Sister Prasanna Devi (left) in her younger days and now in her 80s (right) living in an annex to St. Ann’s Church in Junagadh Parish. (Photo: Saji Thomas/www.globalsistersreport.org)
By Saji Thomas
Apr 29 2022
At 88, Sister Prasanna Devi, who lived alone inside a hut in Gujarat, is now looked after by a Carmelite priest
An aging Catholic nun, who adopted Hindu ascetic life during the movement for inculturation of the Indian Church some five decades ago, now lives under the care of a parish priest in western India.
The 88-year-old Sister Prasanna Devi lived alone for around 40 years in a forest around the sacred hill of Girnar in Junagadh district of Gujarat known for its Jain and Hindu temples dating back to centuries.
The surrounding forests happen to be the only natural habitat of the Asiatic lions and are home to leopards, jackals, striped hyena and the Indian fox besides several species of mammals, birds and reptiles.
Sister Prasanna Devi lived in the midst of this wildlife inside a hut-like hermitage from 1974 until September 2014 when she had a fall that caused her to move out of the forest to the annex of St. Ann’s Catholic Church, located six kilometers away and falling under Rajkot Diocese.
“She is very fragile now and needs special attention. Therefore I moved her to the presbytery to ensure better care,” says Father Vinod Kanat, a member of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) congregation serving as the parish priest in Junagadh.
The priest seeks assistance from female parishioners whenever required as the Catholic women religious aren’t very enthusiastic about providing the nun with shelter because of her lifestyle that is akin to Hindu ascetics.
Despite being a devoted Catholic, she opted for the Hindu form of ascetic life influenced by the inculturation movement sweeping across India at the time
She’s also not part of any religious congregation, but according to Father Kanat, she is a canonically legitimate religious having taken her vows before Bishop Gregory Karotemprel of Rajkot on March 27, 1997.
She professed the three vows of chastity, poverty and obedience and solemnly pledged to live in solitude and silence by practicing personal asceticism and contemplation according to the law of the Church concerning hermits, according to the text of her profession.
Because of her advanced age, Sister Prasanna Devi cannot speak coherently. Her memory too is failing and she’s unable to manage her daily routine on her own, Father Kanat said.
Despite being a devoted Catholic, she opted for the Hindu form of ascetic life influenced by the inculturation movement sweeping across India at the time. It advocated adapting Indian sociocultural aspects in practicing the Catholic faith.
In the decades following the Vatican II council, several Catholic priests supported what later came to be called the Christian Ashram movement that favored renunciation and living a monastic life like Indian sanyasis.
Sister Prasanna Devi was around 40 when she set up her own hermitage inside the forest and began to live alone, clad in a saffron-colored cloth, a sign of renunciation akin to Hindu ascetics.
She was born in 1934 as the eldest among three children of Joseph and Mariamma Kunnapallil in Karimannur Parish of Kerala. Not sure of her future plans after the 10th grade, she remained at home for around a few years, spending time on church activities.
“She is my guru and by just visiting her all my problems are solved. I just sit at her feet and that is enough for me”
She finally decided to become a nun and joined the Order of the Little Sisters of the Sacred Heart at the age of 22, but had to leave the congregation after five years as the order’s only house in India closed.
Thereafter, she traveled around India, visiting Hindu temples and monasteries among other things, and finally decided to opt for as ascetic life. Over the years, she found many followers, mostly Hindus and Jains from the vicinity.
Kishore Kotecha, a real estate developer based in Rajkot, some 110 kilometers away, considers the Catholic nun as his spiritual guru.
“I first visited Mataji (mother) many years ago and kept coming once a week even though she would not say anything,” Kotecha told UCA News. “She is my guru and by just visiting her all my problems are solved. I just sit at her feet and that is enough for me.”
There are hundreds of Hindus and Jains like Kotecha for whom Sister Prasanna Devi’s mere presence inside the holy hermitage at Girnar is soothing in their busy lives surrounded by personal and professional problems.
The few Christians who stumble upon her by accident in the unlikeliest place are surprised by her saffron robes rather than the Catholic nun’s habit.
But both Christians and Hindus/Jains appreciate the dedication with which Father Kanat has been taking care of the nun, whom he treats like his own mother.
“I know I do it for the glory of God. And I am able to do it all because I get good support from the parishioners too”
Janet Chandeker, a 73-year-old Catholic parishioner in Junagadh, said that “it is really hard to believe in present times when even biological children are not ready to care for their aged parents.”
He even spends time taking care of her in hospital, the retired teacher said, adding that Father Kanat takes care of all the elderly people in the parish who need support. He even arranges for their medicine, food and other requirements, she added.
Father Joshy Kalathil, a fellow priest and friend from Rajkot Diocese, said Sister Prasanna Devi does not want to stay with anyone other than him. “He is more worried about his people rather than himself,” he said.
Father Kanat is well known in the diocese as the bicycle priest because he’s always seen riding his bicycle and has become popular among his parishioners since his appointment in 2008.
After he was transferred in 2014, members of his parish flooded church authorities with requests until he was brought back in 2016.
Father Kanat says there’s nothing special about what he’s been doing. “I know I do it for the glory of God. And I am able to do it all because I get good support from the parishioners too.” – UCANews
