CATEGORY : PILGRIM TOURISM, CHURCHES
Saint Thomas who was an apostle of Jesus
Christ established seven and half churches in India and was called as Seven and
Half Churches or Ezharappallikal. One of these churches is the St.Thomas
Ecumenical Church at Nilackal. This church is an example of the unity of the
Christian churches and also of the communal harmony. The church trust proved
that unity among the churches can be maintained and at the same time give
respect to the sentiments of the faiths of other religions. The main message
which the church provides is of love, peace and fraternity.
The church was constructed in the year AD 54.
This church has the importance that it is the first Ecumenical church in the
world and is has been dedicated by all the denominations as an example of
heritage by St. Thomas. The Nilackal church is located in the interior part of
the Sabarimala hills, while all the other churches built by St. Thomas are near
to the coastal areas. Even though there is no historical evidence of the
missionary work of St.Thomas in Nilackal, some assumptions of St. Thomas’s
establishment of a church in this place is written in old metal plates and
other historian writings. Since the old church is in a dilapidated stage, a new
church has been constructed in a site not far from it.