Vembar Coast

Vembar stands on the Tamil coast facing the Gulf of Mannar, where fishing and the palmyra palm have long supported local life. In 1542 the Jesuit Francis Xavier travelled along this shore and encouraged the building of churches; Vembar was among the places where a church of clay walls and thatch was erected. Dutch forces displaced the Portuguese around 1658, and the church was put to use as a storehouse before parish worship resumed decades later.