Malayattoor Church: The divinity of St Thomas

 

Kerala has been a place where St Thomas the apostle came & preached the Jesus way of life. His travel blessed every place that he went & one such is the land of Malayatoor where he came after establishing the famous set of Seven & a half churches. The Malayatoor church is revered not for the structure but for the beliefs of divine presence of the apostle himself. The church is associated with the most important trek performed by Christian devotees when they walk uphill to the mountain where they pray at the church called Kurisumudy. The church is also one among the eight International shrines in the world & the only one in Asia. The church is also the largest pilgrim centre in the name of St Thomas among all places in India. The church is also a beautiful site for many who come here as the Periyar flows along the mountains.

The church is said to have been constructed around the 10th century but the origin of the belief goes back further to the 1st century. St Thomas sailed to the port of Kodungallur & step foot in Kerala in 52 AD. He preached the gospels & went around different places of Kerala establishing small communities & building churches to assist people worship. He also passed Malayatoor during these travels but he found only Jews who were ardent believers & so he moved further to other places. It was only 10 years later in 62 AD that he again visited Malayattoor. His arrival this time was different from earlier as he was now known well along the land as a capable preacher & had more followers as compared to what was when he came a decade earlier. The place of Malayatoor takes its name from the land which is surrounded by mountains & the river. St Thomas came to Malayatoor on his journey to the east coast of Mylapore. Upon his arrival the locals were hostile to him as they had heard about his powers to convert people to Christianity. Though the apostle only came to preach the gospels, he was not welcome & the locals called him names and hurled abuses at him. He tried to reason but the crowd was in no mood to understand & they threw stones at him. The apostle had found objection to his work earlier but this type of hostility was never experienced by him & he realised that the crowd could kill him and to save himself he ran up to the mountains. The mountains were unpaved & had huge boulders along with dense forest cover, people followed the apostle throwing stones. The apostle fell to the ground, hid behind trees & boulders as he tried to escape. The crowd of people continued to follow him but after a while they found themselves lost & decided to return leaving St Thomas injured & lonely in the mountains. They people had concluded that the apostle would never make it out safely & would in days either die of animal attack or lack of food. This thought was true & the apostle himself did not see any way to safety, he was injured & worried but somehow made it to the summit of the mountain where he finally rested. He had resigned to his fate & prayed to Jesus while carving a cross on the rock with his finger. His prayers made Mother Mary appear before him & she assured him that his work on earth was still not finished & asked him to walk to Mylapore as the Lord looked after him. The apostle walked down the mountains & continued his missionary work for another decade till he was killed in 72 AD. The incident may have happened around 62 AD but the divinity of the Malayattoor Kurisumudy Mountain only became known centuries later. There are two churches at this place; one is the Mele Palli which is on top of the Kurisumudy & the St Thomas Parish church or Thazhe Palli down the mountain. These churches were built in 900 AD. The Mele palli is what has relation to St Thomas & the Thazhe Palli is just a church built to help all those who cannot undertake the hike to the upper shrine or for those who come for daily services of mass.

The importance of St Thomas at Malayattoor only came to light many centuries after his death when some tribals on a hunting mission hiked up the mountains & found a cross made on a rock at the top of the mountain which glowed in the night. They grew curious & in the morning decided to take the cross with them & to do so struck the rock with their spear. To their surprise blood started to flow from the place they struck the spear. The men frightened by this sight ran down to the village to inform all, people understood the divinity of the apostle who had blessed their land centuries earlier. They prayed to him & flocked to the top of the mountain to see for themselves this unique sight. All knelt to their knees at the rock & called it the Golden Cross. It was only in the 18th century that another large gold cross was placed inside the church. Apart from the golden cross or Ponninkurishu, pilgrims can also view the footprints & knee marks made by the apostle when he prayed here. A small church next to the Mele Palli called the Anakuthi Palli stands next to the church where wild elephant tusk marks are visible. Another unique sight is the presence of a water spring next to the church high up in the mountain which was made by the apostle when he felt thirsty. Devotees quench their thirst & consider the water to have healing powers. The Kurisumudy pilgrimage is no easy feat as the devotees have to endure the difficulties just like the apostle did & men carry wooden crosses while women carry brooms. The way which leads to the top is lined with many such crosses. The women carry brooms as they pray to the apostle to have a better life & youthfulness, the broom symbolises the abundance of hair. The hike is a long one & people stop along the way to pray at each site where the apostle is said to have rested.

The Thazhepalli or the Malayatoor church at the bottom of the mountain is a structure of architectural beauty. The church has a Greco-Roman architecture as the altar is designed in Greek style while the exterior structure follows a Roman style. The inside of the church is where the beauty of the architecture is seen with a well decorated altar made in wood. If one looks closely behind the central altar, one can find carvings, designs & paintings which showcase the joyful mysteries of Jesus Christ. The ancient baptismical pond & pulpit here also have historical reverence. The church also has separate facilities for confessions & adoration which is also another unique feature here.

The presence of St Thomas is felt at this church & that is the sole reason why the church & the Kurusimudi pilgrimage still continues to attract people from all faiths. The pilgrimage to the top of the mountain is not just to fulfil one's desires but also to endure the suffering of the apostle himself whose only objective in life was to be selfless & preach the word of God. A visit to this holy place & a prayer to St Thomas at his mandapam is a must for all who believe in the service of mankind.