The villagers of Pallithura dedicated the St. Mary Magdalene church to the nation for promoting the space programme. This story is a sequel to the one on the formation of Thumba, published in these columns recently.THIS IS about a revered place of worship, which was given over to the nation to further our space programme. In 1963, when our space programme was at its infancy, the requirement was to find a suitable location for launching the first series of sounding rockets and balloons for taking measurements of the upper atmosphere.
The launch site had to be on or near the magnetic equator; it had to be accessible and yet be far away from densely populated areas; it also had to be near the sea so that re-entry of rockets would pose no danger. The ideal site was located in the fishing villages of Pallithura on the outskirts of the city.  

Pallithura was a small village then. Its claim to fame was the seaside church of St. Bartholomew, built by St. Francis Xavier in 1544. Over the years, it evolved from a thatched hut to a large stone church.  

In the early 1900s, two strange events are said to have occurred there. Local fishermen sighted a beautiful sandalwood statue of St. Mary Magdalene on the beach. The statue was blessed and consecrated in the church, which was later renamed. Shortly thereafter, the sea washed up a long wooden log, which was then fashioned into a flag mast by the fishermen and erected in front of the church.  

The site and the church building met with all the technical and security requirements of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) of the launching station. Not finding any other suitable launching site, it was with some trepidation that the ISRO officials approached the Bishop with a proposal that the church and its adjacent areas be given for furthering India's space programme. The response was predictable, for the fame of the church had spread to nearby areas. Nevertheless, a series of meetings took place between the ISRO and the church members. The matter was also discussed with the nearby villagers. The compensation promised included aid to build an identical church nearby. However, the compensation was peripheral to the main issue of weighing national interests against religious, and heated discussions followed.  

Finally, in 1962, after considerable deliberation and with the consent of the villagers, the then Bishop, Fr. Bernard Pereira, permitted the transfer of the church and its estates to the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS).