1742
In 1742 the sea put a wooden box ashore at Kootapuli, on the coast below the village. It was stencilled “To Vadakankulam, From Portugal”, and it held carved images of Our Lady. The fishermen carried it up to the parish priest, Fr John Baptist Buttari. He kept one image for his own church, sent a second to Kamanayakkanpatti, and gave the third into the Bishop's care. The one that stayed here is Our Lady of the Assumption, the statue that stands above this altar, and the statue that would one day weep.
What this source establishes
The diocese tells the same story — but the diocese is the parish's own institution, not an outside witness. These chips are one witness family, not three.
This is as much of it as we may lawfully print. The rest is at tuticorindiocese.org.