Kottayam is one of 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. Kottayam district comprises six municipal towns: Kottayam, Changanassery, Pala, Erattupetta, Ettumanoor, and Vaikom. It is the only district in Kerala that does not border either the Arabian Sea or another Indian state.
Changanassery, formerly Changanacherry, is a municipality in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is located 17 km (10.6 mi) south of the district headquarters in Kottayam and about 115 km (71.5 mi) north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Changanassery has a population of 47,485 people, and a population density of 3,517/km2 (9,110/sq mi).
The Syro-Malabar Church, also known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church based in Kerala, India. It is a sui iuris (autonomous) particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The major archbishop presides over the entire church. The incumbent Major Archbishop is Raphael Thattil, serving since January 2024. It is the largest Syriac Christian church and the largest Eastern Catholic church. Syro-Malabar is a prefix reflecting the church's use of the East Syriac liturgy and origins in Malabar. The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century.
Maurus, OSB (512–584) was an Italian Catholic monk best known as the first disciple of Benedict of Nursia. He is mentioned in Gregory the Great's biography of the latter as the first oblate, offered to the monastery by his noble Roman parents as a young boy to be brought up in the monastic life.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanacherry (Syriac: ܐܦܪܟܝܐ ܪܒܬܐ ܕܫܢܓܢܐܣܐܪܐ, romanized: Afarkaya Rabbta d-Shanganasara; Malayalam: ചങ്ങനാശ്ശേരി അതിരൂപത, romanized: Changanassery Atirūpata) is a Catholic East-Syriac Rite archeparchy with an area of 24,595 km2 comprising the districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and also Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the largest Catholic dioceses in India in terms of area. Thomas Tharayil is the current Metropolitan Archbishop, serving from 2024.Suffragan eparchies of the Changanassery archeparchy includes Palai, Kanjirappally-Nilackal, and Thuckalay-Thiruvithancode.
St. Berchmans College, most commonly known as SB College, is one of the first Autonomous Colleges, situated in Changanasserry, 17 km from Kottayam, in Kerala, India. Established in 1922, the college is considered to be one of the oldest and premier institutions of higher education in India. The University Grants Commission (UGC) identified the college under its “College with Potential for Excellence” scheme. UGC and the Government of Kerala granted autonomy to the college on 13 June 2014. The college celebrated its centenary in the academic year of 2022.
Karukachal is a fast-growing town in Changanassery Taluk in Kottayam district of Kerala state in India. The name "Karukachal" was coined from the words "Karuka"(Karukapullu in Malayalam) which is a type of grass which grew in plenty and "chal" meaning a small body of flowing water. Karukachal in Changanacherry-Vazhoor Road which is almost a century old. The next nearest town, Chanaganasserry, is 14 km & Kottayam is 20 km from Karukachal.
The Archeparchy of Kottayam is a Syro-Malabar Church metropolitan archeparchy of the Catholic Church in India. The archeparchy is exclusively for Knanaya faithful who claim to be the descendants of Syriac Judeo-Christians who migrated from South Mesopotamia to Kodungallur (Muziris) in South India in 4th century A.D.
Mar Thoma I, also known as Valiya Mar Thoma and Arkkadiyakkon Thoma in Malayalam, and referred to as Thomas de Campo in Portuguese, was the first native-born Metropolitan bishop of the Malankara Church in the 17th century. He was the last Archdeacon of the undivided St. Thomas Christians of Malankara.
Kangazha is a panchayath and village in the Changanacherry Taluk of the Kottayam District of Kerala State in India. It is located 21 kilometers east of Kottayam and 10 kilometers north of Karukachal. It lies midway between the backwaters of Western Kerala and the misty mountains of the Western Ghats.
Punnavely is a village in Thiruvalla Constituency situated on the border of Pathanamthitta and Kottayam districts of Kerala, India. Punnavely is a typical Central Tranvancore village with rubber tree plantations, paddy fields, pepper and other spices and lot of NRIs.
Mar Thoma IX was the ninth Metropolitan of the Malankara Church in Kerala, India for a brief period in 1816. That year, he was consecrated Metropolitan by Mar Thoma VIII, but soon after his ordination he was dethroned by Pulikkottil Joseph who was appointed by the then British resident Colonel John Munroe.
Pindikuthi Perunnal or Rakkuli Perunnal is a traditional and important festival of Saint Thomas Christians celebrated on 6 January. Pindikuthi Perunnal is the Saint Thomas Christian counterpart of Denha in Eastern church and Epiphany in Western Church. The liturgical season Denha Kaalam begins with the Sunday nearest to Pindikuthi Perunnal.
Baselios Augen I was the 17th Malankara Metropolitan, the fourth Catholicos of the East in the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, He was the first Catholicos consecrated in a reunified Malankara Church, by the Patriarch of Antioch in 1964 but his tenure saw a second split in the Holy Church.
Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar (1736–1799) is the author of Varthamanappusthakam (1790), the first ever travelogue in an Indian language. Also known as Roma Yatraa Varthamanapusthakam, it postulates that the foundation of Indian nationalism rests on the basic principle that India should achieve civic self-rule. Long before the debates on nationalism shaking the intellectual circles of Europe, Asia, and Africa, Thoma Kathanar offers a distinctive positionality as a minority Syriac Christian priest and subsequent administrator of the Archdiocese of Cranganore with transnational ties to Portuguese ecclesiology who nevertheless argues in favor of autonomous civic Indian governance.
Champakulam Kalloorkadu St. Mary's Basilica is an ancient Christian Church in Kerala. It belongs to the Syro-Malabar Church under the Archeparchy of Changanacherry. It is a Forane church, with several parishes under it.
Varthamanappusthakam is a Malayalam travelogue written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar, a Nasrani Mappila kathanar of the modern-day Syro-Malabar Church. It is the first ever travelogue written in an Indian Language. It was written in the 18th century (1790) but then forgotten, being re-discovered in 1935 and first printed in 1936 by Luka Mathai Plathottam at Athirampuzha St Marys Press in the year 1936.
PalakunnelMathai Mariam Kathanar was an Indian clergy member that served in the Archdiocese of Changanacherry.
St Thomas Catholic Church Arunoottimangalam is a Parish church in the Palai Eparchy in Kottayam district of Kerala. The church is also called in Malayalam as Malakayatta palli meaning 'Church with the hill climbing way'. The parishioners in the past belonged to Kaduthuruthy church and Reverend Father Mathai kathanar Chempalayil started the Way of The Cross ceremony on the hill located behind the current church. Eventually the church was built at this place.
St. Joseph Church, Aloor is a parish of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Aloor. It was the first parish church in Aloor Muri of the Mukundapuram and Kodassery taluks. Aloor parish is one of the 83 parishes between the Bharathappuzha and Periyar rivers, during the erection of syro-Malabar hierarchy and Trichur Vicariate.
