My Blog: Shanthi: St. Thomas Christians

Stone Cross of the Palayur church

Palayur church

St. Thomas Christians

St. Thomas Christians of the Malabar area in Kerala is an enigma. Their proud tradition has it that they are the direct descendants of those converted to Christ by St. Thomas, one of the Twelve direct disciples of Jesus Christ. St. Thomas, according to the tradition, landed in Kodungallur (Cranganore or Muziris), in the West coast of South India, today’s Kerala, in 52 AD, and established along the coast seven churches; he then went on to the eastern coast of India, now Tamil Nadu. In Mylapore, in today’s Chennai, he was speared by irate Brahmins of the place in 72 AD and was thus martyred. There is a small shrine built by Portuguese in 1551 AD, in Chinnamalai (Little Mount) near today’s Chennai, in the place where he stayed in a cave near Adayar river in Saidapet, and preached the gospel of Christ. A little away from it is the St. Thomas Mount (Parangimalai) near Guindy, where he was martyred, and there is a church there in honor of him, built by Portuguese in 1523 AD. In the Santhome beach near Mylapore is the Santhome Cathedral Basilica, constructed over the tomb of St. Thomas, built by Portuguese in 1523 AD and later rebuilt by the British in 1896 AD .

It is wonderful that a direct disciple of Jesus should have travelled all the way and come to Southern India and preached the gospel of Christ and converted some people and established churches in these places, martyred and was buried there itself. But what are the evidences? Nothing at all for the first two or three centuries, excepting the strong tradition. We will see in detail the evidences that are available for the claim of these Syrian Christians of Malabar region in Kerala.

The first question of doubt is, in the first century AD, was it possible at all for a disciple to travel from Jerusalem and come all the way to India, especially to the South Indian coast? This question is not hard to answer, for Indian pepper and spices and textiles were hot items that were being imported by the Roman Empire and the West much before Christ. Traders came through the land route and also through the sea route to come to the western and eastern coasts of India to buy pepper, spices, pearls and textiles. Chinese silk was imported by the Indian traders and re-sold to the Western traders for a profit. Strabo, the Greco-Roman historian writes that 120 ships sailed for India every year from Myos Hormos, a major ancient Egyptian port on the Red Sea, famous since 3^rd century BC. Greek vessels were sailing in huge numbers from the West. Settlements of Greek, Armenians and later even Arabs were located in the western and eastern coasts of the peninsular India. Gold and silver coins of the Roman Emperors Nero (AD 37-68) and Tiberius Caesar (AD 14-37-he was the Roman Emperor when Jesus was crucified in 33 AD), unearthed in Kerala around Palayur, Kodungallur, Parur belt, as also in Tamil Nadu coastal area, bear ample testimony to this brisk trade between India and the West. Pliny, the Elder (923-79 AD), mentions voyages from the Roman Empire to India and the pepper trade that flourished. He even resents the Roman exchequer being emptied to buy this pepper from India, which according to him, has nothing in it except a certain pungency! So, St. Thomas could have easily made that trip to India in the first century AD.

Now, let’s try and see what evidences are there for Thomas’s presence in India in 52 AD as claimed by Malabar Christian tradition. As we dig along, we find an apocryphal book, The Acts of Thomas, originally written in Syriac and later translated into Greek, written between 180-230 AD. Because it is an apocryphal book, showing certain Gnostic tendencies, like forbidding Christians to marry and those who are married to become single, a teaching which is not found in the four gospels of Christ, biblical Christians do not give credence to this book. But we can glean a few historical evidences and facts from this book. According to his book, the twelve disciples divided the world into different regions and by lot selected who is to go where to preach the gospel. India fell to Thomas’s lot, who was reluctance to go to so far a place. But urged by Christ in a dream, he leaves, with a merchant named Abban, who had come from India, sent by King Gundaphorus of India to get him a carpenter. He takes Thomas with him and presents him to the king as a carpenter.

Until 19^th century scholars thought this Gundaphorus was a non-existing king in India. In 1834 numerous coins have been found in Punjab and Afghanistan bearing his name in Greek on one side and in Pali on the other side, dated to belong to the first half of the first century AD. So, we can now be sure that Gundaphorus is not a fictitious king, but a real one who ruled in the north western India, present day Afghanistan and Pakistan, which were all historically ruled by Parthian princes, of whom Gundaphorus was the last. It is learnt from history that this kingdom was overcome by Kushans in 52 AD and the rule of Kanishka starts thereafter. Gundaphorus ruled till his death in 51 AD, and it is possible that Thomas who had come to his kingdom, after his death and the invasion in 52 AD left north-west India and came down to south India by sea and landed at Kodangallur in the Kerala coast. There he converted a few families of Nambudiris and ordained some of them as priests, from the families of Sankarapuri and Pakalomattam, Kaliyankavu, etc. Many archdeacons till 1653 were from these families.

However, there is no direct evidence for the presence of St. Thomas in South India before the third or fourth century AD. It is historically true that Kodangallur, known in ancient times to the Western traders and writers as Muziris, was situated at the bank of the river Periyar, which opened to the Arabian sea, slightly away from the town. Goods were brought to the city by barges from the ships anchored in the sea. Nevertheless, enough and more evidences are available for the tomb of St. Thomas in Mylapore. This tomb is the only one that is claimed as the tomb of St. Thomas world over. St. Ephrem (300-373 AD) writes that St. Thomas was buried in Mylapore, from where some merchants stole the body from his tomb and carried it to Edessa, now in Turkey. This is well testified by many ancient writers, like Jerome, Gregory of Tours and so on. Many pilgrims from various parts of the world travelled to Mylapore as miracles occurred even if they touched the tomb of the saint or the earth around it. This is mentioned by Ambrose of Milan (337-397 AD). This continued even after the body had been removed to Edessa, where also it is venerated. Marco Polo (1293), the traveler who spurred the youth of the West to dream about travelling to exotic places like India and China, writes that he had visited St. Thomas’ tomb at Mylapore. So also, Nicolo di Conti (1430). This is the greatest proof that St. Thomas worked in south India and died a martyr there in Mylapore.

How did the Thomas Christians get the name Syrian Christians? Let’s explore this a bit. Historically there were five Patriarchs (the senior most Bishop) in the Christian world; one in Rome, the seat of Western Roman Empire, who later became the Pope; second in Alexandria, Egypt; third in Jerusalem; fourth in Antioch, Syria, and the fifth in Constantinople, the capitol of Eastern Roman Empire, all established by the fourth century AD. We are interested in the Patriarchy of Antioch, which included the regions of Syria and Mesopotamia. Later Mesopotamia See became separate from Antioch, as Syriac speaking churches, and by 498 AD it had its own Patriarch, termed as Patriarch of Babylon or generally the Patriarch of East Syria. By the end of the fifth century, a Bishop belonging to one of the persecuted sect Nestorians, who had fled to Syria to escape persecution by Rome, became the Patriarch of the East. His jurisdiction extended up to India, as India was a part of earlier Persian Empire and the later Pathian empire of that time.

Now, there were two waves of immigrations from the countries of East Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia. First one occurred in 345 AD. It is said that St. Thomas appeared in a dream to one Thomas of Cana, and asked him to help India, where Christians baptized by him had been left without a shepherd. On being reported to the king of Edessa, who was also the king of Syrians, this mass exodus was permitted. Some four hundred families, men, women and children, including clergy under the leadership of Thomas pf Cana, came to Cranganore (Kodungallur) and settled in Malabar Christian area, after obtaining permission and certain privileges from the local king, Shriamon Pirumal. From this time on the church grew and the Thomas Christians had the support of clergy, liturgical in Syrian and the traditions of the Syrian church of the East. This is well documented.

Another immigration took place in 823 AD, when another Syrian Christian from Persia, with two bishops and some people came to Quilon in Travancore and settled there, after obtaining from the local king Shakirbirti (Chakravarthi, possibly) grants of land and various other privileges. Some seventy-two privileges were granted to them, inscribed in five copper plates, three of which are still in Kottayam seminary of Jacobites and two with the Mar Thoma Church at Tiruvalla. They were written in Tamil-Malayalam, and Pahlavi and Arabic. It is pertinent to note that in all these places there were already Jewish settlements. It was to these Jews the Apostle must have preached first.

Till the coming of the clergy along with people from Syria, the Thomas Christians had archdeacons from one or two families ordained by St. Thomas himself, such families continuing well into Syriac time. From the 4^th century onwards until the Portuguese came to India in the sixteenth century, and messed up things for these St. Thomas Christians, they were getting their bishops ordained by the Syrian Patriarch to minister to them. Locally, Archdeacons were managing who were to be ordained by the Bishop. Due to delay in the voyages between so far-flung areas, there were times when the Syrian Christians in Malabar area went without a Bishop for 2, 3 years. Thus, Thomas Christians of Malabar area of Kerala, became intimately associated with Syria and their liturgies were in Syriac language and the Bishop over them was a Syriac clergy ordained and appointed by the Syriac Patriarch. It is worth noting that the pepper trade was in the hands of the Syrian Christians and they were quite rich and well respected by the local people, and the foreign traders. They also supplied able bodied and well-trained men with arms as soldiers to the local rulers, for their military adventures and thus the kings also relied upon these Malabar Christians.

Let’s now see the seven churches said to be built by St. Thomas. These are in Kodangallur, Palayur, Kottakkavu (Parur), Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Kollem and Nilakkal. First week of March 2026, I went on a whirlwind tour to all these seven churches and tried to get maximum information as possible.

First church to visit was in Palayur, the northern most of the seven churches, which is in Guruvayur, the temple city of Hindus; there is also a famous mosque, Juma Masjid of Muslims; This shows the spirit of religious harmony of the people of Kerala. St. Thomas Major Archiepiscopal Shrine, a church constructed and renovated in 1601, is said to have been built at the same place where the original church stood. It contains the stone cross with eight stone lamps, at the place where St. Thomas first erected the cross. A tall bell tower stands outside. Near by the Church we have the Anakkotta Elephant Camp, where 50-60 temple elephants are fed and trained to get them ready for festivities.

The next church visited was in Kodungallur, Kottappuram, known as St. Thomas Shrine. It is locally called Maddamapalli, in honor of an Italian or French lady (Madame) who donated the sum to build the church. There was also a small CSI church next door. Kodangallur or Cranganore or Muziris (from 9^th century AD onwards the name Kodangallur was used eclipsing the name Muziris), itself has been silted by the sediments carried by the river Periyar by 14^th century itself and is no longer visible. The harbor has been shifted to Cochin, which is 45 kms to the south. However, we have a lovely church near the coastal place Azhicode, known as Mar Thoma Pontifical Shrine. In recognition of the intimate connection between the Apostle St. Thomas and the Malabar Christians, a bone of the right arm of the Apostle was sent as a relic to Kodangallur, from Ortona, in Italy where the remains of the Apostle were taken from Edessa and finally interned in 1258 AD. This has been placed in this church at Azhicode, especially built to accommodate the relic.

The third church on the list is St. Thomas Kottakkavu Church, in Paravur or Parur. In ancient times it was called Kottakkavu. We can see the remains of the compound wall of the old church, baptismal pond and a granite stone cross. The church was reconstructed two or three times, once in 1308, and then in 1790, after it was destroyed by the attack of Tippu Sultan in 1789, and finally in 1938 when the present church was constructed. The old granite cross made by St. Thomas is also preserved for public view and veneration.

These above two churches, especially Paravur are near Cochin and I had the opportunity to see the famous Chinese fishing net installed by the Chinese Admiral Zheng He, who visited Malabar coast around 1350 and 1450 AD. These are huge cantilevered fishing nets, based on the original pattern and we can see them near the Fort of Cochin. A Jewish synagogue is still there in Cochin, and I met some of the Jewish people who had come for Friday prayers to the synagogue. The street leading to it is called ‘Jew Town’ and one can walk around window shopping, which I did!

The next church lay near Alleppey (Allepuzha in Malayalam), St. Thomas Church, Kokkamangalam. St. Thomas is supposed to have converted many families of Brahmins here; due to the hostility of others, Christians couldn’t flourish here. The church has a beautiful building built newly in 1900, and there is a stone cross and on the sides of its base are carved the models of all the seven churches of St. Thomas. The path way from this cross, ends in beautiful back waters, which spreads almost like a sea. I also got to stay on the bank of a backwaters and enjoy the serene beauty of the place, looking at the house boats floating gently down the waters and the glorious sunset on the western coast.

The fifth church is St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church at Niranam. It was also a port city and an international trading center, as the Roman coins of Augustus Caesar discovered here will bear witness. Today we see the St. Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Church built in 1912, near by the old church. This serves as the Marthoman Pilgrim center of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Since 1259 through 1912, four churches have been built on this spot. The granite cross in front of the church was erected in 1259 AD.

The sixth church is in Nilackal, which is even mentioned in Chilappathikaram of Sangam Tamil literature. It was on the border to Pandya kingdom with a road leading to Madurai, their capitol. The district Pathanamthitta within which Nilackal lies, is famous for hand made silk. The Nilackal church was destroyed in 1311-1315 due to local persecutions, continuous wars between Chera and Pandya kingdoms, etc., and the Christian community shifted to other places. Nilackal itself became a part of Pandyan kingdom. In 1957 the remains of Nilackal church were found in the Sahari forest of today, including an old cross. Following this in 1984 a church was built in the mountainous region of Nilackal called St. Thomas Ecumenical Church. Retreats and seminars are conducted here. I met a lone priest living in the premises of this center, who had encountered wild sloth bears, elephants and tigers here. Some 25 kms away is the famous Sabarimalai temple of the Hindus.

The seventh and the last church of St. Thomas is found in Kollam, (Quilon), an ancient sea port. Fort Kollam was built by the Portuguese and later was destroyed in a local war. Till ninth century St. Thomas Church stood here which was destroyed by a flood. The present church known as “Our lady of Purification Roman Catholic Church was built much later in 1986-1993.

With this we have come to a close of the Seven St. Thomas Churches in Kerala. There is one more church built in Thiruvithamkodu, capital of early Chera kingdom, which is now in Tamil Nadu, after the Reorganization of the States. This is called Arapally. The literal translation is ‘half-church.’ But on visiting the church I learnt that the local king (Raja or Arasan) had donated the place on which the Church is built, hence it is called Arasara-pally, which became in due course “Arapally!” This was built in 63 AD by St. Thomas, and this is the only church that has retained some of its old granite stone columns and walls, without being overpowered by a newly constructed church. A stone cross said to be carved by St, Thomas is also there. It is now known as St. Mary’s Orthodox Syrian Church, which must have been a later construction over the old church.

Well, it has become a long blog even by my standards. But there is so much to write about! Once the Portuguese came to India and got established in Goa and the other coastal areas, they interfered with the St. Thomas Christians to being them in tune with Latin Christianity and under the jurisdiction of the Roman Pope. This was resisted by the community, but Portuguese used their muscle power and brought them under the Pope in 1599 by the Synod of Diamper. I am not going into these details except to mention that since 1599, the majority of Malabar Christians are Catholics; a splinter group exists since 1655, the Orthodox Jacobites; and many smaller Protestant and reformed churches, especially after the Dutch and British conquests of the area.

I am amazed at the Apostle of Jesus Christ coming all the way to Indian in 52 AD and establishing a Christian community and built seven plus one churches in Kerala coast. Not humanly possible, except by the presence of the Lord Jesus with him and the indwelling Holy Spirit, who graced his work with miracles and signs and wonders, that people were convinced and came to Christ in these places. The command and the promises of the risen Christ were: “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20). The response of the disciples being, “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs (and miracles). Amen.” (Mark 16:20). This has been an interesting study. All glory and praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

Chinese fishing net in Cochin