St Antony's Church, Kanjiracode

St Antony's Latin Catholic Forane Church at Kanjiracode, in Kollam district, is listed among the earliest churches of the Quilon diocese. It occupies three acres north of Sir C.P. Road, the old ceramics road, in an area where fishing families predominate. The parish was formally established in 1502. The church was first blessed in the name of Saint Lucia, with building funds from Lakshmi Ammal (Mary Ammal), a Brahmin convert, and was rebuilt and renamed for Anthony of Padua in 1633. The present building, begun in 1975, was blessed in 1986.

The feast of St Antony falls on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday and opens with a flag-raising a week earlier. On the Saturday a procession with floats of saints travels to the parish boundaries at Perayam, Elampalloor and Mukkada, and the feast day ends with Snehavirunnu, a community lunch for ten thousand or more people. People of all faiths take part.