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 Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church(Syriac Orthodox Church) canonized him as a saint.
Moran Mor Baselios Geevarghese II of the Malankara Church. Third Catholicos of the East in Malankara and 16th Malankara Metropolitan, was born to Ulahannan and Naithi of the Kallaserri family in Kurichi, Kottayam India on 16 June 1874.
Kannamcode Cathedral or Kannamcode St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in Central Travancore. The church belongs to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church under 'Adoor-Kadampanad' diocese. Kannamcode Cathedral is situated in Adoor, a town in Pathanamthitta district of the Indian state of Kerala. Adoor has a large population of Syrian Christians. Christianity in this locality has a tradition of more than a millennium and a half years, beginning from the village of Kadampanad. St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, Kannamcode, a very old Church in central Travancore, has a history of approximately 900 years, belonging to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church under 'Adoor-Kadampanad' diocese. Kannamcode. At Kadampanad the age of early Christian community dates back to 4th century A.D about two centuries later than the arrival of St. Thomas on the Kerala coast. Prior to the building of this church, the Christian community had to depend on near-by churches - Thumpamon Orthodox Church and third Kannamcode Cathedral to full fill their Christian services and spiritual needs. The people had to walk quite a bit of distance to attend church services and return to their village and it appeared to be tedious. Upon getting necessary permission and support from the local Hindu kings of Kayankulam, at last, a church came into being then called Veerappallil Yakoba Palli, later renamed as Kannamcode St. Thomas Orthodox Church. The same church is presently known as Kannamcode St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral.
Geevarghese Dionysius Vattasseril, also Dionysius VI, Dionysius Geevarghese II or, popularly, Vattasseril Thirumeni, was a bishop of the Malankara Church and 15th Malankara Metropolitan. In 2003, Dionysius was canonized as a saint by the Malankara Orthodox Church, and his feast day is celebrated on February 23 each year. 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.
Pulikkottil Dionysious Joseph II, also known as Dionysious V, was the Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Church, was born into the family of Pulikkottil (Kunnamkulam). He was the 14th Malankara Metropolitan.
St. Peter's and St. Paul's Malankara Orthodox Church also known as Parumala Pally is a famous church in Kerala, India. This church is located in Parumala in Thiruvalla Taluk In Pathanamthitta district and is a pilgrimage center and mausoleum of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.
Baselios Augen I was the 17th Malankara Metropolitan, the fourth Catholicos of the East in the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, and the first Catholicos of the East in the Malankara Syriac Orthodox 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.
Thrikkunathu Seminary is a historic seminary under the ownership of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Aluva, Ernakulam.Owing to an ownership dispute between the factions, the Methran Kakshi and the Bava Kashi, the seminary was closed in December 1977. The church is a pilgrimage site for Christians in India. It is the headquarters of Angamaly diocese of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.
The Konkani Orthodox Church is a split faction from the Catholic Church in India, founded by Bishop Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares in 1889. The cathedral is situated at Brahmavar, in Udipi, Carnataca, India.
Baselios Marthoma Paulose II was the primate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. He was ordained in 1973, consecrated in 1985 and enthroned as the 8th Catholicos of the Malankara Church and the 21st Malankara Metropolitan on 1 November 2010, succeeding Didymos I.
St. Mary's Orthodox Valiyapally is an Orthodox Church, located in Gangamma Circle, Bangalore, India. It is one of the oldest Malankara Orthodox Syrian churches in the city.
The Diocese of Niranam is one of the 32 diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church located at Niranam, Kerala, India.
The Diocese of UK, Europe and Africa is one of the 32 dioceses of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church with its headquarters in London.
Baselios Marthoma Mathews III is the present Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Church, serving as its primate. He was enthroned as the 22nd Malankara Metropolitan on 14 October 2021 and as the 9th Catholicos on 15 October 2021 at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala, succeeding Baselios Marthoma Paulose II.
St. Gregorios Orthodox Cathedral, Bangalore is an Orthodox Syrian Christian Cathedral located near Johnson market in Richmond town in Bangalore city, India. It is the only Cathedral for the Orthodox Christian community in Bangalore and known to be one of the oldest Orthodox Churches in the city.
The Kollam Orthodox Diocese, one of the 32 dioceses of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, was created after the Mulanthuruthy Synod in 1876. H.G. Dr. Joseph Mar Dionysius is the Metropolitan of the diocese, whose head office is in Bishop's House, Cross Junction, Kadappakada, Kollam, Kerala, India.
The Diocese of Kochi is one of the 32 diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. The diocese was created after the Mulanthuruthy Synod in 1876. Yakob Mar Irenios is the Metropoliton of the diocese. The head office is located in Zion Seminary, Korratti East, Chalakkudi.
The Order of St. Thomas is the highest honorary award given by the Indian Orthodox Church and named after St. Thomas the Apostle who founded the Church in India. It is reserved for heads of states and churches and awarded by the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan, who is the primate of the Malankara Orthodox Church. The award is usually presented at large public gatherings held at different locations of importance to the Indian Orthodox Church within India.
