1794
The village in a printed book
In 1794 the village turned up in a book printed at Rome. Paulinus a S. Bartholomaeo’s India Orientalis Christiana sets down at p.158, among the churches subject to the Bishop of Cochin: “XIV. Vadakencollam.” At p.117 the same name is placed on the Cape Comorin coast, “in promontorio Comorino”. It is a name in a list and claims nothing more — but it is this parish in a European printed book, nine years before Our Lady is said to have wept.
DocumentedThis moment rests on one source.
In English
"XII. Camanaikenpatti, XIII. Tirunaveli, XIV. Vadakencollam. Of these, the churches numbered 11, 12, 13 and 14 are subject to the Bishop of Cochin."
What this source establishes
The earliest appearance of this village in a European printed book: listed among the churches under the Bishop of COCHIN, and placed on the Cape Comorin coast. Both page numbers (p.158 and p.117) have been verified. It is also the source we ourselves long cited wrongly — our own compilation gives "Rome 1714, p.168", and reads into it a founding "after 1545". The book is Rome 1794, the entry is p.158, and no founding date appears in it at all.