Thumpamon Valiya Palli: Heritage of the Nasrani Christians

Kerala is a land which helped the missionaries to propagate the word of Jesus by spreading the religion of Christianity. The arrival of St Thomas in the 1st century was a stepping stone in this event & his preaching helped in converting a large population to Christianity. His followers grew & all those who followed him were termed as Thomas Christians. One such important group of Thomas Christians is the Malankara Syrian Orthodox church which today is one of the most influential group of Christian’s in Kerala. There are many churches associated with the Malankara church but the existence of the Thumpamon Valiya palli is a testament to their long history.

The Christians in the southern part of Kerala in the later centuries after St Thomas were called Nasrani when they affiliated to the Syrian way of preaching & they concentrated themselves in villages near the areas at the foothills of the mountains where they did farming for subsistence. The village of Thumpamon became the hub of the Nasranis during the 8th century with a lot of people following the Christian faith. The first church was built here in 717 AD & was a small structure which was primarily a prayer hall. It so happened that within the span of 100 years villages around started attracting lot more Christians to the place & the population swelled & the church was unable to cater the large influx of people. The local Nasranis decided to construct a larger church & so in 900 AD the old structure was razed to construct a bigger church. In the 11th century, Nilackal became an important trading center with many Nasrani aristocrat families enjoying the profits of trade. The prosperity of the place also attracted many dacoits & robbers to Nilackal & people found it very difficult to continue. The Nasrani had to find a new place which would protect their faith & also give them access to trade. The village of Thumpomon by now had become a place for all Christians & so people from Nilackal abandoned their village to move to Thumpamon. It is also said that the Raja of Pandalam also shifted his capital from Nilakkal to Pandalam fearing attacks from the Polyger’s. The influx of such a large population to the small village of Thumpamon made it difficult for the church to accommodate all. A need to build a bigger church was discussed & the new members came together to build a much larger church which was constructed in 1175 AD & the structure still stands today.

The construction of the church was not easy for the Nasrani of Nilackal as they were met with objection by the influential Hindu community who feared that a grand church in the village may erode their hold on the population. The temple authorities did not grant the additional land needed to build the church as the oracle had predicted an erosion of faith if the church was built. The Raja of Pandalam had to intervene to dilute the situation. It is to be noted that the Nasrani were an important set of people for the King as they were enterprising individuals, good at trade, humble to their roots & most importantly believed in the way of God which made them quite honest in their life. The King decided to buy the land around the church & granted the same to the Nasrani to build the church. The king to please the Hindu community is said to have not provided any further favour in building the church. It is to be noted that post the construction of the church the two communities stayed in a cordial relation with one another until the invaders came to the land. 

The Malankara church over centuries spread far & wide along the lengths of South India spreading the teachings of the apostle. They constructed many churches in places where there was a sizable population of Christians. The Malankara church was controlled by the Arch Deacon & each church activities were controlled by the Parish priests in discussion with the elected members. The arrival of the Portuguese in the 15th century changed the situation. The arrival of Vasco Da Gama brought the Roman Catholics to Kerala who considered Rome as the supreme authority in regards to their faith. The Portuguese could not fathom the thought that there were Christians in Kerala who did not look upon Rome for their existence. The Portuguese were hell-bent at bringing the Malankara Christians within the Roman Catholic congregation & the missionaries indulged in converting the Nasrani which was opposed by the Malankara church. By the early years of the 16th century, Portuguese influence on the south of Kerala had increased & so was the authority of their missionaries. It was decided by the Portuguese to end the influence of the Malankara church on the population & an historic Synod was called at Udayamperoor in 1599 AD which was conducted under the watchful eyes of the Portuguese soldiers. In the synod, the delegates were made to believe that the Malankara church practiced wrong ways of Christianity & urged the delegates to pass a unanimous reform document to bring the Malankara church under the authority of Rome so that they can follow the right path. This move was successful & the delegates out of fear or coercion directed the Malankara church to follow the Roman authority. The ArchDeacon of the Malankara Church was Geevarghese of the Cross who was a respected priest & he did not approve of this synod decision & took upon himself to convince all the other priests of the Indian Church to follow his ways. Most of the Malankara churches followed the way of their Arch Deacon & it was possibly his intervention that the Malankara Church still exists & is one among the most important congregations of Christianity in India.

The church which was built in the 12th century has hardly changed in terms of its architecture. The structure in reality is much smaller in comparison to most of the other churches but its history is of utmost importance. The church today has been renovated & as per the followers any important event in their life like wedding, baptisms, engagements, birth etc is to be conducted at the Thumpamon Valiya palli and this is still followed by all. The heritage of so called Nasrani of Kerala is related to the church & its important for all St Thomas Christians to visit this place once.