CATEGORY : PILGRIM TOURISM, CHURCHES
In 52 A D Saint Thomas, one of the 12 Apostles of the Lord Jesus
Christ, came to Musiris (Kodungallore) and later to Nelkinda (Niranam) through
Purakkadu, ancient ports of Kerala, in South West India to preach the gospel.
As a result, Christian communities were formed in seven towns of Kerala. The
famous Niranam church which is only 5 km from Thiruvalla was founded at this
time by St.Thomas. Therefore the Christian communities of Kerala are sons of
the soil and have 2000 years of rich heredity in faith, tradition and social
development.
Thiruvalla Christians were part of the autonomous Indian
Orthodox Church, which was not affected by the schism which occurred in the
17th century due to the intervention of Portuguese colonists (Introduction of
Catholicism in India). But by 19th century, inspired by the work of the British
missionaries, a reformation movement happened in the Malankara Church, which
eventually resulted in a schism, leading to the formation of Marthoma Church.
The members of Paliakkara church before its inception, was
generally of Niranam St.Mary's Church, which was founded by St.Thomas the
Apostle in A.D 54. At that time, Tiruvalla town was centralized in Kavumbhagom
and most of the Christians of the town lived in the Kaavil Street which
stretched from Thiru Erankaav temple to Kaavil Temple. Most of the Christians
lived here were merchants. They were brought by the local rulers from places
like Kuravilangad, Mavelikkara, Niranam, etc, in the 15th Century for
enhancement of trading. Also the rulers brought Tamil Brahmins from Madurai who
were specialized in textile trading and banking. Both these groups took the
Kaavil Street as their capital place and thus the street developed into one of
the biggest markets in Kerala.
Paliakara St George Orthodox Church is the oldest Christian
church in Thiruvalla, and hence the mother of all other churches, belonging to
different christian denominations in and around Thiruvalla. This is the first
Church in Pathanamthitta district dedicated to St George, and the parish has
over 700 families at present.
There is no existing record for the date of the foundation of
the first church, but the permanent church was completed and consecrated on
March 20th, 1814 by Marthoma VIII. Later on, this church developed as a big
shrine of the far and near, without any bar of caste and religion. Hundreds of
people from different religion, caste, etc, visit the church from 5 AM to 9 PM
everyday, to seek blessings.
Art and Architecture
The specialty of this church is its uniqueness in the
architecture. It's a typical model of churches built in medieval period with
wings at both sides and with sculptures on the high external walls. The unique
mural paintings on the eastern wall of the altar attracts many tourists and
history students to this church. They are of very high quality and perfection
with natural components and represent the last generation of murals in Kerala.
The pictures generally depict the major events in our Lord’s life on earth.
Below it is a huge picture of St.George at the center and twelve apostles on
either side. Their names are also written in Syriac at the bottom. On either
side of the big wooden logs on the roof, we can see small statues of tigers and
elephants.
Also, some writings were found on the wall, in old Malayalam
script, above the baptism tub during the renovation process in 2005, which is
now preserved. A huge granite cross on the western side, High rise compound
walls similar to Temple walls, A pond on the northern side, etc shows the
historical importance of this old church.