MALANKARA (Indian) ORTHODOX CHURCH &
ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY IN KERALA, INDIA.
A concise time capsule

               This is an unofficial version, compiled for use by those wishing to get a quick glimpse of the history of      Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church.
Return to (Main Page).

AD 52
Apostle St: Thomas (one of the twelve Apostles) comes to Kerala and forms Christianity in Kerala by baptizing the local people. These new converts were called St: Thomas Christians. This church is one of the most ancient churches in Christendom. St: Thomas consecrated the churches at Malankara, Palayur, Paravoor, Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Chayal and Kollam. The Malabar Christians or Malankara Orthodox Church was thus formed.

AD 72
Apostle St: Thomas martyred at Mylapore (near Madras) in Tamilnadu State, India.

AD 345
A colony of Christians [said to number 400 Syrian Christians consisting of 72 families] from Persia under the leadership of Thomas of Cana [Knai Thoma - a rich international merchant from Cana] arrives in Kerala (they were fleeing the persecution of Christians in Persia). This group is also known as "KNANAYA". [Though they are a distinct group of Christians with a lot of Syrian/Jewish traits/heritage, there is a lot of similarity with the Malankara Orthodox (Indian) Church.]

6th Century
Cosmas a traveler visited South India and wrote about his visits in a book called "Universal Christian Topography".

15th Century
The Portuguese came to Kerala and tried to bring the St: Thomas Christians under the Pope of Rome (since they were Roman Catholics). Through political influence the Synod of Diamper was held in 1599 and most of the St: Thomas Christians were brought under the Pope. Those who kept away from the Synod of Diamper continued as a small separate church in Trichur and were called the Chaldean Church.

1653
The majority of the Christians broke away after an oath called the "COONAN CROSS OATH".

1816
The British missionaries came and started a mission. They helped in translating the Holy Bible into Malayalam.

1836
The British missionaries started teaching protestant theology and hence were rejected through a declaration called the "MAVELIKARA PADIYOLA". This prompted them to form a new church called CMS (Church Missionary Society) which later joined with another Protestant denomination to form the CSI (Church of South India).

1876
Led by Abraham Malpan of Maramon, a few members, influenced by the Protestant teaching of the missionaries, tried to reform the church from inside. { Abraham Malpan sent his nephew to the Patriarch of Antioch to get consecrated as a bishop. He returned as Bishop Mathews Mar Athanasios.}
To oppose Abraham Malpan, Pulikottil Joseph Ramban went to Antioch and was consecrated as bishop with the name Joseph Mar Dionysios. He returned to Kerala with the Patriarch of Antioch Peter III and convened the synod of Mulamthuruthy in 1876. Thus the church accepted the spiritual supremacy of the Patriarch of Antioch.

1889
In 1889 the Patriarchate accepted Joseph Mar Dionysios as the head of the Malankara Church. This resulted in the separation of the reformation group and a new church was formed by the reformists called "Marthoma Church".

1912
The Malankara Church did not want to be ruled by the Patriarch of Antioch, hence, sent a request to have a Catholicos. The request was denied by Patriarch Abdul Messiah. Later another Patriarch Abdulla came to Kerala. Patriarch Abdulla wanted Vattasseril Geevarghese Mar Dionysios to sign a document declaring that the Patriarch had temporal powers over the Malankara Church. Mar Dionysios refused to sign this document and was therefore excommunicated. This again caused a rift in the church. The church was split into two groups, one group supporting the Patriarch and called "Bava party"[this new group also calls themselves as Malankara Orthodox Church and has a full complement of Bishops etc, and a large community], the other group of supporters of Mar Dionysios were called the "Metran party". This caused much dismay to our church members. In 1912 Mar Dionysios requested the Senior Patriarch Mar Abdul Messiah to come to Kerala and enthrone a Catholicos. This was finally granted, and we had our own Catholicos and the authority to consecrate our own bishops.

1930
A group of people left our church together with Mar Ivanios and Mar Theophilos to join the Roman Catholic church.

1958
After many years of litigation that started in 1912 due to the "Bava kakshi"/"Metran kakshi" split, the Supreme court of India recognized and gave judgement in favor of our Catholicos. This led to the mutual recognition of the Patriarch and the Catholicos and the churches were again unified.

1964
The Patriarch came for the enthronement of our next Catholicos Augen I.

1972
Unfortunately, in 1972 the "Bava party" again separated from our church [they now have their own Catholicos and bishops and are also called the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church].

1996
Despite all the encroachments and rifts and toils and troubles, we have survived to this day as a traditional Christian Church with a long history as old as Christianity itself. With the prayers of all our church members we are positive we will overcome the odds and serve our Lord.

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