Syro Malabar Church Phoenix Arizona

[lukathomas]

Secular history has recorded the arrival of foreigners on Malabar Coast, the Portuguese in 1500, Dutch starting 1600, capturing all Portuguese holdings by 1663, setting up base in Cochin, the annexation by Haider Ali and Tippu Sultan, the wars fought by the king of Travancore, the Zamorins of Calicut, the building of Thrissur town by Shakthan Thampuran, the arrival of businessmen from Cochin to set up the commercial centre, the arrival of British and the beginning of British Raj in Kerala since 1795.

The locals lived where they were. Kerala consisted of separate kingdoms. Locals didn’t live like nomads. The areas of Thrissur is not desert land, people could survive without migrations. That is all you need to know, and that can be verified by anyone who cares to go to Thrissur.

Well, what you stated was proved wrong in Tippu Invasion. Again, if that was the case, the original inhabitants of Kerala, the present tribals would have freely roamed through the present Thrishur Islands. The truth is nothing can be said with certainity about immigrations as we only know about few centuries of pattern in detail.

 

[Mariamkutty]

Jealousy Thy name is Thrishur ! Do you expect anyone to buy this story ? What are you planning to do with the records. Burn them all !!

There is no jealousy. Only resistance to identity theft by a very clever group who have been trained by British scholars and invented their stories after going to the Middle East in the nineteenth century.

The Malabar Coast was a victim of colonizing traders for four and a half centuries after all. So local Thrissurians should not be surprised when outsiders use Machiavellian tactics to steal even their past.

 

[lukathomas]

LukaThomas, do you know that Franciscan missionaries worked intensely in Kollam (Quilon or Coulam) since the arrival of Portuguese because the Portuguese had a trading post there as well as in Kannur, besides Cochin?

Oh ! Very well. Even they were involved in spirtual care in the initial time.

Travancore did not include present regions of Kottayam and Pathanamthitta until 1754? So any mention of Travancore before that period does not have anything to do with present Kottayam-Pathanamthitta?

You are talking absurd. Travancore was not created by Varma. When i say erstwhile Travancore, it is all the places in the erstwhile Travancore Kingdom which joined Indian Union. The 16th century churches is known to anyone and that speak for itself.

Do you know from when Latin Rite missionaries started to work in areas south of Cochin? And how many converts they made?

I have pretty decent idea about the Catholic documentation and its expansion from different points of view. This is inclusive of the Bishop of Cochin view, which you may find offensive.

Of course if you insist only what you accept in accordance with your own fiction, then of course there is no group that claims to be Knanayi Christians who follow the same Syriac Liturgy as the Jacobites but belong to two different churches, one to Syro Malabar and the other to Jacobites.

What is the fiction ? I was talking about the Charam Ketty’s who joined their diocese later.

Are you the Pope who doesn’t know that the Syriac Rite See of Cranganore is the same as the vicariate of Thrissur 1887?

I am not the Pope. But after reading the Pope declaration i concluded that Pope was not aware about this theory. May be you guys can fax Rome. It is better to keep them informed.

You must also accept that there may be people who don’t accept your invented history either.

Aha ! I am not any magician to invent. You should provide evidences.

 

[Mariamkutty]

Well, what you stated was proved wrong in Tippu Invasion. Again, if that was the case, the original inhabitants of Kerala, the present tribals would have freely roamed through the present Thrishur Islands. The truth is nothing can be said with certainity about immigrations as we only know about few centuries of pattern in detail.

Since the Synod of Diamper took place 99 years after the arrival of the first Europeans, that should be enough recorded history about the ancient community and where they lived. History of movement of peoples is pretty well known for the past 500 years.

Portuguese and Dutch colonies elsewhere in the world gives a glimpse into how they fought trade wars with other Europeans, traded with locals, dealt with them to create more trade or integrated with them. Isn’t it strange that there isn’t a single Keralite with a Portuguese or Dutch name, even in places where the Portuguese and Dutch had a stronghold for one and a half century each? There are however other tell tale signs of their presence known to locals.

 

[lukathomas]

There is no jealousy. Only resistance to identity theft by a very clever group who have been trained by British scholars and invented their stories after going to the Middle East in the nineteenth century.

The Malabar Coast was a victim of colonizing traders for four and a half centuries after all. So local Thrissurians should not be surprised when outsiders use Machiavellian tactics to steal even their past.

I guess local Thrissurians are not that dumb to buy stories. If at all they should be vigilant against the stories which manipulates their proper history which unfortunately are coming out from Thrishur Catholic side.

 

[Mariamkutty]

You are talking absurd. Travancore was not created by Varma. When i say erstwhile Travancore, it is all the places in the erstwhile Travancore Kingdom which joined Indian Union. The 16th century churches is known to anyone and that speak for itself.

King Marthanda Varma of Travancore annexed Thekkumkur, Vadakkumkur, Munjanad, Devikulam etc in 1754. The kingdom of Travancore was very small until then. It was in the deep south and the capital was in Padmanabhapuram. It was shifted to Trivandrum after the Dutch were defeated. It was that Travancore kingdom that formed the princely state of Travancore during British Raj.

The churches in 16th century are known. That is why it is known that Kodungallur and NOT Thekkumkur, Vadakkumkur, Devikulam etc was the seat of the Assyro-Chaldean bishop until 1597. It continued to be the seat of the common bishop for both groups of Padroado until the See of Cranganore was suppressed in 1886, only one year before Vicariate of Thrissur and Kottayam were formed in preparation for a separate church.

 

[Mariamkutty]

I guess local Thrissurians are not that dumb to buy stories. If at all they should be vigilant against the stories which manipulates their proper history which unfortunately are coming out from Thrishur Catholic side.

You deliberately interpret the whole thing wrongly. When I say Malabar Coast of course I do not mean that every single kingdom on Malabar Coast was under the control of European colonial traders. In Thrissur it is well known that Portuguese and Dutch had no say. The annexation by Tippu Sultan was along the coast sometime after 1766 and lasted a very short time. Shakthan Thampuran did not come until late eighteenth century, and even then settled down in Thrissur town. Soon afterwards Cochin became a princely state. No, we do not have history of bloody invasions and conquests which has shattered our peaceful and simple existence. We did not submit to European traders because the local products were not meant for export. Thrissur is not a pepper growing area.

The Dutch planted tea in Kottayam-Pathanamthitta district in the hilly regions. Before that Portuguese had planted coffee. Finally British planted rubber. Thrissur is not a hilly area.

 

[lukathomas]

King Marthanda Varma of Travancore annexed Thekkumkur, Vadakkumkur, Munjanad, Devikulam etc in 1754.

There was a church in Vadakkumkur region in Thodupuzha from the 1550 Portuguese records which mentions that Portuguese could find SIX Kathanars in the big parish there.
There are many such references. But all of these makes the erstwhile Travancore which had 80 to 90% of Thomas Christian ancient churches.

That is why it is known that Kodungallur and NOT Thekkumkur, Vadakkumkur, Devikulam etc was the seat of the Assyro-Chaldean bishop until 1597.

Aha ! This cant even be said with certainty prior to Mar Abhraham. At any case it was just a church and the 80 to 90 % were in Travancore.

It continued to be the seat of the common bishop for both groups of Padroado until the See of Cranganore was suppressed in 1886, only one year before Vicariate of Thrissur and Kottayam were formed in preparation for a separate church.

Thats over simplification. We dont know much about any See of Cranganore in our early history. Then claiming Padroado is like making claims for Propaganda. These are useless claims which has no substance.

Kottayam ( Changanashery) and Thrishur Vicariate can not be claimed as preparation for a separate church. Nothing came by free fall. Do you happen to know any of these ?

There is a long story of fear less fight to gain Vicariates. Both Thrishur and Changanshery only gained at the expense of OLD CHURCHES in their areas. They were nothing great before the creation of the Vicariate. It again took great peoples effort leading to the later creation of a hierarchy.

Unfortunately today, these petty diocese who makes left and right claims out of nothing have sold the souls of all those Kathanars who fearlessly fought for autonomy. It is pathetic that they forget all the history, trouble, sacrifises our Kathanars has undergone and have started a petty claim campaign that they are " something". Lets hope that they achieve some maturity at least in near future.

As far as history is concerened in Syro Malabar Church- these Vicariates played a role only after they were formed. With these petty claims they are manipulating the history of old churches in the present Syro Malabar Church for the pleasure of their diocese HQ which is pathetic.

We can only laugh about this. It took the efforts of many Kathanars who were 99 % outside from Thrishur and Changanashery towns to lead our effort for autonomy for 400 years and when it came these petty dioceses had robbed the churches all autonomy.

 

[Mariamkutty]

This will be my final post on the topic. ***Let it be known that in discussing history, I do not hold any present member of any church responsible for what happened in the past. Church and worldly politics can make a bad combination. Church and colonial trade politics can be much worse. Christian unity between churches in Kerala in the present time should be possible even if one group or the other may have to accept that the history handed down to them was not accurate, and that the more powerful among the many may have taken undue advantage of their position in presenting history. ***

I believe firmly that search for truth is a search for God. I have nothing to lose if I were to find out that all Thrissurians living in villages are new converts to Christianity and all their ancient Syrian traditions were given to them recently. I would believe it if it made logical sense. At the moment it doesn’t. The claims made by others makes no historical sense when I put together all the information that is available.

I close my contribution with reference to the oldest and most authentic primary historical evidence in existence, a book written by an Augustinian priest, Fr Antonio de Gouveia OSA, who accompanied Archbishop of Goa, Fr Aleixo de Menezes OSA, also an Augustinian priest, under whose watch Synod of Diamper took place. At the end of the Synod the archbishop attended the churches of the ancient Christians, so Fr Gouveia as a scribe has recorded the names of churches visited by the archbishop.

**Author: Gouveia, António de, 1575-1628.
**

Title: Iornada do arcebispo de Goa, Dom Frey Aleixo de Menezes, primaz da India oriental, religioso da Ordem de S. Agostinho : quando foy as serras do Malauar, & lugares em que morão os antigos Christãos de S. Thome … / recopilada de diversos tratados de pessoas de autoridade, que a tudo forão presentes, por Frey Antonio de Gouuea …

**Subject(s): Menezes, Aleixo de, Archbishop 1559-1617.

Publisher: Coimbra : Diogo Gomez Loureyro, 1606**

 

[lukathomas]

By 1923, Ernakulam became the power center. The first Ernakulam indigenous Bishop was from Changanashery. Then Changanashery became Archbishopric. Then there were two power centers. Again Thrishur and Tellichery became Archbishopric. Thus there were 4 power centers. Finally Kottayam Charam Ketty’s threatened that they will start a new church and they also got an Archbishopric which made 5 power centers.

When one of these diocese say “A” other will say “B” and this is their governance. For that some of them became latinisers . They finally managed to get a 50:50 Major Arch Bishop.

We can only pray that these stupid HQ’s one day will attain NIRVANA and churches will get some autonomy.

 

[lukathomas]

I am surprised to see Mariamkutty winding up. Anyway, I did not intend to present Thrishur and Ernakulam dioceses as outsiders. The equation is quite simple, till 1887 or 1960 we did not had any differences.

I don’t think there are any mix up in any areas. In the then caste situation in Kerala it was an impossible possibility. The differences started only from 1960’s which were resulted from the policies of certain Bishops at Ernakulam. The Bishop ( Mar Parekattil) was for the so called Indian Mass and then later on shifted to pro- latin policy. Unfortunately the follow up politics has developed to highest peak in 1990’s when some control was taken by Pulikunnel like people and a minute minority priests ( about 100’s which is less than 10% in Ernakulam and Thrishur dioceses) .

Lets hope that all these diocese which claim as “something” finally does something to restore the Syro Malabar Church to her glory.

 

[Mariamkutty]

Addendum:

The greatest service offered by the Catholic churches in India are in the fields of education and health. The services offered in those two sectors is completely out of proportion with the number of Christians in India (Kerala - 19%, India - 2.3%). Outside Kerala, the Roman Catholic Church runs mostly private schools. In English medium schools run by the church, fees is always collected, the rate depending on the location of the school, quality of facilities and education provided. Fully residential schools are by far the most expensive and the children receive a completely Westernised education. All the fully residential schools were set up at the time of British Raj, to offer education to the children of British serving in India. A few rich Indians might have studied with British children before Indian independence in 1947. After 1947, the schools are meant for rich Indians, irrespective of caste and religion. It can be considered a compliment to the Christian community that rich Hindus send their children to private Christian schools. It is only in recent years that Hindus have begun to run private schools which match the same standard of private Christian schools. Proportionately however the number of schools run by Christians is far greater.

In Kerala, the Thrissur Archdiocese of Syro Malabar Catholic church and its suffragans, Irinjalakuda and Palakkad (Palghat), in addition to private schools, run many government aided schools where education is completely free and children of the lower primary school are given free meals in the afternoon. The church offers premises, buildings and management for the schools, and the government pays the salary of teachers and money for free meals. The church gets to appoint the teachers of their choice. The government aided schools offer education only in Malayalam, the language of Kerala, and follow the school syllabus of the state. As a result of this service done by the church, the literacy rate of Kerala remains the highest in India, almost on par with many Western countries. In Thrissur District it is 92%. In Kottayam district it reached 100% in 1989. The literacy rate however does not reflect the level of education. Since the free noon meal scheme is funded by the state only for lower primary school children, the very poor usually do not send their children to school beyond that. The Indian government is in the process of introducing a law making education compulsory until the age of 16. This of course will require greater (name removed by moderator)ut from the Hindu community, which make up 85% of India’s population.

The Hindu community in general and the government officials in particular have always praised the Christian community for their service in the field of education and health. The low infant mortality rate and high life expectancy of Kerala population is due to the health services available in the state. The priests and nuns of the Syro Malabar Church (including other churches which offer services in the field of education and health) need to be applauded for this because they contribute a great deal to the success story.

 

[Mariamkutty]

LukaThomas, since you expressed disappointed at my leaving I returned! To clear up some misunderstanding created with your posts.

It is unfortunate that the Pope suppressed all the religious orders of the Portuguese Padroado, especially Augustinians and Jesuits, who had worked with the ancient Christian community in Malabar Coast. It is also unfortunate that all their writings are in non-English languages - Portuguese, Latin, Spanish, Italian, French and German. English gained in importance only after Britain became a world power, and introduced English into their colonies, and English was therefore as the language of the United States from among many other languages spoken by European settlers.

If all the writings of Augustinians, Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans who worked in Malabar Coast before the suppression of their orders and the suppression of Portuguese Padroado were to be studied, a different picture of the Christian community in Kerala before the arrival of British, would emerge. Vaipicotta and Ambalakkad (Ambazhakkad), both in central Kerala, was the location of the Jesuit seminaries. It would be seen clearly that central Kerala was the seat of administration of St Thomas Christians (Kodungallur/Cranganore) and Cochin the centre of Latin Rite Catholics (first Angamaly, then Cranganore/Kodungallur the seat of the common bishop after Synod of Diamper). Latin Rite Catholics worked also in Kollam (Quilon) and Kannur (Cannanore) where there were Portuguese trade bases. The focus of church administration for the south and academic work shifted south of Cochin to present Kottayam-Pathanamthitta districts only after the arrival of British CMS in 1806 and introduction of English education. Unfortunately Catholics, until some time after the arrival of British, had been in the habit of educating only priests, and hence did not run any educational institutions for lay people. As far as secular history goes, Portuguese and Dutch were involved primarily in trade and did only what was required to enhance their profit. Portguese had their colony in Goa, and that is where they did the most to develop the local area. Development of Malabar Coast was not on their agenda. However Cochin benefited greatly from Portuguese and Dutch. British colonialism was somewhat different. No matter what negative aspects of British colonialism there has been, it cannot be denied that they set up infrastructure in India, with the help of Indians of course - transportation (roads,railways etc), administration - (offices, governments, courts), education, public hospitals… They permitted Christian missionaries (including Catholic) to set up private educational institutions, hospitals and charitable institutions…

Timeline of oldest Vicariates and Dioceses and Archdioceses:

1887 - Vicariates of Thrissur and Kottayam

1888 - Synod of Changanasserry, Kottayam vicariate shifted to Changanesserry

1896 - Establishment of Diocese of Changanasserry

1896 - Establishment of Diocese of Ernakulam, with eleven ancient churches of vicariate of Thrissur taken from it.

1911 - Establishment of separate diocese of Kottayam for “Southists” or the Christian group who call themselves Knanayi Christians.

1974 - Archdiocese of Thrissur (1887 Vicariate of Thrissur, minus the eleven churches included in the Ernakulam diocese) bifurcated to diocese of Palakkad (Palghat), as suffragan of Thrissur Archdiocese.

1978 - Archdiocese of Thrissur bifurcated a second time to form Diocese of Irijnalakuda (Thrissur District), as suffragan of Thrissur Archdiocese.

 

[Mariamkutty]

There was a church in Vadakkumkur region in Thodupuzha from the 1550 Portuguese records which mentions that Portuguese could find SIX Kathanars in the big parish there.
There are many such references. But all of these makes the erstwhile Travancore which had 80 to 90% of Thomas Christian ancient churches.

Aha ! This cant even be said with certainty prior to Mar Abhraham. At any case it was just a church and the 80 to 90 % were in Travancore.

Thats over simplification. We dont know much about any See of Cranganore in our early history. Then claiming Padroado is like making claims for Propaganda. These are useless claims which has no substance.

Kottayam ( Changanashery) and Thrishur Vicariate can not be claimed as preparation for a separate church. Nothing came by free fall. Do you happen to know any of these ?

There is a long story of fear less fight to gain Vicariates. Both Thrishur and Changanshery only gained at the expense of OLD CHURCHES in their areas. They were nothing great before the creation of the Vicariate. It again took great peoples effort leading to the later creation of a hierarchy.

Unfortunately today, these petty diocese who makes left and right claims out of nothing have sold the souls of all those Kathanars who fearlessly fought for autonomy. It is pathetic that they forget all the history, trouble, sacrifises our Kathanars has undergone and have started a petty claim campaign that they are " something". Lets hope that they achieve some maturity at least in near future.

As far as history is concerened in Syro Malabar Church- these Vicariates played a role only after they were formed. With these petty claims they are manipulating the history of old churches in the present Syro Malabar Church for the pleasure of their diocese HQ which is pathetic.

We can only laugh about this. It took the efforts of many Kathanars who were 99 % outside from Thrishur and Changanashery towns to lead our effort for autonomy for 400 years and when it came these petty dioceses had robbed the churches all autonomy.

My response was to this post.

 

[Mariamkutty]

LukaThomas makes several references to Kathanars.

Who are supposed to be these mysterious “Kathanars?” Are they parish priests of Syrian Catholics jointly trained in seminaries under a common Latin Rite bishop since 1599? In which part of Malabar Coast were the parish priests known as Kathanars?

After Synod of Diamper in 1599, the Syrian Catholics of the See of Cranganore/Kodungallur had a common Latin Rite bishop, and were jointly trained with Latin Rite Catholics, and followed the same Roman Catholic administration. Where do “Kathanars” (unless it is just another word for a Vicar/Parish priest) and archdeacons fit into a Latin Rite administration? For nearly three hundred years before vicariate of Thrissur and Kottayam was formed in 1887. The two vicariates of 1887, were not the direct continuation of the ancient Christian community which came in communion with RCC in 1599, although vicariate of Thrissur was the direct continuation of See of Cranganore/Kodungallur. Many more had been added to their numbers in various ways in the intervening three centuries. The move for a separate church by the Syrian Rite Catholics should be looked for also in the influence of Portuguese Padroado, which had created a separate See for them in 1599. The arrival of British CMS missionaries in Kottayam in 1806, and the education they offered to non-Catholics and lay people, and the involvement of Patriarchs from the Middle East in the nineteenth century, the claim of non-Catholics to be the original Saint Thomas Christians, the Latin Rite schism in Thrissur starting in 1838 influenced by the happenings in Kottayam, etc etc should also be studied in order to understand the process that led to the establishment of a separate Syro Malabar Church. The influence of the original ancient community of 1599, which came in communion with RCC was far too small after three hundred years because a Latin Rite bishop had been in charge. The Portuguese Padroado was suppressed in Malabar in 1838, but Portuguese still had a colony in Goa in 1961, even if Papal Congregation of Propaganda Fide replaced Portguese Padroado all over India.

Once again: Travancore (Thiruvathamkoor) was a small kingdom in the deep south, until the king Marthanda Varma, defeated the Dutch at Colachel in 1741, and expanded his kingdom to the north by 1754. Kottayam district (which included the present Pathanamthitta district until 1982) was formed as a revenue district by Marthanda Varma, by uniting small principalities - Thekkumkur, Munjanad, Devikulam. It became part of upper Travancore, with a separate Diwan, (lower Travancore had a separate Diwan) and both had a common British Resident, when the British took control in 1795 and Travancore became a princely state of British Raj. Trivandrum in the deep south became the capital of the larger Travancore kingdom since 1741 (it had been Padmanabhapuram until the defeat of Dutch) and is the capital of Kerala since 1956.

The Dutch were based centrally in Cochin from 1663 - 1795, and they also had other bases taken over from Portuguese, including trade relations with rulers south of Cochin, of the small principalities of Thekkumkur, Munjanad, Devikulam (later to form Kottayam in 1754). It is suggested by some, that one of the rulers of the small principality south of Cochin (?Thekkumkur ? Munjanad ? Devikulam) had sought the help of Dutch to oust the king of Cochin, and hence the king of Cochin crowned by the Dutch was not the rightful heir to the throne of Cochin. The rightful heirs, from the family of Shakthan Thampuran, hid out in Thripunithara, and for a short while lived in Thrissur when the town was built, when the British supported the rightful heir, Shakthan Thampuran. He was restored to the throne of Cochin in 1791 and he signed a treaty with British becoming a princely state under British Raj. Secular history needs to be verified from reliable primary sources to confirm this.

With this post I hope I have cleared up some confusing information provided by LukaThomas and hope to make no further (name removed by moderator)ut to this topic.

 

[SyroMalankara]

It has been suggested above that Cochin was a large kingdom to the north of Kerala and Travancore a smaller area to the “deep south”… in looking at the map below, we can clearly see that Travancore is almost 3-4X larger than Cochin and that Cochin is in the Center, not North… the Kingdom of Malabar was North of Cochin… the Kingdom of Cochin was a small kingdom in between the larger Kingdoms of Malabar and Travancore, constantly being influenced by both larger kingdoms

 

[mathewjoseph]

Dear mariamkutty
I am only a 24 year old college boy. I do not have any responsible positions in the church as I think you have. I am a syro malabar catholic from kottayam district. One thing is that I read Sathyadeepam and Sunday shalom regularly. I will give you evidences. After attending the conclave that elected Pope Benedict 16 may be in 2006, Major arch bishop made that statement. His article was in sathyadeepam. You check sathyadeepam 1 or 2 month from the conclave. Then major arch bishop of Syro malankara church. He was elected as major arch bishop and an interview was published in Sunday shalom just after his election. It was a full supplement. You check those shaloms. As I think you are a nun, and you have not noticed these articles is a shame to the entire syro malabar church. I am only a young boy and I noticed these points. But the thing is that scholars, fathers all hesitate to answer me on those quotes. When I ask a father to give me some explanation on that, they hesitate or they just change the subject. Remember, truth is always truth.

Again for your notice I give you those quotes and make a good research.
I will give the viewpoints of Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil, Major Arch bishop of Syro malabar catholic church,
Baselios Mor Cleemis, Major Arch bishop of syro malankara catholic church,
Archbishop Mar Joseph Powathil, strong man of Syro malabar catholic church.
What I deliver are exact statements from these bishops at the top level.

Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil says, "What is the authority of Rome? On what basis Rome is appointing bishops all over the world? From where it has got alll these powers? In the first centuries, there was a dispute between Rome and Antioch, who is head and superior."

**Baselios Mor Cleemis says, "According to Antiochean tradition, Patriarch of Antioch is the head of the overall Christian church and successor of Apostle Peter. His name is Ignatius. The second in rank is Catholicos. His name is Baselius. Mar Joseph Powathil presided over my election as major arch bishop.

Mar Joseph Powathil adviced me to be sincere and faithful to Antiochean tradition and Antiochean liturgy always."**

Dear mariamkutty,
These are words from top leaders of our church. So why we oppose adopting latin customs is that we are basically a syriac church and the most important point is that we have doubt on the Rome’s claim as St Peter’s see. Or it is not a doubt. From the words of 3 eminent persons above, what you get? Whatever be the case, we must give testimony to truth. We must be upholders of truth. I need not give explanation why Portuguese burned all the ancient syriac documents present in our church. Not only these, I will give you a statement from a latin cardinal.

The great American Archbishop James Cardinal Gibbons said, "Peter went to Antioch and established the church there and served as the bishop there. What is the authority of Rome?"

                  See Mariamkutty, the statements given are from the heads of Syro malabar catholic church and syro malankara catholic church. Any way they are 100 fold knowledgeful than you. So first you make a reaearch on these and give me an answer.

Dear mariamkutty
Please give an explanation to the above. They are very important since our 2 major arch bishops, the heads of our church in Kerala have produced those statements. Were they joking? Please mariamkutty, please answer.

It is very disappointing that nobody gives an explanation to the above. Syro malankara, luke or mariamkutty; why don’t you give explanation?

 

[Mariamkutty]

mapsofindia.com/maps/kerala/kerala.htm

The map provided by Mr SyroMalankara is not to scale and is supposedly from the period 1839, when the region of Kerala (Malabar Coast) was already a British colony for forty four years (since 1795).

The state of Kerala was created along linguistic lines in 1956, in two stages:

**During British Raj 1795 - 1947, the region of Malabar Coast consisted of two princely states indirectly ruled by British with a British Resident and Malabar District, directly ruled by British as part of Madras Presidency. **

**Princely state of Travancore in the south, comprises of today’s districts - Idukki, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta (part of Kottayam until 1982), Alapuzha (Allepey), Kollam (Quilon), Thiruvanathapuram (Trivandrum), Kanyakumari District of present Tamil Nad.
**
**Princely state of Cochin in central Kerala comprises of today’s districts, Ernakulam (where Cochin is located) and Thrissur district to the north of it.
**
In 1949, two years after Indian independence, the two princely states joined to form the Cochin-Travancore state.

It 1956, it united with Malabar District of North Kerala, under direct British rule, to form Kerala state. **The districts which comprise the Malabar District of British Raj are - Kannur (Cannanore), Kozhikode (Calicut), Wayanad, Mallapuram, Palakkad (Palghat), and Chavakkad Taluk of Thrissur district. **

**The southernmost Tamil speaking Kanyakumari district of Travancore was given to Tamil Nad. Malayalam speaking Kasargode district north of Malabar district in South Canara of Karnataka was given to Kerala.
**​

The kingdom of Travancore until 1741 was very small. The capital was in Padmanabhapuram. After the Dutch were defeated at Colachel in 1741 by Hindu king Marthanda Varma, the capital was moved to Trivandrum. The king of Travancore annexed Thekkumkur, Munjanad, Devikulam etc, north of Travancore by 1754. There were other small principalities north of Travancore which were likewise annexed post 1741 - Kollam, Allepey etc. During British Raj starting 1795, Kottayam was formed as a revenue district, and was part of upper Travancore. In other words, parts south of Cochin annexed by king of Travancore post 1741.

Cochin was a small kingdom. The areas which constitute present Thrissur district was annexed in the late eighteenth century by Shakthan Thampuran, who signed a treaty with the British in 1791. **Thrissur district was created in 1949 when princely states of Travancore and Cochin were united.
**
The map provided by Mr SyroMalankara is not to scale for it does include Thrissur district as part of princely state of Cochin, which it became since 1791. **The map shows the period 1839, 44 years after Kerala became a part of British Raj. Marthanda Varma annexed areas south of Cochin in 1741 - 1754. **

**The map has nothing to do with history of Christianity prior to arrival of Europeans, or kingdoms on Malabar Coast during the Portguese period, 1500 - 1663, during which Synod of Diamper took place, nor the Dutch period when the kingdom of Travancore was extended to the North 1741 - 1754.
**

 

[Mariamkutty]

mapsofindia.com/maps/kerala/kerala.htm

**Please click on Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts. That is part of upper revenue division of erstwhile Travancore, where CMS missionaries operated from 1806. Identify the following important places associated with Christianity there: **

**In Kottayam district

1. Kottayam (the Knanayi Christians are mostly located here)
2. Pala (Catholic stronghold)
3. Changanasserry (Catholic stronghold)

In Pathanamthitta district (until 1982 a part of Kottayam district)

1. Thiruvalla (Syro Malankara Church was formed here, several non-Catholic churches have their HQ here)**

Mavelikkara Synod (Padiola) 1836 took place in Alapuzha (Allepey) district. It was also a small independent principality until king of Travancore annexed it in 1754. The Dutch had trade relations with the ruler of the principality from 1663.

 

[Mariamkutty]

Dear mariamkutty
Please give an explanation to the above. They are very important since our 2 major arch bishops, the heads of our church in Kerala have produced those statements. Were they joking? Please mariamkutty, please answer. It is very disappointing that nobody gives an explanation to the above. Syro malankara, luke or mariamkutty; why don’t you give explanation?