Bl. Devasahayam Pillai

First Indian lay martyr to be beatified
Born	On April 23, 1712  Palliyadi, Nattalam, Kanyakumari District, Kingdom of Travancore
Died	On January 14, 1752 (aged 39) Aralvaimozhy, Kingdom of Travancore
Servant of GOD	22 December 2003
Venerated	On June 28, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI
Beatified	2 December 2012, St. Xavier's Church, Kottar, Tamil Nadu by Angelo Amato (On behalf of Benedict XVI)
Major Shrine	Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier,Kottar
Feast	14 January

Devasahayam Pillai is the first lay person to be elevated to the rank of "Blessed" in India.

Martyr Devasahayam Pillai was born in the year 1712 at a village called Nattalam to Vasudevan and Devahiammai in a nair community. His original name was Neelakandapillai. He married Bargaviammal. From his early childhood he was a learned man well versed in Malayalam, Tamil and Sanskrit. He was an expert in the ancient Indian martial arts. As a young man he was employed at Padmanabapuram palace when King Marthanda Varma was ruling the state. After the Kulachal war, he came under the spell of Dutch captain Eustacheus Benedictus De Lenoy, who, being caught a war prisoner, later joined Marthanda Varma's forces. De Lenoy was believed to be instrumental in converting Pillai to Christianity and he was christened as Lazar, but later came to be known as Devasahayam locally. Then he happened to narrate his tragedies to Delenoy. The captain gave him the Bible and asked him to read it. He also gave him the holy rosary and asked him to pray to the blessed mother Mary. Delenoy explained the life of Jesus to him. Neelakandan’s heart was leaning towards Jesus and catholic faith. He decided to received baptism. In 1745, he was baptized by Rev. Fr. Buttari a Jesuit Priest at Vadakkankulam. He was named Devasahayam Pillai. His wife was also baptized and received the name Gnanappu Devasahayam Pillai found answer to his problems in Jesus.   The conversion of Devasahayam Pillai angered the hindu priests. The reason is that Devasahayam Pillai who belonged to a high casted joined Christianity which was then considered by them as a religion of low caste. They thought that it was an insult to them. They were also scared that the Christian faith will spread fast.They requested King Marthanda Varma to arrest him and put him in jail and persecute him to change his mind. But Devasahayam Pillai was strong like a rock in his faith in Jesus. To him everything was for Christ. It was imprisoned, scourged, put into indignified sufferings, starvation and thirst. He accepted every suffering for Christ. Hence the King sentenced him to death in the year 1752. On 14th January 1752 He was shot dead at Kattadimalai, Aralvaimozhy which is 20 kilometers away from Puliyoorkurichy. His mortal remains were buried in front of the main altar of  Xt. Xaviers Cathedral, Kottar.   tZhklmbw ]nÅ   {]Ya `mcXob càkm£nbmb tZhklmbw ]nÅ 1712 apX 1752 hscbpÅ ImebfhnemWp Pohn¨ncp¶Xv. 1712þ sX¡³ XncphnXmwIqdn ]Zva\m`]pc¯n\Sp¯p \«mew F¶ Øe¯p acpX¡pf§cw F¶dnbs¸Sp¶ Xdhm«nemWp \oeIWvT]nÅ F¶ tZhklmbw ]nÅ P\n¨Xv. sNdp¸¯nte kwkvIrXw, aebmfw, Xangv `mjIfnepw XÀ¡w, thZm´w, hymIcWw apXembhbnepw ]pcmW]mcmbW¯nepw Bbp[m`ymk¯nepw {]mhoWyw t\Sn. bphXz¯nte¡p IS¶tXmsS At±lw kzPmXnbnÂs¸« Hcp s]¬Ip«nsb hnhmlw Ign¨p. tZhklmbw ]nÅbpsS Ignhpw kmaÀYyhpw IWvSp amÀ¯mÞhÀa almcmPmhv ]Zva\m`]pcw \oeIWvTkzman tImhnen ImcyhnNmcI\mbn At±ls¯ \nban¨p. Ipf¨Â bp²¯n XShpImc\mbn ]nSn¡s¸SpIbpw ]n¶oSp amÀ¯mÞhÀabpsS XncphXmwIqÀ ssk\ym[n]\mbn amdpIbpw sNbvX U¨v Iym]vä³ Une\mbn bpambpÅ kulrZamWp tZhklmbw ]nÅsb ss{IkvXhhnizmk¯nte¡v ASp¸n¨Xv. IpSpw_]camb Nne {]iv\§sf¯pSÀ¶v ZpxJnX\mbn \S¶ tZhklmbw ]nÅbv¡p Une\mbn tbip{InkvXphnsâ PohnXhpw ss__nÄ hN\§fpw ]Tn¸n¨psImSp¯p. ss{IkvXhhnizmk¯n BIrã\mb At±lw {InkvXpaXw kzoIcn¡p¶Xn\v B{Kln¨p. 1745þ amt½mZokm kzoIcn¨t¸mÄ tZhklmbw F¶ÀYw hcp¶ emkÀ F¶ t]cpw kzoIcn¨p. AtXmsS A¡mes¯ khÀW ta[mhnIÄ At±l¯ns\Xncmbn. ss{IkvXh hnizmk¯nÂ\n¶p XncnsI hcp¶Xn\v ]ecpw Bhiys¸s«¦nepw At±lw hnizmk¯n Dd¨p\n¶p. 1749þ At±lw XS¦en ASbv¡s¸Sp¶Xphsc kzPohnXwsImWvSpw D]tZiwsImWvSpw t{]jnX{]hr¯n sNbvXp. PmXnhyhØbv¡pw aäv A\mNmc§Ä¡pw D¨\oNXz§Ä¡psaXntc iÐapbÀ¯n. 1752 P\phcn 14\vv tZhklmbw ]nÅsb cmP`S·mÀ XncphXmwIqdnsâ sXt¡ AXnÀ¯nbnse ImämSnaebn sImWvSpt]mbn shSnh¨psIm¶psh¶mWp Ncn{Xw. tZhklmbw ]nÅbpsS càkm£nXz¯n\pw \maIcW¯n\pw kp{][m\ sXfnhmbn tdmanse XncpkwLw kzoIcn¨ncn¡p¶Xp _\UnÎv ]Xn\mema³ amÀ]m¸bv¡p sIm¨n cq]Xbnse A¶s¯ _nj]v amÀ s¢aâv tPmk^v FgpXnb I¯nse hnhc§fmWv.