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 neither borders the Arabian Sea nor any other states.
Meenachil is the north-eastern region of Kottayam district in Kerala, south India. The name originates from Meenakshi, the Hindu Goddess. Pala is the main city in Meenachil. The arterial river of the district is also named Meenachil.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic Church based in Kerala, India. It is sui iuris (autonomous) particular Church in full communion with the Pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, including the Latin Church and the 22 other Eastern Catholic Churches, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The Church is headed by the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar, currently vacant. The Syro-Malabar Synod of Bishops canonically convoked and presided over by the Major Archbishop constitutes the supreme authority of the Church. The Major Archiepiscopal Curia of the Church is based in Kakkanad, Kochi. Syro-Malabar is a prefix reflecting the church's use of the East Syriac Rite liturgy and origins in Malabar. The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century.
Perunilam is a small Village/hamlet in Meenachil Taluk in Kottayam district of Kerala State, India. It comes under Poonjar Panchayath. It belongs to South Kerala Division. It is located 44 km East from District headquarters Kottayam. 2.5 km from Erattupetta. 149 km from State capital Thiruvananthapuram. Main agricultural crop is rubber. The popular Christian Pilgrim Centre Bharananganam and St. George's Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church, Aruvithura is near to Perunilam. Perunilam Kurishupally is located in Perunilam. Malayalam is the Local Language here. Kottayam Rail Way Station is major railway station 40 km near to Perunilam.
The Archeparchy of Changanacherry is a Syro-Malabar Catholic 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. Joseph Perumthottam is the current Metropolitan Archbishop, serving since 2007. Thomas Tharayil has been the auxiliary bishop since 2017. Suffragan eparchies of the Changanassery archeparchy includes Palai, Kanjirappally-Nilackal, and Thuckalay-Thiruvithancode.
The Eparchy of St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic of Chicago, also known as the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Diocese of Chicago, is a Syro-Malabar Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its episcopal seat is the Mar Thoma Sleeha Cathedral in the episcopal see of Chicago in Illinois state.
Teekoy is a southern Indian village, situated in the eastern part of Kottayam district in Kerala state.
Cherpunkal is a small town in the Kottayam district of Kerala State in India on the Kottayam-Palai Road, seven kilometers from Palai city.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam is a metropolitan Archeparchy of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India. The Archeparchy is exclusively for Knanaya faithful who are the descendants of Syriac Judeo-Christians who migrated from South Mesopotamia to Kodungallur (Muziris) in South India in 4th century.
This article lists the various old and ancient churches that exist among the Saint Thomas Christians in Kerala.
Kattakayam Cherian Mappillai (1859–1936) was an Indian poet and playwright of Malayalam literature. He was known for the epic poem Shreeyeshu Vijayam, which earned him the title of Mahakavi. He was the founder editor of Vijnaana Rathnaakaram, one of the earliest literary magazines in Malayalam language. Pope Pius XI presented him a gold medal in 1931.
Joseph Kallarangatt is an Indian Catholic prelate and theologian, who is the 3rd Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Palai. He was ordained as a priest in 1982, later received a doctorate in theology (ThD) from the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy and was appointed as the Bishop of Palai after the resignation of Bishop Joseph Pallikaparambil in 2004. He was initially an assistant parish priest and became a theologian and seminary teacher after his ThD. Following his appointment as a bishop he was able to gain considerable influence within the hierarchy of the Syro-Malabar Church, an Eastern Catholic church within the Catholic Church, and has been regularly selected to participate in various high-profile ecclesiastical ceremonies and duties of the Syro-Malabar Church. He was also appointed to head the doctrinal commission for determining of the Catholic Church's stance towards yoga, which concluded that the practice was incompatible with the Christian faith.
Meenachil Karthas were members of an aristocratic clan, which ruled the small kingdom of Meenachil from 15th century AD until 1754. Unlike the other aristocratic Nair factions of North and Central Travancore who are descended from the Nāgas and the rulers of Travancore and Calicut with brahminical origin, they have a Rajput origin
Kudakkachira is a small village 9 km away from Palai on Pala-uzhavoor road of Ernakulam - Sabarimala state highway in Kottayam district, Kerala, India. It is part of Meenachil Taluk. The majority of people are Syrian Malabar Nasrani. This region is part of the midlands of south-eastern kerala. Main income is from agriculture, mostly rubber plantations.
The Eparchy of Palai is a Syro-Malabar Catholic ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church with an area of 1166 km2 comprising the Meenachil taluk and a few villages of the neighbouring taluks in Kottayam, Ernakulam, and Idukki districts of central Kerala in South India. The faithful of this eparchy, numbering 326,742, belong to the ancient St. Thomas Christian community. The seat of the bishop is the St. Thomas Cathedral based in the town of Palai. The current bishop is Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, serving since March 2004. Mar Jacob Muricken has been auxiliary bishop since 2012.
Mar Hormizd Cathedral, locally known as the Eastern Church of Angamaly or the Cathedral Church, is a Syro-Malabar church in Angamaly, India. It was created cathedral in 1577 by Mar Abraham, the last East Syriac Metropolitan to reach Malabar Coast. It is one of the oldest and is historically the most important of the three ancient Syrian churches in Angamaly. It is dedicated to Mar Hormizd, a seventh-century East Syriac saint.
Aruvithura Church is a Syro-Malabar Catholic church located at Aruvithura,Eratupetta Kottayam district in the Kerala State of India. Traditionally it is believed that the Syrian Catholic Church at Erattupetta was established in AD 151.
George Thomas Kottukapally of Pala, Kottayam, Kerala, India, was a Member of Parliament, philanthropist, one of South India's largest plantation owners, public intellectual, an Indian independence activist and a member of the Indian National Congress including having taken part in the Indian Independence Movement through the Non co-operation movement in 1921. Post India's Independence in 1947, Kottukapally was elected as the Municipal Chairman, a position equivalent to that of a Mayor for the municipal township of Pala, Kottayam, Kerala which he held between 1948 and 1953. Further, he was elected as an Indian Member of Parliament representing the Indian National Congress party in the 1st Lok Sabha and the 2nd Lok Sabha from 1953 till 1962 for the erst-while constituency of Muvattupuzha which consisted of the whole of Idukki, parts of Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Chalakudy. He was also India's representative to the United Nations in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's Delegation in 1958.
Srampickal Ittan Mappilai was a trader, agriculturalist, and landlord in Palai, India. He was born in the Srampickal family of Pala, a branch of the ancient Palackal family of Pallipuram.
