In the steps of a saint

Dispelling disbelief

On December 2, 1964, a postage stamp was issued by the Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department to commemorate the visit of Pope Paul VI to India. The reddish-purple stamp did not portray the pontiff. Instead, it bore the likeness (based on an image in an Italian cathedral) of St Thomas, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. St Thomas brought Christianity to India long before the coming of the western powers who engaged in commerce, conquest, and conversion. Travelling by sea from Palestine, St Thomas landed at the ancient port of Muzaris, now Kodungalloor in Kerala.

A bas-relief depicting his arrival is on display at the Maritime Museum in Kochi. Although St Thomas is inextricably linked with Tamil Nadu, where his mission ended in martyrdom in AD 72, it was in Kerala that he first began to spread Christ’s teachings. There is fascinating evidence in that State of the houses of worship that he founded. Popularly known as the ‘seven and a half churches’, the strange-sounding half’ is a small shrine in Tamil Nadu.

A place in Kerala, closely associated with St Thomas, is Niranam (about 88 km from Kochi), in Tiruvalla. St Thomas seems to have gone there soon after he entered our country, approaching the village through the Kottachal waterway (a tributary of the Pampa River). At Niranam, St Thomas preached, among others, to Brahmin and Buddhist scholars. Since Jews had been living in Cochin (Kochi) long before the birth of Jesus, St Thomas would have interacted with them as well. Those who embraced his message became the earliest Christians in India.

During a second sojourn in Niranam, St Thomas established the Church that is known today, both as the St Mary’s Orthodox Syrian Church and Niranam Valiya Pally. Dating back to AD 54, it is one of the oldest churches in the world. The building, however, bears no resemblance to the original structure. The Church has been reconstructed at least four times, including once in the mid-13th century. A cross made of granite, near the gate of the Church, belongs to that period. The present edifice is over a hundred years old, but its well-preserved appearance belies its age. The Church has a contemporary façade, owing to a renovation in 2000.
Distinctly different is the spacious interior of the Church, where a solemn sense of the past prevails. Five altars are dedicated to various saints, including St Thomas.

The main one, consecrated to St Mary (in keeping with the name of the Church) is richly embellished and adorned by a beautiful painting. Disbelief dispelled, Thomas kneels before his Lord, whom he had feared was lost to him forever. From the scriptural record of that momentary lapse of faith, we get the idiomatic expression ‘Doubting Thomas’. The same disciple later undertook an arduous voyage to alien shores. The Niranam Church is just one of several sites that bear witness to the courage and commitment of daring Thomas!