to have remarked: “You need not pretend. I know whither you are taking me. Let us go”! The venue they had chosen for the execution was on the fringe of the wild Aralvaimozhy forest. It was a deserted place, inaccessible to ordinary human beings. The spot was called Kattadimalai, meaning the mountain with an unceasing flutter of winds.
Here they had planned to set Devasahayam Pillai on a medium size hillock and shoot him down from the ground. Musketeers and guns from the foundry were already kept ready for the operation. Those guns were most probably from the foundry at Udayagiri, produced by De Lannoy. It was a sad irony that the weapon of Devasahayam Pillai's death was to be from the hands of the one who led him to the Christian faith!
Everything and everybody was ready – but not so Devasahayam legs. These could not move as he was chained to the fetters. The soldiers were in a hurry to carry out the operation in a hush. Their urging him to walk quickly was in vain. They then fashioned a strong stick (called kathai in Tamil) and passed it in between his thighs and carried him like a hanging animal to Kattadi Malai.
It was indeed a significant moment : a reputed palace official being carried away like an animal (or a sacrificial lamb?) to be slaughtered for no crime other than accepting the Lordship of Jesus Christ and living out a totally transformed social life. The thousands of the people whose lives he touched shed tears in their homes and hide-outs. He too wept copiously, while praying constantly to the God for courage and determination.
The final prayer of the Servant of God
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| A Close-uo Look of the Imprints |
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| Marks of his elbows and knee can be found on the Rock |
The shooting by soldiers and the death of the Servant of God
Having finished his prayer, the Servant of God told the guards that he had done what was his duty and they could carry out theirs. The guards made him stand on a medium size hillock. The Servant of God stood there ready to give his life for the faith in Christ. They took aim from another rocky place nearby and shot at him. Three shots were fired at him, and the muskets failed to render him dead. He was still alive though deeply wounded. Buttari rounds off his narrative by saying that two more bullets were fired and they "wounded him mortally" and he fell down crying aloud “Jesus, save me”. The guards checked to see if he had died and seeing life in him still, they fired two more shots and the Servant of God died pronouncing the sweet names of Jesus and Mary. This death occurred in the 40th year of his life, having completed almost seven years after his conversion to Catholic Faith, having spent about three years in chains. During these three years there was no certainty of life or death. But the Servant of God led a life of certitude and confidence in the help of God’s grace which was always available to him in prayer, penance and the Sacraments of the Church.
Home for the Bones
The dead body of Devasahayam rolled down to the ground. It is from this ground that pious Catholics have been taking out handful of earth as medicine for their ailments. Touching this blood-stained sacred ground stands a cluster of hillocks, which when the one near the sacred ground is a rock when struck by an object produces in the pleasant sound of a bell as it were to express its joy in having witnessed the death of a courageous christian. In Tamil the hillock is called mania dichan parai - the rock with the sound of a bell.
It is on this ground that there spreads out the branch of the banyan tree which by its distinctness continues to pay its tribute to the memory of the martyr's dead body.
The dead body of Devasahayam rolled down to the ground. It is from this ground that pious Catholics have been taking out handful of earth as medicine for their ailments. Touching this blood-stained sacred ground stands a cluster of hillocks, which when the one near the sacred ground is a rock when struck by an object produces in the pleasant sound of a bell as it were to express its joy in having witnessed the death of a courageous christian. In Tamil the hillock is called mania dichan parai - the rock with the sound of a bell.
It is on this ground that there spreads out the branch of the banyan tree which by its distinctness continues to pay its tribute to the memory of the martyr's dead body.
The disposal of the body into jungle, the rediscovery of the same by the Christians and the mortal remains buried in the church of St. Francis Xavier, Kottar
The execution was carried out in absolute secrecy and the Christians were not aware of what had happened. Not having found the Servant of God in prison on the following days, the people came to know of his death. The missionaries approached the soldiers and obtained for a sum of money the fetters of the Servant of God. But they could not approach the mortal remains because of the presence of soldiers. After five days they could discover the place and they found only bones. It is probable that the body was burnt and that is why there was no flesh on the bones. They gathered the bones and whatever was there of the mortal remains of the Servant of God and they were buried in a tomb in front of the main altar of the famous Church of St. Francis Xavier at Kottar with due solemnity and honour due to a martyr.
Thus Devasahayam Pillai, a lay person and a neophyte, was given a place which is usually given only to Bishops and saints. It really indicates that the contemporaries of Devasahayam regarded him as a great saint and his death as the death of a martyr.
Singing of “Te Deum” in all churches of the diocese
When the Bishop of Cochin heard of the heroic death of the Servant of God, he ordered the Te Deum to be sung in his Cathedral, after the Pontifical thanksgiving celebration. From the pulpit he also delivered a well-prepared panegyric on the virtue and heroic death of the Servant of God.
