In Angamaly, there are three churches within a kilometre from each other. What makes them special is that they are all from the pre-Diamper period [i.e. before 1599]. The churches from west to east are:
1) St. George Basilica (Valiyapally or Padinjarepally), Syro-Malabar
2) St. Mary's Soonoro Cathedral (Cheriapally), Jacobite
3) St. Hormis Church (Kizhakkepally), Syro-Malabar
In front of all these churches are ‘Open Air Granite Crosses’ [OAGC]. In the following few posts, I will discuss briefly about each of them. The exact dates when these crosses were erected is difficult to estimate as there are no specific supporting documents or inscriptions available. However, the date of the establishment of the churches are relatively well documented.
PRE-DIAMPER CHURCHES OF ANGAMALY & THEIR FOUNDATION DATES
The earliest documented reference to a church in Angamaly appears in a letter written by Portuguese Jesuit Bishop, Melchior Carneiro in 1557. He mentions about a church [Iglesia] and a main chapel [Capilla Mayor] in Angamaly, the latter was held with great veneration that no laymen were allowed inside [DI, Vol. III, p. 800]. He further elaborates that Christians in Angamaly maintain a “Universidade” [University/Seminary/Malpanate], served by a “Caçanar” [Cathanar/Priest/Malpan] whom they rely heavily due to his advanced age and erudition; for some fifty years, he has been expounding the Scriptures there and has gathered many disciples from all corners of the Malabar region [SRD, Vol. 8, p. 498]. However, about four decades later in 1599, while the Goan Archbishop Alexis Menezes was visiting Kerala, there were already ‘three big churches at Angamalle’ ["Tem Angamale tres Igrejas grandes"] records Gouvea in ‘Jornada’ [1606, f. 87v and Malekandathil, 2003, p. 350].
According to the Catholic historians, St. George is the oldest church in Angamaly. However, the first written record assigning a specific date of establishment for the church is from the early 20th century only. The Vaidikapanachankam of 1902 has the date 450 AD as the year of foundation for St. George church [Rakshaniyam 1902, p. 37-cited by Malekandathil, 2016]. Reasons unknown, the date was changed to 409 AD in the Vaidikapanachankam of 1924 and thereafter it has remained the same [Rakshaniyam 1924, p. 2]. On the other hand, the Jacobites consider their church [St. Mary] to be the oldest and dates it to 409 AD as well [Varghese, 1991]. Unfortunately, we have no primary source materials or other evidence available to validate how such early dates are arrived by both factions. In the case of the St. Mary's Jacobite church, multiple 16th century documents [letters dated 1577-1580] attest its origin. The church dedicated to 'Our Lady of the Assumption' was founded and administered by Archdeacon Giwarghis/Geevarghese (George) of the Christ (d. 1584/85 or 1591) with his own money and parental help [DI, Vol. X, pp. 853-854, 953; DI, Vol. XI, pp. 810, 833]. The earliest reference is perhaps the letter dated 2nd January, 1576 written by the Raja of Cochin, Keshava Rama Varma to Pope Gregory XIII, where he mentions about the Archdeacon George's request for granting plenary indulgences for his church [Giamil, 1902, p. 76]. In the letter he mentions that the church was recently built in honour of the Assumption in the month of August, which could be 15th August 1575, the feast day of Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary. George of the Christ was appointed as the Archdeacon by Chaldean Bishop Mar Joseph in 1562; and Bishop of Palayur and Suffragan Bishop of Angamali in 1566 by Patriarch Abd Ishu [DI, Vol. VII, pp. 703-705; for more details, see Malekandathil, 2016, pp. 138-139]. Therefore, it is safe to assume that St. Mary's church was established somewhere in the mid-1570s. The feast of the assumption of Virgin Mary was celebrated in this church [Iglesia de N. Señora de la Assumption or Church of Our Lady of Assumption] in 1577 and 1578 with great solemnity [DI, Vol. XI, pp. 287-288, 810; DI, Vol. X, p. 953]. The Church was beautifully decorated with branches and the altar elegantly adorned during the Feast of Assumption says Jesuit missionary Fr. Francisco Dionisio in the Annual Letter of 1577 [DI, Vol. X, p. 953].
The third church at the eastern end (St. Hormis or Kizhakkepally) was the Cathedral Church or Seat of the Metropolitan Mar Abraham, the last Persian Bishop of St Thomas Christians. Mar Abraham passed away in 1597 and was buried in St. Hormis church. His lost tomb was rediscovered in 18 September, 2015 during the renovation work carried out inside the the main altar of the church. Based on a Jesuit letter dated 10 January, 1580 [DI, Vol. XI, p. 798], the foundation date of Mar Abraham’s new church [St. Hormis/Kizhakkepally] is often taken as 15th August 1577, but the same letter is interpreted differently by others to arrive at a later date of 15th August, 1579 [Payyapilly, 2016, pp. 49-50]. In another letter from November, 1578, we see Mar Abraham requesting Pope Gregory XIII to grant plenary indulgences for his upcoming yet incomplete new church [DI, Vol. XI, p. 382]. In the Vaidikapanchankam of 1909, the foundation date of St Hormis church is given as 1571 [Rakshaniyam 1909, p. 12], but a few decades afterwards it was changed to 1585 [see Vaidikapanchankam, 1951, p. 37]. The completion and consecration of St. Hormis church most probably has taken place before the Synod of Angamaly was held there in 1583. The church was originally dedicated to a 7th century Nestorian East Syric Saint, St. Hormusio, but was changed to a 5th century Persian Catholic martyr, St. Hormisidas by the Archbishop Alexis Menezes in 1599.
Caremelite Missionary and the first Apostolic Commissary to Malabar, Joseph of St. Mary Sebastiani has a detailed 17th century map entitled ‘Serra de Malavari’ on the St Thomas Christian churches in Malabar [published in his Seconda Speditone all’Inde Orientali], here he has depicted only one church in Angamaly [Sebastiani, 1672]. In 1745, Augustinian Missionary, Joannes Facundi Raulin comes out with a list of churches and he cites three churches in Angamaly: 1] Angamaly, Syri.; 2] Vinecca Palli [?]; and 3] Ceria Palli [Cheriapally] [Raulin, 1745, p. 428]. Since Raulin uses the terms ‘Syri.’ for Romo-Syrians [Catholics] and ‘Schismatici’ for Jacobites throughout his list of churches, 1] is mostly the St George Catholic church, and 2] and 3] are the non-Romo Syrain churches. If the non-Catholic ‘Ceria Palli’ is the Jacobite church, Vinecca Palli could be the St. Hormis church. It could also be the other way around, i.e. Vinecca Palli is the Jacobite church [St. Mary] and Ceria Palli is the St. Hormis church, after all, Mar Abraham was originally a non-Catholic East Syrian Bishop. A decade later, French Orientalist Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Du Perron visited Kerala on January, 1758 and gives the following details about the churches in Angamale [Angamaly]: 1) A church dedicated to the Holy Virgin; shared by Catholics and Jacobites; in this church a chapel dedicated to St. George, where the Jacobites celebrate the office [conducted their service] after the Catholics. 2) Another church [at the end of the Angamale Bazar] dedicated to St. Homisdas, Catholic martyr. The See of the Archbishop of Malabar was formerly at Angamale [Angamaly] under the Portuguese; In 1615, it was transferred to Cranganore. 3) Another church dedicated to the Holy Virgin, exclusively used by the Jacobites [In all likelihood, this is Cheriapally, which in the last century, was the residence of the Malalabar Archdeacon, Mar Thomas] [Anquetil-Du Perron, 1771, pp. 185-186]. 1] and 3] are the St. George Basilica and the St. Hormisdas [Kizhakkepally] of the Catholics; and 2] is the St. Mary’s Jacobite Cathedral today.
St. Mary/St. George Church and Chapel, Catholic [Old vs New]
Photograph above: June, 2025. Image Credit, below left: Virtual Museum of Images and Sound (VMIS), American Institute of Indian Studies, 1968. Image credit, below right: Angamaly Charithravum Thachil Kudumbavum, Joseph J., 1996. 1] is now an office building [book stall], the old part of the cemetery is just behind this building.
Photograph left: January, 2026. Image credit, right: https://angamalybasilica.blogspot.com. Yellow dotted lines mark the major section of the old church that was demolished. See that what is left now is only the altar.
Image credit, left: Varghese Angamaly & Jomon Thachil, Angamaly Rekhakal, 2002. Photograph right: March, 2017. The image on left shows the west side of the church, which has literally disappeared. The photograph on the right gives you an idea how the east side of the church looks now, which is essentially the altar of the old church that has been retained.
Image credit, left: Varghese Angamaly & Jomon Thachil, Angamaly Rekhakal, 2002. Photograph right: March, 2017. As you can see the entire side portion [the lower pillared section and the upper floor with clay tiled roofs have been demolished.
Front and side [north] views of the St. George/St. Mary old church before demolition. The main entrance gate [1], church facade [2], side aisles and annex rooms [3a and 3b] have all vanished, only the altar [4] has been retained. Image credit, left: Souvenir of the Centenary of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam, 1996; Image credit, right: Angamaly Charithravum Thachil Kudumbavum, Joseph J., 1996.
Photograph above: June, 2025. Image credit, below left: Varghese Angamaly & Jomon Thachil, Angamaly Rekhakal, 2002. Image credit, below right: Ambattu Mar Kurilos Centenary Souvenir, 1991. The yellow dotted lines demarcate the side rooms on the north side and the traditional front porch on the west side of the church that has been also destroyed.ANGAMALY CHURCHES AND TIPPU SULTAN
One of the first to record Tippu's atrocities against Christians of Kerala was Paulinus and according to him all three churches in Angamaly were destroyed. Paulinus in his 'India Orientalis Christiana' [1794, p. 179] states: "Tippu's anger flared when he crossed the border and reached Angamali [Angamaly] east of Ambalacate [Ambazhakkad]. Two churches of the Catholics [St. George and St. Hormis], the churches of Schismatics [non-Romo Syrians], the seminary and the houses were mercilessly attacked" [English Translation]. It must be noted that Paulinus left Kerala by March, 1789 before Tippu's invasion, but he obtained this information from a letter written by Bishop Aloysius Mary of Jesus, Vicar Apostolic of Verapoly, dated March 23, 1791. Scottish Theologian, Rev. Claudius Buchanan of the Church of England who visited Angamaly in 1806 finds the Archbishop’s Residence and all the other public buildings destroyed. In a letter dated 24 December, 1806, he writes: “When Tippoo waged war with the king of Travancore, in 1791, he sent detachments in every direction to destroy the Christian churches, and particularly the ancient edifices at Angamalee. Two thousand men penetrated into the mountains, and were directed to the place by the sound of its bells. They sprung a mine under the altar walls of each church, and the inhabitants who had fled to the higher mountains witnessed the explosion. But the walls of the grand front being five feet and a half thick, (1 measured them yesterday), they did not attempt to demolish them for want of powder” [Pearson, 1837, pp. 255-256]. The condition was still the same even a decade after Buchanan’s visit, when Thomas Fanshaw Middleton, Bishop of Calcutta was at Angamaly in October 1816. His account is more detailed and to quote the full text: “A still more deplorable spectacle was exhibited at Angamale (about four miles distant), once the residence of the Syrian bishops, and able to boast of three venerable and handsome churches. These were all laid in ruins by the barbarians of the Mysore; and two of them still remain in a state of miserable dilapidation. The only one which has been at all completely repaired is that of St George. It has been restored with scrupulous attention to the ancient style of architecture. The roof is well covered in, but only with cajan; the chancel has been provided with a handsome ceiling, arched and fretted in the former manner; and the walls are decorated with a great variety of paintings. Of the church of St Mary's, which is of great antiquity, nothing was left standing but the side walls: and the poor Christians have raised a cajan roof over what was the chancel, and there they still perform divine service. The third church is dedicated to a saint and martyr, called Ramban Oormeez, and is supposed to be the oldest of the three; and its pretensions are partly supported by an arch and font at the west end, whose appearance and style bespeak a very remote antiquity. The chancel of this church remains in a very ruinous condition” [Webb Le Bas, 1831, Vol. 1, pp. 310-311]. Hosten [1924] reports of a tradition of St. Hormis being spared due to the interference of the pregnant wife of a Hindu Panikar named Iringalapilly [Tanima, 2008, p. 68].
Photograph left: June, 2025. Image Credit, B & W right: Virtual Museum of Images and Sound (VMIS), American Institute of Indian Studies, 1968. See the non-plastered northern side wall of the old sanctuary.
Photograph left: June, 2025. Image Credit, B & W right: Indian Church Classics-Nazranies, George Menachery Ed., 1998. See the traditional enclosed front porch of the old church, it was modified during the recent renovation [2016]. The Mondalam [front porch] was built in 1930-31 as an open structure without facade and side walls, but in 1960 the structure was enclosed [Payyapilly, 2016, pp. 62-63],All 3 churches have undergone renovations and reconstructions. The Catholic churches especially have been subjected to significant modifications. The modern St. George Basilica was built near the old St. Mary’s church [current Nithyaradhana chapel] and St. George’s chapel [extinct]. The foundation for new St. George Church [Basilica since August, 2009] was laid on 16 November, 1997 and it was consecrated on 31 December, 2006. Most parts of the old St. Mary’s church [Catholic] were demolished, only the altar was retained for the new ‘Chapel of Perpetual Adoration’ [Nithyaradhana] and it was consecrated on 1 March, 2009. In September 2005, the old façade of the nearby St. George chapel and the miracle well which stood near the entrance to the cemetery were also destroyed. A small portion of the southern section of the current cemetery’s boundary wall looks old, probably it was part of the extinct St. George chapel’s compound wall. This cemetery [Catholic] used to have old funerary monuments until recently and many graves were also discovered in the church compound during the excavation work carried out in 2001 for the construction of modern St. George Basilica [Angamaly, 2016, p. 183]. Today, none of these old graves have survived, but the nearby Jacobite cemetery has a few tombs of priests from the 19th century. Most of the impressive mammoth walls (elephant walls) of St. George church were demolished in 2005. The Ancient Edifices and impressive Manimalika [Bell Tower] in the Valiyapally compound have also been removed with time [Angamaly, 2023, p. 242; Angamaly and Thachil, 2002, p. 219].
Photographs: March, 2017ABBREVIATIONS
DI=Documenta Indica
SRD=Silva Rego Documentacao
REFERENCES
2. Angamaly, Varghese (2016)-Porchugeese Yugavum Mar Abrahavum
12. Paulinus [P. Paulino] A S. Bartholomaeo [1794]-India Orientalis Christiana
13. Payyapilly, Ignatius [2016]-Mar Abrahavum Angamaliyile Kabaridavum, in: Ignatius Payyapilly Ed., Mar Abrahavum St Hormis Devalayavum.
15. Rakshaniyam 1902- am Vatsarathe Panchankam, Sleehaykadutha Ernakulam Vicariate
16. Rakshaniyam 1909- am Vatsarathe Panchankam, Sleehaykadutha Ernakulam Vicariate
17. Rakshaniyam 1924- am Vatsarathe Panchankam, Sleehaykadutha Ernakulam Vicariate
18. Raulin, Johannes Facundi [1745]-Historia Ecclesiae Malabaricae
19. Sebastiani, Giuseppe [Joseph] di S. Maria [1672, Vol. 2]-Seconda Speditione All Indie Orientali
24. Wicki, Joseph Ed. [1954]-Documenta Indica VII [1553-1557]
25. Wicki, Joseph Ed. [1962]-Documenta Indica VII [1566-1569]
26. Wicki, Joseph Ed. [1968]-Documenta Indica X [1575-1577]
27. Wicki, Joseph Ed. [1970]-Documenta Indica XI [1577-1580]
Photographs: March, 2017

Nice!!
ReplyDelete