The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. It serves India's Saint Thomas Christian population. According to tradition, these communities originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. It employs the Malankara Rite, an Indian form of the West Syriac liturgical rite.
The Malankara Metropolitan or the Metropolitan of Malabar is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of the Malankara Syrian Church. It evolved from the title of the sixteenth century East Syriac metropolitans of India who were also styled the Metropolitan of Malabar. Since the division among the Saint Thomas Christians following the Synod of Diamper, the title has been mostly employed in association with the West Syriac branch of the community, usually known as the Malankara Church, among whom the office of the Malankara Metropolitan became the continuation of the local dynastic Archdeaconate.
Gregorios of Parumala, also known as Parumala Thirumeni and Geevarghese Mar Gregorios, was a Metropolitan of the Malankara Church. Parumala Thirumeni became the first person of Indian origin to be canonised as saint. In 1947, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church declared Mar Gregorios as a saint, making him the first saint from India canonized by that church. In November 1987, the Syriac Orthodox Church canonized him as a saint.
Kothamangalam is a municipality at the foot of the Western Ghats in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. It is located 31 km (19.3 mi) east of the district collectorate in Thrikkakara and about 177 km (110.0 mi) north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kothamangalam has a population of 38,837 people, and a population density of 969/km2 (2,510/sq mi).
H.B Catholicos Aboon Mor Baselios Thomas I is a Syriac Orthodox Catholicos of India (Maphrian) and head of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church in India. He was enthroned on 26 July 2002 by Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East in a ceremony held in Damascus, Syria.
This article lists the various old and ancient churches that exist among the Saint Thomas Christians in Kerala.
Mor Gregorios Abdal Jaleel Bawa was the Syriac Orthodox Bishop of Jerusalem from 1664 until his death in 1681. He is chiefly remembered for his 1665 mission to India, by which he established ties between the Malankara Church and the Syriac Orthodox church of Antioch. He is venerated as a saint by his church.
Mor Severios Abraham is a Syriac Orthodox bishop. As of 2013, he is the Metropolitan of Angamali region of the Angamali Diocese and Abbott of Mor Gabriel Dayro (Monastery). He is the most senior metropolitan in the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church.
The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, or the Syriac Orthodox Church in India, is a Maphrianate of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch based in Kerala, India and part of the Oriental Orthodox Church. It recognizes the Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch and All the East as supreme head of the church. It functions autonomously within the church as an archdiocese, administered by the Malankara Metropolitan, Gregorios Joseph, and comes under the authority of the Catholicos of India, Baselios Thomas I. Following schism with the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, it is currently the only church in Malankara that is under the administrative supervision of Syriac Orthodox Church. The church employs the West Syriac Rite Liturgy of Saint James.
Geevarghese Mar Dionysius of Vattasseril popularly known as Vattasseril Thirumeni was a bishop of the Malankara Church and 15th Malankara Metropolitan. In 2003, the Church declared Mar Dionysius as a saint. He is known as 'The Great Luminary of Malankara Church', a title which the Church bestowed on him in recognition of his contribution to the Church.
Saint Baselios Yeldo was the Maphrian of the East of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1678 until his resignation in 1684. He is venerated as a saint in the Syriac Orthodox Church and his feast day is 3 October.
Yeldo was proclaimed a saint by Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, on 20 October 1987.
St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church, Kottayam, commonly known as Kottayam Cheriapally, is a Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church located in Kottayam, Kerala, India. Cheriapally meaning ‘small church’, whose appearance contradicts its name, is one of the oldest and well-preserved churches in the state. Cheriapally is located on the way to Kumarakom from Kottayam. The church is dedicated to mother Mary. Kottayam Cheriapally, built in 1579, has retained its old world charm today as well even after so much of environmental changes. The length and breadth of the church is constructed with innovative paintings, mural, and architecture. Before the inception of the Old Seminary in 1815, Kottayam Cheriapally was the Headquarters of the Church and Malankara Metropolitans for a long time.
The Saint Thomas Christian denominations are Christian denominations from Kerala, India, which traditionally trace their ultimate origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. They are also known as "Nasranis" as well. The Syriac term "Nasrani" is still used by St. Thomas Christians in Kerala. It is part of the Eastern Christianity institution.
St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church, Niranam, is a church under the Niranam Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. It is historically believed that this is the one of the seven churches founded by Thomas the Apostle, one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, in AD 52.
Angamali Diocese is the largest of the 12 dioceses of Syrian Orthodox Church in Kerala. Angamali Diocese was formed in the historic synod of Mulanthuruthy in 1876 and has been the major center of Jacobites through the ages. Metropolitan of the Diocese is HB Baselios Thomas I Catholicose.
E. A. E St. Mary's Soonoro Syriac Orthodox Church, Meenangadi, is a Marian Pilgrim center of the Syriac Orthodox Church located at Meenangadi in Kerala, India. The church is under E.A.E Arch Diocese, the first missionary association of Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, and is currently under the direct control of Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church. In 2006, the church was elevated to the status of "Marian Pilgrim Centre", and in 2018, it celebrated its diamond jubilee. It is the first church to adopt the 8 Day Lent in Malabar Region.
St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, Kadampanad, popularly known as Kadampanad Church is an ancient church of Saint Thomas Christians situated in the Central Travancore village of Kadampanad, in Pathanamthitta District, Kerala, India. This Church belongs to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church under the Diocese of Adoor-Kadampanad.
The Holy Girdle, also known as the Girdle of Thomas, Holy Girdle of Mary, Holy Zoonoro, (or) Zunoro, and Holy Belt of Saint Mary the mother of Jesus, is a relic of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is one of the important relics of Syriac Orthodox Church and venerated by Oriental Orthodox communion. The word Zunoro is also translated as "belt", "sash" or "girdle".
Martha Mariyam Cathedral or St. Mary's Church is a prominent Valiyapally of the Syriac Orthodox Church situated in Kothamangalam town in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India.
Malankara Malpan Arch Corepiscopa Curien (Kurian) Kaniyamparambil was a priest in the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church and a scholar in Syriac language, who translated the Bible (വിശുദ്ധഗ്രന്ഥം) from ancient Peshitta text to Malayalam. This is the official bible used by Syriac Orthodox Church in India.
![e[?]doo mo[?] bseliyos.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/%E0%B4%8E%E0%B5%BD%E0%B4%A6%E0%B5%8B_%E0%B4%AE%E0%B5%8A%E0%B5%BC_%E0%B4%AC%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%86%E0%B4%B2%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%AF%E0%B5%8A%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%8D.jpg/300px-%E0%B4%8E%E0%B5%BD%E0%B4%A6%E0%B5%8B_%E0%B4%AE%E0%B5%8A%E0%B5%BC_%E0%B4%AC%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%86%E0%B4%B2%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%AF%E0%B5%8A%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%8D.jpg)
Kothamangalam, Ernakulam, India 
