1712–1713

Eight hundred in two seasons

The years that followed were the mission's spring. In two seasons, around 1712 and 1713, nearly eight hundred adults were baptised at Vadakkankulam, besides their children. By that year the church here counted at least four thousand one hundred and twenty-eight adults, with eighty-five more preparing for baptism that October. What had begun with two hundred under a roof of thatch was now one of the great Christian communities of the southern frontier.

DocumentedThis moment rests on one source.

Besse (Moumas tr.)

In 1712 and 1713, there were about 800 baptisms of adults, besides the children

What this source establishes

The figure this page has always carried, found at last in print. Besse, from the mission's records, gives the Vadakenkulam church “at least 4128 adults and a large number of children” in 1713, about 800 adult baptisms across 1712–13, and 85 more preparing that October. He states it as a statistic, not as tradition — which is why this moment is documented and no longer the one uncited dot on the page.

This is as much of the book as this site prints. It is named in full in the bibliography below.