 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2010) |
| Formation | 1950 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Fr.Mathew Naickomparabil V.C |
| Legal status | Active |
Official language |
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The Divine Retreat Center is a Retreat centre situated in Muringoor, near Chalakudy, Kerala, India near. It is part of the renewal movement of the Vincentian Congregation of India, who have been conducting retreats in parishes in Kerala since the 1950s. It was inaugurated in 1987.[ citation needed ]
The Potta Ashram was founded in 1977 as the centre to direct and to co-ordinate popular mission retreats. It functioned as the headquarters and residences of the directors of the center, Frs. George Panackal V.C. and Romulus Nedumchalil, etc., who used to conduct mission retreats and visitations from here. [1] A few years later, Fr. Mathew Naickomparambil was transferred to Potta. Fr. Naickomparambil was involved with propagating the Charismatic Renewal. The Renewal movement that began in 1966 at the Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, U.S.A. [2] was brought to India in February 1972.
Fr. George Panackal became impressed by Fr. Naickomparambil's sermons which were the result of his involvement in the Charismatic Renewal. Fr. Naickomparambil's propagation of the Charismatic Renewal drew in thousands of people. After a few years, a three-storey building was put up to conduct the retreats, primarily intended for the people coming to the Ashram for further consultations from places where the Vincentians' Popular Mission Retreats were being conducted. But as Fr. Naickomparambil's Charismatic Renewal retreats grew in popularity, the Potta Ashram itself became a center for numerous retreats.
As the Potta Ashram was inadequate for the increased numbers, under Fr. George Vempilly, the new director, a sprawling new site was acquired at Muringoor, on the banks of the Chalakudy River, six kilometers away from Potta, and Fr. Jacob Athickal was tasked with preparing a new and more extensive facility which was to be called Divine Retreat Center. At this new site, retreats were begun in six other languages besides Malayalam including English, Konkani, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. Since 1990, over 10 million pilgrims from all over the world have attended retreats here. Weekly retreats are held throughout the year. The Retreat Centre has 2 large campuses along both sides of the NH47 – one for the Malayalam retreats and the other for the English and other language retreats. The Divine Nagar Railway halt was opened in 1996.
The retreat centre also houses several homes attending to the sick and the marginalised section of society. [3]
This place has often seen many controversies. In 2005, a letter addressed to the High Court of Kerala contained compact discs had many serious allegations against the centre, including financial misappropriation including violation of foreign exchange regulations, and wrongful inclusion of the names of inmates in the electoral list. The most sensational among the charges was the alleged suppression, by the centre, of a complaint made by a former inmate that she was raped by the procurator. It was also alleged that a number of unidentified dead bodies were found in and around the centre. In response to this, high court judge Justice K. Padmanabhan Nair ordered the police to investigate the charges and also directed an SIT to be constituted under Inspector General Vinson M. Paul. The team conducted raids at DRC in September last year, seizing documents and videotaping the complex. On the basis of testimonials by witnesses against the centre, the FIR includes the following charges: between 1991 and 2006, as many as 974 people died-not all were natural deaths-at the centre and the dead bodies disposed of without investigation; many developed mental illnesses after going to DRC, particularly after unauthorised administration of psychotropic drugs; patients were kept in forced confinement; the centre's medical institutions have no requisite licences or statutory facilities; and DRC had obtained pecuniary favours from the Government by misrepresenting or withholding facts. Mariyapalana Society, an NGO run by local Catholics, also complained that the centre had tried to receive foreign donations by manipulating documents. [4]
Sreeni Pattathanam is a rationalist, activist, and writer from Kerala, India. He was born in the Pattathanam area of Kollam City in the Indian state of Kerala. Pattathanam was the editor of Ranarekha, a monthly in Malayalam, which ceased publication in the 1980s. He started publishing another monthly in Malayalam called Yukthirajyam. This journal is the official journal of the organization, Bharatheeya Yukthivadi Sangham. He was also the secretary of the Kerala state branch of Indian Rationalist Association. Pattathanam later left IRA and started, with like-minded people, another rationalist association, Bharathiya Yukthivadi Sangham. He is the vice-chairman of the National Level Rationalist Organization, RAI, Rationalist Association of India that was established in 1930. RAI is one of the founding members of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), based in London. www.iheu.org
Catholic charismatic renewal is a movement within the Catholic Church that is part of the wider charismatic movement across historic Christian churches. It has been described as a "current of grace". It began in 1967 when Catholics from Duquesne University attended a Protestant worship service and claimed to have been "baptized in the Holy Spirit". It is heavily influenced by American Protestantism, especially Pentecostalism, with an emphasis on having a "personal relationship with Jesus", deep emotional experiences, and expressing the "gifts of the Holy Spirit".
Malayalam journalism encompasses journalism published and broadcast in the Malayalam language. Modern Malayalam journalism can be traced to the publication of the Raajyasamaachaaram and the Pashchimodhayam under the direction of Hermann Gundert in June 1847. Kerala has the highest media exposure in India with newspapers publishing in nine languages, mainly English and Malayalam.
The Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, formerly also known as the Servants of Mary Immaculate, is a clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, and is the largest such congregation in the Syro-Malabar Church.
Thrissur, is a district of Kerala situated in the central part the state. Spanning an area of about 3,032 km2 (1,171 sq mi), Thrissur district is home to over 9% of Kerala's population.
Vishnudevananda Saraswati was an Indian yoga guru known for his teaching of asanas, a disciple of Sivananda Saraswati, and founder of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres and Ashrams. He established the Sivananda Yoga Teachers' Training Course, possibly the first yoga teacher training programs in the West. His books The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga (1960) and Meditation and Mantras (1978) established him as an authority on Hatha and Raja yoga. Vishnudevananda was a peace activist who rode in several "peace flights" over places of conflict, including the Berlin Wall prior to German reunification.
Nedumkotta or Travancore lines was a wall built as a protection against consistent invasions from Mysore during the rule of Tipu Sultan. It was built by the Dharma Raja Karthika Thirunal, King of Travancore with the request, support and permission of the Kingdom of Kochi. It was constructed by Rama Varma under the supervision of his Commander Eustachius De Lannoy. The work was started in 1762 it was completed only by 1775. The lines consist of a ditch about sixteen feet broad and twenty feet deep with a thick bamboo hedge in it, a slight parapet and good rampart and bastions on rising grounds almost flanking each other from one extreme of the lines to the other. The construction of Nedumkotta or the Travancore Lines is considered to be a unique and unparallel episode in Indian History by historians.
Kulathuvayal is a village in Kozhikode district of Kerala state, India. Administratively, Kulathuvayal comes under the Chakkittapara panchayat, Perambra block panchayat and Koyilandy Taluk.
Christianity is the third-largest practiced religion in Kerala, accounting for 18% of the population according to the Indian census. Although a minority, the Christian population of Kerala is proportionally much larger than that of India as a whole. A significant portion of the Indian Christian population resides in the state.
Potta is a tiny village 30 miles north of Kochi, also known as Cochin. It comes under the municipality of Chalakudy in the Thrissur district in the state of Kerala, India. Potta was the temple land under the Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam Temple. In the past, the crops needed for the temple were cultivated at Potta. The Pambambot temple is very famous, other two temples in Potta are the Parakottilinkal Bhagavathi Temple and the Mathilthkavu Bhagavathi Temple. Cherupushpam Shrine, a Christian church, is famous. There are educational institutions like Panampilly Memorial Government College, Vyasa Vidyaniketan Central School, Kuriakos Chavara UP School and Dhanya Mission Hospital.
Mgr. C. J. Varkey, Kuzhikulam (1921–2009), also popularly known as "Varkeyachan", was an Indian priest of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the founder of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate (MSMI) in 1962. The family apostolate is its charism. At present, the congregation has 800 professed sisters working in one hundred communities in India, United States, Germany and Italy, engaged with different apostolic activities like teaching, nursing, orphanage, leprosy center, old age homes, family apostolate, social work, pastoral care, prayer and counselling. He was one of the most admired figures in the Kerala Church and a leader of the charismatic renewal movement in the state.
Koratty Church is the locally known name of Hail Mary or Mother Mary of Syro-Malabar Catholic community at Koratty in Kerala State, India. Korattymuthy's Shrine is famous for its annual feast with 'Poovankula', Muttilizhayal offerings.
Narayanashrama Tapovanam is an Ashram located at Venginissery village, 10 km South-West of Thrissur city, in Kerala state, India. It was founded by Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha in 1963. The Ashram, which is located in the hillock of Pandava Giri, is a centre for learning and practising Brahmavidya and Vedanta.
George Panackal V.C. is the director of Divine Retreat Centre, Potta and is widely renowned among Christians in India for his charitable work, pastoral services as a gospel teacher and interpreter from a catholic perspective. His preachings at Divine Retreat Centre are aired every day in Shalom TV India, Divine TV, and Goodness
Potta Ashram is a Catholic charismatic renewal centre in Potta, Thrissur District of Kerala. The centre is managed by the Vincentian Congregation. The centre comes under Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Irinjalakuda.
Jerusalem Retreat Center is a Catholic charismatic renewal centre in Thalore, Thrissur city. The centre is managed by the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, Thrissur. The centre comes under Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Thrissur.
St. Mary's Forane Church, Chalakudy, is one of the 10 Foranes or deaneries under the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Irinjalakuda, which was established in 1978 by the bifurcation of Thrissur Diocese. Prior to that, Chalakudy was part of Thrissur diocese, the most ancient Diocese of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Thrissur diocese has since been elevated to an archdiocese, Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Thrissur, within which comes the Irinjalakuda diocese. There are 16 parishes under the Chalakudy Forane. The people of Chalakudy, mainly in business or service sectors, belong to middle or upper-middle-class families. Chalakudy is one of those areas in Kerala with a high concentration of Christian population, most belonging to the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.
St Augustine's Abbey or Ramsgate Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Ramsgate. It was built in 1860 by Augustus Pugin and is a Grade II listed building. It was the first Benedictine monastery to be built in England since the Reformation. In 2010, the monks moved to St Augustine's Abbey in Chilworth, Surrey. The site is now owned by the Vincentian Congregation from Kerala, India. The church of St Augustine, across the road from the abbey site, belongs to the Archdiocese of Southwark and is a shrine of St Augustine of Canterbury.
Anjali Ashram is a Christian retreat in Mysore city in the Karnataka province of India.
St. Joseph Church, Aloor is a parish of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Aloor. It was the first parish church in Aloor Muri of the Mukundapuram and Kodassery taluks. Aloor parish is one of the 83 parishes between the Bharathappuzha and Periyar rivers, during the erection of syro-Malabar hierarchy and Trichur Vicariate.
Coordinates: 10°17′32″N76°20′17″E / 10.292285°N 76.338184°E
