The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
The
landmark for our homestay in Fort Kochi was the Marthoma Church. In spite of multiple visits to
Kerala, this was the first time I had heard the name, and on asking, was told
that the word Marthoma referred to a sect of Christians, the followers of St.
Thomas. Over the next few days, as we explored Kochi and its heritage,
St.Thomas seemed to pop up everywhere. He had arrived in India, bringing the
word of Christ, eager to spread the gospel, in Muziris, present day
Kodungallur.
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| St. Thomas arriving in India, depicted as a mural in the St. Thomas Pontifical Shrine |
Even
back in AD 52,
when St. Thomas arrived, the residents of the region were familiar with other
religions. There was extensive trade with the Arabs, as well as Romans,
Phoenicians and Greek, and foreigners were probably a common sight, and
accepted as such. Tolerance was high, and St. Thomas promptly succeeded in
converting a bunch of orthodox Brahmins to his fold.
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| Conversion of the Orthodox Brahmins... painted on the ceiling of the Kottakavu Church |
We heard many stories of
the miracles and conversions, and it was difficult to decide where history
ended and legends began. One thing was clear though. That St. Thomas was an
ardent Christian, who successfully drew masses under his wing, and, within the
span of a few years, set up eight churches to spread the faith. None of the
original structures remain today, and in their place, stand new churches built
in more recent times, with varying concepts of architecture and interesting
ideas of ostentation.
 |
| A Stained glass window in the Kottakavu Church |
We
originally had no intention of visiting any of the (many) St. Thomas associated churches in the
region. However, when one of the caretakers at the Cheraman Masjid advised us
to visit the St. Thomas Pontifical Shrine, we decided to take his
advice, and did.
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| A view of the St. Thomas Pontifical Shrine |
This
grand structure
is evidently a recent one, and one which borrows heavily from some of the
grandest churches in the western world. Standing on the banks of the Periyar,
near the Azhikode Jetty, the location certainly is picturesque. The shrine
commemorates the landing of St. Thomas in India, and houses a relic of the
saint – a bone from his right arm – brought from Italy and enshrined in a
tabernacle shaped like a heart, arteries, veins and all!!
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| Inside the Pontifical shrine. Note the imaginative tabernacle on the right |
The
only other church
we visited was the Kottakavu Church, which marked one of the
earliest among the mass conversions attributed to Saint Thomas. It is said that
he convinced a group of orthodox Namboodiris to convert here. It is also said
that the temple which originally stood here was consecrated as a church when
the temple elephant carried a cross made by St. Thomas inside and placed it in
the sanctum. Neither the original temple nor the church built over it stands
today. The old church itself has been rebuilt a number of times, and due to
lack of space, a new church has also been built right behind. This church also
holds a relic of the saint.
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| The new church at Kottakavu |
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| The relic of the saint inside the new church |
Today, most people visit the new church
and only a few head to the old church to offer prayers.
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| Paintings on the walls and ceilings of the new church at Kottakavu |
 |
| The altar in the old church at Kottakavu |
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| Paintings on the ceiling of the old church at Kottakavu |
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| The old church at Kottakavu |
The
only sign of
older structures is an ancient wall, which is still preserved.
 |
| The old wall... it remains the only remembrance of an older monument here |
As I
mentioned before,
St. Thomas established eight churches in this region. They are sometimes called
the ‘Seven and a half Churches of St. Thomas’, since the eighth one is
considered a ‘half-church’, whatever that means. The pontifical shrine isn’t
one of them, though. These churches are…
- Malliankara, Kodungallur
- Kottakavu Church, North Paravoor
- Niranam
- Palayoor
- Nilackal (Chayal)
- Kollam
- Thiruvithancode, which is the ‘half-church’.
It would be interesting to visit all these churches sometime. Even more interesting would be to follow St. Thomas’ footsteps across Kerala and Tamilnadu, but that is for another trip!
P.S. Interestingly, there is another Thomas who also
figures in this region – Thomas of Cana, who led a group of Christians
migrating from the Middle East to India, sometime in AD 345. They too are followers of St. Thomas, but have their
own sect, and are known as the Knai Thoma... We stumbled on a memorial to this
Thomas while visiting the Kottapuram fort!
Fascinating! It's very interesting to see the architecture and hear a little about the history of Christianity in India. A very Catholic interpretation, especially the shrine where the relic is housed. And a little spooky, too, to think of approaching that shrine to pay respects or to pray. Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteThank you Natalie! The history of religions in India is truly fascinating. The thought that they all managed to live in relative peace makes me wonder why there is so little tolerance today.
Deleteloved the stained glass and the cieling decor
ReplyDeleteBikram's
Yes, Bikram, they are so pretty, arent they?
Delete