Malayattor Church – Holy Shrine with Foot Prints of St. Thomas the Apostle

Kerala has number of pilgrim centers and these places are suitable for pilgrim tourism. Most of this pilgrim centers has the history from ancient time and these are important historical monuments and world heritage sites. The presence of different religious communities in Kerala is becoming the cause of the different pilgrim centers here and those are great examples for harmony among the different culture and traditions. Jude Synagogue in Kochi, Malayattoor Church, Sabarimala Temple etc are some examples of great pilgrim centers. All are very interesting spots to tourists from all over the world on their Kerala tour.

Kerala has number of Christian pilgrim centers and Malayattoor, near Kochi is prominent one of them. The Christians from all over India is seeing this center as an important holy spot to visit even once in their life. The Church here established by St. Thomas the Apostle of Jesus Christ. The church is located at a hill top with rustic view of surroundings. The scenic Periyar River near the church is a delightful view to the visitors. St. Thomas landed in Kerala in AD 52 and he spread the seeds of the Christian religion in India.

The place, which got his first foot touch, was Kodungallur and from here he went to Malayattoor hill top. There he prayed and he left his foot prints on rock. During his prayer he touches a rock, upon which blood poured from it. The main festival of Malayattoor is on the first Sunday after the Easter Sunday. The day is fixed due to a traditional belief about Sign of Cross, which he made on the rock, kissed it and prayed in front of it. On this particular day a miraculous golden cross appeared at the spot he used to pray. This place is considering as a holy place and named as Kurisumudi.

The pilgrims are sounding the prayer as "O Patriarch of the Golden Cross! Climb we shall, this golden hill!" and climbing to the hill top. This is a great ritual here following from generations to generations. The shrine here is an ancient one in the name of St. Thomas set up on A.D 900. The architectural style of the church is the ancient combination of Greco-Roman style and the decorations and carvings inside the church are incredible. The designs and paintings are that depict the life of Jesus Christ. The church has an ancient pond that was used for baptism purposes and now it is keeping as a pulpit.

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Mamankam – an Encient Festival in Kerala had a Story of Blood

Before the colonial time in Kerala, the history of this cultural heritage was decided by the local rulers and the study of the ancient history about Kerala is awesome. There had been number of ancient festivals in Kerala and now those became a fabulous part of Kerala history. Mamankam is one of them and it was very famous festival held once in every 12 years at Thirunavaya.

The festival started from the clash between the two major Kings in Kerala-Samoothiri and Valluvakkonathiri. Closely following the fall of Thirunavaya, Samoothiri captured Vanneri from Perumpadappu. The Perumpadappu Rajas was forced to shift their capital to Thiruvanchikkulam under Samoothiri's attack. After Thirunavaya was captured, Samoothiri proclaimed himself as the Rakshapurusha and announced that from then on, he had the sole right of conducting the Mamankam festival.

The next Mamankam at Thirunavaya was conducted under the auspices of Samoothiri with great pomp and splendor. 'Chaver' - Now began the custom of sending Chaver soldiers or suicide squads to the festival to dispose off the Samoothiri. These Chavers were sworn soldiers who preferred death to defeat, and who sacrificed their lives to avenge the death of their princes in the Thirunavaya war. The death of the Vellaattiri princes also started a period of intense hatred and war between the two kingdoms which was to last for more than four centuries. Kudippaka or blood feud was prevalent in the society. If a person was killed, it was the duty of the relatives or even the subsequent generations of the deceased to avenge the death.

During the Mamankam festival all other Rajas used to send flags as a symbol of regard to the Samoothiri at Thirunavaya. But Valluvakkonathiri who did not recognize the Samoothiri as the legitimate Rakshapurusha but considered him only a usurper used to send Chavers instead. If these men could kill the Samoothiri, who was protected by thousands of soldiers, the right of Rakshapurusha would have devolved on the Walluvanad Raja. There were four Nair families under Vellaattiri who used to send their heroes to fight and die in the Mamankam festival. Most of these Chaver soldiers had lost their relatives or elders in previous wars with the Samoothiri, and were fuelled by 'kudippaka' against the Samoothiri. 

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