To Pay Homage To Ockhi Cyclone Victims, Unique Underwater Prayers Held In Kerala

Special prayers, midnight masses and low key festivities marked Christmas in Kerala, which witnessed massive devastation and loss of life due to cyclone Ockhi last month.

In a unique homage to the fishermen, a team of 12 scuba divers representing Friends of Marine Life (FML), a local NGO, and Bond Ocean Safari, an underwater adventure sports group, held an underwater prayer session at Kovalam on Sunday.

“Since the fishermen lost their lives in the sea, we wanted to hold prayers for them under the sea,” Jackson Peter, managing director of Bond Ocean Safari, told The Indian Express.

The team of fishermen and divers went eight metres deep in the sea, 200 metres away from the shore of the beach. The team read out prayers according to their individual faiths from laminated sheets of paper for half an hour. They prayed for those who died and those who are still missing at sea, the newspaper reported.

A pressnote quoting FML coordinator Robert Panipilla and Peter said the divers had prayed for the families of the victims to find the strength to bear the ordeal. While the official death toll is 65, scores of fishermen from the coastal villages in Thiruvananthapuram who went missing in sea are yet to be traced, reported The Hindu.

The divers read the all-religion prayer printed on laminated water proof cards. Two students from the Fisheries Vocational Higher Secondary School in Thiruvananthapuram were also part of the group.

Meanwhile, as many as 59 fishermen, who got stranded in mid-sea and were later rescued, took part in a midnight mass held at a local church nearby coastal hamlet Poonthura.

While Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis led the mass at St Mary's Cathedral of Syro Malankara Catholic Church at Pattam in Thiruvananthapuram, Archbishop Soosa Pakiyam conducted the services at the St Joseph's Metropolitan Cathedral at Palayam in the city.

During the prayers, Soosa Pakiam said the church was considering a comprehensive package for the rehabilitation of Ockhi victims.

He also called for helping the next of kin of the cyclone victims.

In his Christmas message, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged people to observe the day standing along with those who suffered in the cyclone as the state was yet to recover from its shock.