St. Joseph's Parish Shrine, Pavaratty

The Pavaratty area was once under the Chittattukara Parish. Since the Chittattukara church is little far from Pavaratty, people of Pavaratty requested to extend the commencement of Tirukarma ceremonies a little. But the church officials ignored the requests, so the believers from Pavaratty decided to build a church of their own, which later became St. Joseph's Church.[1]

The simple church structure was blessed on 13 April 1876, on a Maundy Thursday.[5] After that, they set out to construct a permanent church building and it was completed in 1880.[5] To accommodate more people in the church hall, in 1934, a spacious hall constructed facing the main altar from the southern side, and in 1961 another one was constructed to the Northern side. The church was renovated in 1975 and later in 2004. The altar of the church which was built in the Portuguese style of architecture, was kept unchanged during these renovations.[3]

The church is located in Pavaratty town in Chavakkad taluk, Thrissur district, Kerala. The church is located 23 km northwest of Thrissur and 4 km south of Guruvayur.[1] The nearest railway station is Guruvayur and the nearest airport is Kochi International Airport (59 km).[1]

The annual grand feast of the shrine falls on the third Sunday after Easter. It is one of the most significant church festivals of Kerala.[5] In 2019, it was the 143rd annual festival.[6] In 2020, the festival was cancelled due to corona prevention protocols. The fireworks connected to the annual festival celebration is also famous.