Prominent Figures of the Kerala Church-104 Fr. Thomas Viruthiyil (Vazhi Achhan)

Prominent Figures of the Kerala Church-104
Fr. Thomas Viruthiyil
(Vazhi Achhan)
Prayer and action must go hand in hand. God is both eternal love and eternal work. With this philosophy, Fr. Thomas moved forward with actions that were beneficial to the people. Born on January 10, 1930, to parents Peter and Annama in the Viruthiyil family of Kallara Panchayat, Kottayam district, Fr. Thomas was affectionately called “Thomachen” at home. After completing his schooling at Kallara and Kadathuruthy St. Michael’s High School, he followed in the footsteps of his elder brother, Fr. Sebastian Viruthiyil, and joined the seminary. He later joined the Pontifical Seminary in Aluva for the Latin Archdiocese of Viajayapuram and was ordained a priest in 1961.
His first appointment as assistant parish priest was at Holy Family Church, Kottayam. He then served in several churches, including those in Andoor, Peruva, Mannakanad, and Kavalaṅkattu. While serving as the parish priest at Mannakanad, he constructed the Elakkat Church. He was not only active in church services but also in social work.
During a time when there were no proper transportation facilities, and government and local bodies had no funds to build roads and bridges, Fr. Thomas realized the importance of roads for the development of the region. Without expecting anything in return, he began to build roads through public cooperation. His goal was to construct 1000 kilometers of roads, and by the end of four decades of hard work, he nearly achieved that goal. During this time, locals lovingly began calling him Vazhi Achhan (the road maker).
In the course of road construction, he also built nearly 8 bridges. The Malayala Manorama newspaper referred to him as the “Lamp Tree on the Roads” in its Sunday Supplement, and The Week magazine published an article titled Moving Faith, which highlighted his contributions. Articles about him were published in various languages across India.
At a time when Panchayats had no income, Fr. Thomas played a key role in constructing the Ettumannur-Vechur highway by linking the MC road and NH 47. This road, which passed through fields and difficult terrain, was built with the support of the local social service society and the CRSS. Without modern construction machinery like JCBs or tippers, Fr. Thomas’s tireless efforts led to the completion of this important road. Later, the government included this road as part of the Kumarakom-Kampam Highway, highlighting its importance as a vital link connecting rural areas to the outside world.
Notable bridges he constructed along the Kallara-Vechur road include Koduthuruth Bridge, Thottappally Bridge, Paravanthuruth, Chathanamkadavu Bridge, Neendur Maliekkal Thazha Bridge, Kulambukattu Kaakathuruth Bridge, among others. His contribution to roads like Kallara-Vechur, Ayankudi-Appanchira, and Pullupara-Mutholapuram roads remains significant.
Fr. Thomas was also an expert in using a pendulum to locate wells and diagnose diseases. Over the years, he had located over a thousand wells and helped diagnose many diseases using the pendulum.
While engaging in his church and road construction work, Fr. Thomas was also a keen student of nature, studying and reading extensively. His research led to the publication of three books. The third book, “The Earth, Trees, and Then Electricity” was published in 2005. In this book, he introduced 28 new scientific ideas not mentioned by any other scientist. He also documented the flow of electrical currents from the earth and the process of fire rising to the sky in an authoritative manner. Fr. Thomas discovered that one could identify pure drinking water by observing the flowers and green color of the leaves of trees. According to him, this was the essence of his philosophy: “Search for drinking water in trees.”
Fr. Thomas attributed all his accomplishments to the grace of God. Other works authored by him include “Photonics Spray of Trees”, “Pumping Systems in Trees”, and “Fungus Marks”, among others.
An avid reader, Fr. Thomas has also read many works of Indian philosophy. He believes books are a great source of inspiration, especially when one’s enthusiasm wanes. In his opinion, books serve as a powerful remedy to revive one’s zeal.
Fr. Thomas has composed around 25 Christian devotional songs and has written the lyrics for two Christian song cassettes. His selfless service was recognized when the private bus operators’ association of Kerala honored him with a free pass. In 1991, the Kerala Catholic Congress awarded him the title of Best Social Worker. He also received the Fr. Paul Pazhempally Memorial Gandhi Gram Award and various other accolades, including from the Kerala Christian Federation and the Vaikom Rotary Club for his outstanding social contributions.