User talk:Tikkujsimon

Paliakara Church, Tiruvalla
THE CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE

In 52 A D Saint Thomas, one of the 12 Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, came to Musiris (Kodungallore) and later to Nelkinda (Niranam) through Purakkadu, ancient ports of Kerala, in South West India to preach the gospel. As a result, Christian communities were formed in seven towns of Kerala. The famous Niranam church which is only 5 km from Thiruvalla was founded at this time by St.Thomas. Therefore the Christian communities of Kerala are sons of the soil and have 2000 years of rich heredity in faith, tradition and social development. Thiruvalla Christians were part of the autonomous Indian Orthodox Church, which was not affected by the schism which occurred in the 17th century due to the intervention of Portuguese colonists (Introduction of Catholicism in India). But by 19th century, inspired by the work of the British missionaries, a reformation movement happened in the Malankara Church, which eventually resulted in a schism, leading to the formation of Marthoma Church. The members of Paliakkara church before its inception, was generally of Niranam St.Mary's Church, which was founded by St.Thomas the Apostle in A.D 54. At that time, Tiruvalla town was centralized in Kavumbhagom and most of the Christians of the town lived in the Kaavil Street which stretched from Thiru Erankaav temple to Kaavil Temple. Most of the Christians lived here were merchants. They were brought by the local rulers from places like Kuravilangad, Mavelikkara, Niranam, etc, in the 15th Century for enhancement of trading. Also the rulers brought Tamil Brahmins from Madurai who were specialized in textile trading and banking. Both these groups took the Kaavil Street as their capital place and thus the street developed into one of the biggest markets in Kerala. Paliakara St George Orthodox Church is the oldest Christian church in Thiruvalla, and hence the mother of all other churches, belonging to different christian denominations in and around Thiruvalla. This is the first Church in Pathanamthitta district dedicated to St George, and the parish has over 700 families at present. There is no existing record for the date of the foundation of the first church, but the permanent church was completed and consecrated on March 20th, 1814 by Marthoma VIII. Later on, this church developed as a big shrine of the far and near, without any bar of caste and religion. Hundreds of people from different religion, caste, etc, visit the church from 5 AM to 9 PM everyday, to seek blessings.