Although I donot have the right to suggest, since I myself commenting anonymously, I feel that if you reveal yourself, your writings will be considered more authentic by readers. I am well aware of our social system which might made you be anonymous. But, it is clear that you are an expert in what you write, which seems to be your first interest too, and perhaps the best expert available online and so I feel you should/can make yourself visible.

I have one suggestion. Please provide captions for the photos giving details of its exact location so that novice like me can make better use of it.

Hope that there are numeours readers for your posts, though, sadly, I see no other comments. We Nasranis are too busy in making a living and often do not have enough time for this type intellectual efforts (though we are much better compared to other communities in Kerala). This I say from my own experience. I could not study/research much about my ancestors, our traditions and history as I was too busy in my other studies/career till my 25th age. (But this was not the case with my ancestors. They are very aware of this tradition and proud of it, though at my younger age I wondered why). Only last year onwards I found the time to reflect and make connections of my childhood learnings about our culture and now I am proud for being a Nasrani. I still believe that many people of my age are like what I was one year before. And this blog will help these younger generation. As is always the case with written materials, I hope that many people will find this blog useful at a later time when they have time to think about their ethinicity, ancestors etc. They may not be able to do it now as their preference is diffent now.

Can you write about ‘Qhatheesangal’? I am aware that there were numeorus churches for them till the Synd of Udayamperoor. Now very few, especially in Syro malabar.

Thanks for providing this kind of information.Your efforts are great. May god be with you.

This reminds me of the views shared by Menachery.

No other community in Kerala has such a huge monumental stone structure.The indoor counterparts of these crosses have the earliest carvings in Kerala of the national flower lotus and the national bird peacock.

Perhaps even the national animal tiger is first depicted in Kerala art in church sculpture. There was no rock carving in South India prior to the period of these indoor crosses. The motifs, message ,and images on these crosses and their pedestals display a remarkable degree of Indianness and Malayalee Thanima or identity.

Vedic Hindu Gods and Goddessess like Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva, Sapthamathas , Jeshta etc. appear in the art of the central Guruvayoor/Palayoor-Quilon part of Chera country only after the 11th-13th centuries, and even in the Salem-Erode section, and the Trivandrum-Cape Comorin section Vedic Hindu deities appear in art only as late as the 9th century A.D.

This is in response to the comment of Anon,

I presume this comparison is with Hindu Vedic structures.
Modern Scholars are of the opinion that Buddhism was the flourishing religion in Kerala till 9th century.

Are their Buddhist rock structures and carvings which date prior to St. Thomas cross in Kerala? Is there any comparison being made with Buddhist structures ?

As a large no. of enquiries are coming about Kerala and Indian christian art the following also may be useful, for those interested. Excuse the length of the post , pl.

Christian Contribution to Art and Architecture in India by Prof. Menachery

Draft of Article in CBCI KCBC Apostle St. Thomas St. Francis Xavier Jubilee Volume, 2003 By Prof. George Menachery

Christian Contribution to Art and Architecture in India

01.01 Intercultural nature of all art:

What art and architecture is purely indigenous? There is no art or architecture – no sociocultural formations of any significance, anywhere in the world – relating to a nation, a region, a religious or racial or linguistic group – that is fully local or indigenous. The art and architecture of India – secular or religious – is no exception. Thus Church Art and Architecture of India from the commencement of the Christian presence on these coasts at the dawn of the Christian era have been to a greater or lesser degree influenced by those of other nations and religions as they in turn have been influenced by Indias wealth of artistic and architectural traditions. All the nations and cultures that came into contact with India – the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Moguls, the Parthians, the Iranians, the Arabs (of Pagan, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic persuasions), and the Europeans of a later date including the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Danes, the French, and the English have all left their mark on the society and culture of India, as has also been done by the eastern countries and cultures.

01.02 Aspects of art here studied:

The topic “Christian Contribution to Art and Architecture in India” is indeed vast and complicated, as most other topics in this volume are. In addition to the necessity of discussing the chronological, geographical, and denominational aspects, the styles, varieties, types, and schools as well as the genres, localities, media, approximate dates, materials used, purposes and uses, to name but a few details, of each object, and each group of objects, of art and architecture have to be considered.

01.03 Chronological divisions of Christian Culture:

Take for example the chronological divisions. The history of Christianity in India and hence of Christian culture may be said to roughly fall into certain epochs or into various periods: e.g. a) the first few centuries Indian and Persian influence, b) the Padroado period, follwed by c) the Protestant centuries, and the d) the Propaganda period, e) periods and pockets influenced by personnel from different regions of Europe and America, and, f) the post independence period. The nomenclature employed to describe these periods does not necessarily signify that all the trends appearing in each time-span were only specific to the source/s indicated by the epochs designation. In general we may treat the story of chrstian art and architecture in India by dividing it into 1) the Pre-European period, 2) the 16th to 18th Century developments, and finally 3) the modern period.

01.04 Regions:

Among the geographical divisions with special reference to Christian art and architecture must be studied Malabar i.e. Kerala, the Konkan belt and the areas under predominant Portuguese influence even upto Mumbai and Vasai along with Portuguese pockets elsewhere, locations associated with the Mogul court, Bengal, the French pockets, and the Carnatic with special reference to the Tamil country, and many other areas of Anglo-American influence.

01.05 Genres:

Again, consider the genres. While performing arts like song, music and dance, and literary arts like poetry, or the drama or rhetoric do not come under the purview of this article, many genres of fine arts like architecture, sculpture, painting must be discussed. So also objects utilizing or made out of different media or materials like stone (granite, laterite, marble, sandstone), wood, metal and metal alloys (gold, silver, iron, bronze, brass), pigments (wooden panels, murals, frescos, canvasses, cloth paintings, colouring of statues and other wooden objects), ivory, bone, glass, precious stones, shell, plaster, straw, nutshells, leaves, bricks, mud, clay, concrete, …all claim our attention.

01.06 Items of artistic and architectural significance:

There are a large number of items of artistic and architectural significance in the religious and domestic / civil life of Indian Christians which come under one or more of the divisions and categories adumbrated above. F.i., in the churches there are ever so many types of roofs, ceilings, facades, porticos, verandahs, naves, chancels, altars, altarpieces, statues, candlesticks, pillars, doors, doorways, architraves, pulpits, crosses, cross pedestals, chalices, censers, censer-boats, bells, belfries, books, book-illustrations, and bookmarks, bibles and bible stands, choirs, tabernacles, monstrances, railings, wall paintings, wooden panels, cloth paintings, vestments, beams, rafters, processional umbrellas, canopies, chariots,… and a thousand and one other objects to be considered. And there is a plethora of household utensils and features of domestic and civil architecture to be considered.

01.07 A viable scheme of study:

Of course it would be next to impossible to at least cursorily deal with even a fraction of all this. Hence it may be more practical to make an attempt to discuss the main instances and trends in the chief centres of Christian art and architecture then and now, such as (1) Kerala upto the 17th century, (2) the Mogul court, (3) the Goan circle and pockets of Portuguese influence, (4) other regions, (5) some notable architectural landmarks, (6) some remarkable works of art, (7) the 20th century. However in an article of this size even these topics could not be discussed in any detail.

02.01 Kerala Upto the 17th Century:

The location of the state of Kerala on the western seaboard, at the centre of the international highway of seaborne trade connecting the East and the West, [and the North with the South] made it a meeting point of many worlds, a melting pot of races and creeds, from early times.1 The Hindu monarchs and chieftains of the Sangam and post-Sangam period ruled over a fertile agricultural tract the peace and safety of which were guaranteed by the Western Ghats on the one side and the Arabian Sea on the other. The land itself was [for long] a secret shared between the sea and the mountain, an illegitimate child of the two natural forces, protected by and provided for by them in a special way.2 But already we find in the first centuries B.C.E. / C.E. that while the monsoon route connected Muziris (Cranganore) directly across the Arabian Sea with cities in the west (e.g. Alexandria, Aden) the West Coastal route gave its ships ready access to the Indus3 and to countries to the North and Northwest in Asia and Europe.4

02.02 Foreign influences:

It would appear that the impact of her trans-Arabian-sea visitors were much more pronounced in the case of Kerala than that of her mainland neighbours, during and after the Sangam age. This contact with the countries west has paved the way for considerable influence of the societies and cultures of those lands and their peoples on every phase and aspect of the life of the inhabitants of Kerala. Thus from the arrival of Vasco da Gama in 1498, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and England have had a great deal of influence on the people of Kerala not only in the matter of material cicumstances of life but also in the field of ideas and ideologies. One of the strongest areas where this influence is manifested is in the field of Kerala art and architecture in general and Christian art and architecture of Kerala in particular.

02.03 Pre – European period:

Christian art and architecture in Kerala in the pre-European periods had developed obtaining nourishment from two sources: one, from the countries in the near-east including perhaps Greece, Rome, Egypt and the other Middle East countries from which ideas and practices were imported by missionaries and traders, and two, the indigenous forms and techniques of art and architecture that existed in the land.

02.04 Nature of Keralas cultural heritage:

By a happy mingling of these two streams already by the arrival of the west in Kerala there was existing here a strong tradition of Christian art and architecture which was notable for its aesthetic as well as pragmatic excellence. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and the English and also the missionaries from Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium &c. brought with them their own art traditions which resulted in adding certain features to the already existing structures and traditions without trying to or succeeding in totally replacing the cultural heritage of the Christians. Hence today one can see a harmonious blending of the East and the West in the Christian art and architecture of Kerala although examples are not altogether lacking of attempts made to implant certain incongruous elements into Kerala’s cultural formations.

02.05 Two-fold approach:

Hence to understand and estimate the quality and quantity of Kerala Christian art and architecture it may be best first to analyse the nature of such art and architecture at the coming of the Portuguese in 1498 and thereafter to study the items introduced by various western administrators and missionaries, along with their varieties and spread.

02.06 Two pictures:

Two pictures are available about the churches and churchbuilding activities of the Christians of Kerala at the beginning and end of the sixteenth century. At one end we have the account given by Joseph the Indian and the letter written by the four bishops in 1504.5 At the other end of the century we have the documents of the Synod of Diamper in Malayalam as found in many old Kerala churches6, in Portuguese in the work of Gouvea7, and in English in the work of Geddes8.

02.07 Similarity of Hindu and Christian places of worship:

The tale of how Vasco da Gama went into a Hindu temple in Kerala and mistook it for a church and venerated the idol of Bhagavathi (?) mistaking it for an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary would have clearly illustrated the similarity of the Houses of God in Hinduism and Christianity in Kerala had we any assurance that Gama already knew about the shape of Devalayas in the land from his many spies and scouts.

02.08 State of affairs at the beginning of the 16th century:

The description of the reception given to the bishops at the beginning of the 16th century by the faithful sheds considerable light on the state of the churches, the Christians and their cultural and artistic traditions: …they were received by the faithful with great joy and they went to meet them with joy, carrying before them the book of the Gospel, the cross, censers, and torches…9. And they, the bishops consecrated altars…10.

02.09 At the end of the 16th century:

In the Synod of Diamper, 1599, there were represented more than a hundred churches of the St. Thomas Christians. This indicates the existence of a very large number of churches already at the coming of the western powers to India. The description of the visits of Archbishop Dom Menezes to various churches before and after the Synod throws some light on the structures and arrangements of the churches before western elements and types were introduced into Malabar.11 It may be remembered that the churches and all their belongings were the property of the parishioners and each church was built completely from the parish revenues and subscriptions from the local faithful. A student selected from the parish and educated by the parish was the vicar in each parish. It was only after the Synod that westernisation of institutions and structures commenced / gained momentum. The bishops started to have any say whatsoever in the affairs of the parishes only much later, and even today in most Nazraney Churches the parish retains a great deal of autonomy.

Hence as has already been remarked to understand and estimate the quality and quantity of Kerala Christian art and architecture it may be best first to analyse the nature of such art and architecture at the coming of the Portuguese in 1498 and thereafter to study the items introduced by various western administrators and missionaries, along with their varieties and spread.

03.01 The three objects in front of the Kerala church:

There were three striking objects of significance in front of the typical Malabar churches, either inside the courtyard or just outside it: (1) the open-air granite (rock) cross which the present writer has christened Nazraney Sthamba, (2) Kodimaram (Dwajasthamba) or Flag-staff made of Keralas famed teak wood (e.g. at Parur), and often enclosed in copper hoses or paras (as at Changanassery, Pulinkunnu, or Chambakkulam), or made out of some other wood or other material, and (3) the rock Deepasthamba or lampstand. Sthambas or pillars of some type or other are to be found among the Budhists, Jains, Hindus, etc. in India.Such pillars and structures were part of the Christian heritage of Kerala much before the ascendancy of Vedic Hinduism in these parts , although J.Ferguson does not appear to have known or cared for the rock monumental Sthambas of Kerala .12

03.02 Open air granite crosses:

The ubiquitous cross of Malabar churches is best represented by the rock crosses, mostly outside the churches. The open-air rock-cross of Malabar is an obelisk, a tall stone column, with four, sometimes decorated, slightly tapering sides. Rome has many obelisks (from Egypt and East, but no originally cross-bearing structures decorating the piazzas and squares); London has one on the banks of the Thames lovingly called Cleopatras Needle; Paris has one at the place d la concorde; and even New York has one in the central park. Many memorials like the Washington Memorial are obelisk-shaped. The Asoka Pillar and other such Indian pillars were influenced by the Graeco-Parthians, under Egyptian-Persian influence. The Nazraney sthamba is a direct descendant of the obelisk, and much closer to it than the other Indian pillars- in shape, method of constuction and transportaion, method of erection, function, and solar symbolism. The Roman obelisk, bearing crosses today, have been converted to Christianity, while Keralas cross-shaped obelisks were born Christian13. The obelus and the double -dagger reference marks in printing may be profitably recalled here. Such obelisk crosses continued to be erected mostly in front of churches even after western ascendancy without much change although a few changes in the motifs on the pedestals etc. could be noticed.14

03.03 The three-tier gabled indigenous architecture of Kerala churches, which lacked facades until the coming of the Portuguese, immensely gains in richness, symmetry, and beauty because of the open-air rockcrosses, some of them more than 30 feet in height including the intricately carved pedestals, and monolithic shafts. No other community in Kerala has such a huge monumental stone structure. The indoor counterparts of these crosses have the earliest carvings in Kerala of the national flower lotus and the national bird peacock. Perhaps even the national animal tiger is first depicted in Kerala art in church sculpture. There was perhaps no rock carving in South India prior to the period of these indoor crosses. The motifs, message, and images on these crosses and their pedestals display a remarkable degree of Indianness and Malayalee Thanima or identity. Vedic Hindu Gods and Goddessess like Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva, Sapthamathas, Jeshta etc. appear in the art of the central Guruvayoor/Palayoor-Quilon part of Chera country only after the 9th-13th centuries, and even in the Salem-Erode section, and the Trivandrum-Cape Comorin section Vedic Hindu deities appear in art only as late as the 9th century A.D.15

03.04 The base with a socket, the monolithic square and slightly tapering shaft with cylindrical terminals, the horizontal piece forming the arms with a double (hole) socket in the middle, and the capital with a cylindrical bottom end are the four members of the open-air cross. They are so well chiselled and proportionate that when put together the socket and cylinder arrangement enables the cross to stand by itself. However for the bigger crosses, pedestals in the form of sacrificial altars or Ballikallus are found, often carrying exquisite reliefs of the flora and fauna of the land in addition to scenes from daily life and biblical scenes. The cross which represents the supreme Bali (sacrifice) or Mahabali appearing on the Balikkallu or sacrificial altar most appropriately represents the Calvary events and sheds plenty of light on the ideological, historical, cultural and technological bent of mind of the forefathers.Compare with the base of the Obelisk of Theodosius, Constantinople,.A.D.390.

03.05 The obelisk is a ray of the sun – here a ray of Christ (of Horus -Xt. the sun-God). This ray helps the lotus near – universally depicted on such crosses to blossom forth representing in a typical Indian poetic conceit the grace received by the sin – bound human soul (panka jam) from Christ. Lotus representing the sun is found in other early Indian art also.The half dozen interior Pehlavi inscribed crosses, some of them surely of pre- 7th century origin, which were mostly tombstones before they were put up on the altars, have generally the dove (Holy Spirit) depicted on top of the clover or flowertipped equal-armed Greek cross, in addition to the lotus at the bottom. In this three piece (Thri-kanda) cross one might, perhaps, with considerable effort read the lotus represented Brahma (Father), the flowery cross (Son), and the dove (Holy Ghost). But the lotus has more universal and more diverse implications in the various eastern creeds.

03.06 The arrangement to hold wicks found on the crosses may be related to the necessity to preserve fire, and the effort to make it available to the common people in the dim past, when Homakundams were rare in Kerala or beyond the reach of the common folk. It is perhaps in connection with the need to preserve fire that the oil-Nerchas and oil Araas or chambers of the churches, and the compound -wall rocklamps are to be evaluated. The oil related objects in the churches also indicate the connection of this Christianity with the trade of the land, especially oil-trade. The bell like arrangement on some crosses also are noteworthy. Veneration of the cross, angels, Adam and Eve… and of course the Indian Cross itself are some of the religious carvings on these structures.

03.07 Deepasthambas and Deepams: . The square or polygonal shape of the individual pieces in the granite or rock lampstands at Kallooppara, Niranam, Kundra, and Chengannur churches indicate the antiquity of such lampstands in the churches. Unlike in the churches, in the temples the tradition of these lamps continued and thus developed in to the present-day round shape of the pieces. In art history generally the simpler forms make their appearance first, and refinements and complications indicate a later date. Even when the tradition of lampstands declined in the churches, many open-air crosses had wickholders incorporated into them, with the advantage that wind and rain did not put off the flames. Church walls still display rows of rock lamps. Inside the churches the tradition of bronze lamps continued vigorously, representing a variety of shapes and types, and some lamps having even hundreds of wickholders, e.g. the Aayiram Aalila lamps at Arthat or Angamaly.

03.07 In front of the church the third interesting object is the flagstaff, sometimes covered with copper paras. Every festival is announced with the Kodiyettu or flag-hoisting, a tradition going back to early Buddhist times at least. All these three objects in the courtyard of the church have a variety of liturgical functions associated with them.

03.08 Baptismal Fonts:. Crossing the portico or mukhamandapam one enters the Haikala or nave beyond the huge doorway with intricately carved doorpanels called Aanavathils. Either in the nave or in the little room set aside as baptistry one comes across the rock baptismal font. There are interesting rock baptismal fonts at Edappally, Kanjoor, Mylakkombu, Muthalakkodam, Changanassery, Kothamangalam, Kadamattom etc. The similarity of these baptismal fonts with illustrations of the fonts used for the baptism of Constantine (4thC.) and Clovis (Rheims C.496) is remarkable. All the old baptismal fonts are of granite or very hard laterite. They are all huge in size indicating that baptism by immersion must have been the order of the day. Many of the dozens of old baptismal fonts depicted in the STCEI15 & the ICHC16 were probably of a date prior to the decree of the Synod of Diamper which made permanent fonts more or less compulsory. Although most of the old baptismal fonts/ baptistries are found near the west end or middle of the nave on the northern side – Kaduthuruthy(Big), old Edappally, old Kanjoor, Changanassery (Southern side), in many churches, mostly Jacobite/Orthodox they are today found close to the sanctuary e.g. Angamaly (Middle-church), Kallooppara.. They are exquisitely carved with reliefs of the baptism of Christ, Mary feeding the Child, angels, or Indian crosses. There are also wonderful motifs of leaves, the basket pattern, coir pattern, etc. engraved on these stones. By the way the very Malayalam word Mammodisakkallu indicates a font made of stone. Another term is mammodisath-thotti. The Holy Water Font is called Annavella Th.-thotti, also generally of stone.

The Architraves and doorposts in many churches are good examples of south Indian rock-carving. (e.g.old Kayamkulam, Chengannur, Kanjoor). But the rock-baptismal fonts are the real pride of many an old church.16

03.09 Another aspect of church architecture that has scarcely been affected by the later types from abroad is the old three tier gabled wooden roofing with the highest roof for the Madhbaha or Sanctum Sanctorum and the lowest for the Mukhamandapam or portico with the nave or Hykala having a roof of middle height. Although the rock crosses, the flagstaffs, the rock lampstands, the baptismal fonts, and the three tiered roofing pattern have not been much affected by the western visitors and administrators many of the objects found inside the churches and the very appearance of the inside have undergone many changes after the arrival of the Portuguese and other westerners. Let us look at some of these changes.

04.01. There is an interesting description of Kerala churches in the account of Joseph the Indian, c.1500. The Christians have their churches, which are not different from ours, but inside only a cross will be seen. They have no statues of the saints. The churches are vaulted like ours. On the foundation is seen a big cross just as in our place. [May be the open air cross?] They have not any bells. 17 There is much truth in the statement of George Varghese: But once these churches came under the jurisdiction of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, the ornate monumentality of the European churches was introduced into the small temple-like Syrian Christian churches, which even did not have windows in the early past. The baroque and ornate altars with statues and foliages replaced the Chaldeo-Syrian altars, which were in fact only stone-tables with nothing more than candles, Chalice and the Holy Book on them, the bare necessities for observing the Holy Mass. Despite unpleasant frictions with the Portuguese, both in political and ecclesiastical matters, this was the golden era of Church Art in Kerala. They introduced the Romano-Portuguese style, which was assimilated with such artistic and structural finesse by the artists of Kerala, so that it created some of the finest pieces of artistry in the Nazraney school. Later, the British also were equally enthusiastic in introducing their skills and forms into the Church Art of Kerala. Hence, from a conservative perspective, the art in these churches may appear eclectic, with diverse traditions, both western and eastern, superimposed one over the other. The exclusively Asiatic symbols like stone lamps, flag masts, stone-crosses, arched entrances etc., untouched by the foreign hands, co-exist with the Renaissance frescoes, and the Baroque Art of Europe in the same church-complex. There is, in fact, an underlying unity behind this apparently confused juxtaposition of images, symbols and monuments; this is due to the fact that as universal archetypes, images and symbols of religions, both in the west and in the east, have many common elements.18

04.02. Among the additions which took place in Kerala churches with the advent of Europeans might be counted paintings and sculptures on a large scale, imposing altarpieces or reredos; rostra or pulpits, statues of all sizes, types and shapes; plaster mouldings and pictures; huge bells and belfries. Murals and frescoes on a very large scale make their appearance as well as paintings on wood panels and clothe. But the most apparent introduction of the Portuguese was the facades they put up between the portico and the nave in order to impart a Christian appearance to the churches.19

04.03 . The mural tradition of Kerala is ably represented in the churches of Kerala. Many pictures depicted on the walls of Kerala churches may be older than the well known Mughal and Rajput paintings.20 Some interesting murals, all of which use only pigments extracted directly from natural objects like leaves, laterite stone, &c., are to be seen in the churches at Angamaly, Akapparambu, Paliekkara, and Cheppad. Silparatna esp. its Chitralakshana division , the Sudhalepavidhana etc. deal in detail with the colours and additional materials and their application in Indian mural painting. It is interesting to note that the early paintings and iconography of Kerala churches strictly adhere to the concepts of Indian sages and craftsmen on these matters. Interesting old-time wooden panels are seen at Piravaom, Kottayam, Changanassery and Ollur churches. The vast interior of the Ollur church has thousands of square feet covered with frescos.

04.04. Today we have a few churches and places of worship in Kerala which adhere more or less to one or other of the classical christian architectural styles like the Basilican, Romanesque, Byzantine, Gothic, Baroque, Rococco, etc. but more often than not the churches built in the twentieth century are combinations of various styles, both eastern and western. Elements of Saracenic, Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist origin are also common. And there are a large number of churches which are like any other place of assembly such as a Cinema-house, an international conference centre, or a town-hall, or Kalyana Mandapam.

04.05. Kerala churches built, restored, or reconstructed after the 16th century have many features in common with such structures elsewhere in India, esp. in Goa and environs, and as such are not treated separately.

05.01 Portuguese Influence and the Goan Circle:

After the arrival of Vasco da Gama and more especially after the commencement of Portuguese ascendancy in India two distinct patterns of Christian art developed, one within the areas of Portuguese influence, mostly along the coasts of the peninsula, and the other at the Mogul (Mughal) Court in the North.

05.02 Twelve years after the arrival of da Gama at Calicut in Kerala Alphonso de Albuquerque brought Goa under Portuguese rule in 1510. Thirtytwo years later Francis Xavier arrived in Goa in 1542. Christian communities began to grow up in Goa. In the words of Mathew Lederle, S. J. :21 It was a characteristic of the Lusitanian period that the newly gained Christian Faith found expression in feasts, customs, songs, dances. In Goa grew up what has become up to now the only complete form of Christian art in India, comprising both the sacred and the profane, encompassing the whole of human life. We speak of the Indo-Portuguese Baroque. This phrase is not to be taken in too literal a meaning. Though being predominantly Baroque, it was not restricted to Baroque nor to Portuguese. Almost any form of European religious art of the 16th to 18th centuries and cultural traditions of various countries left their traces in Goa. The Portuguese were great builders and promoted architecture more than any other form of fine art. The Christian art of Goa reached its climax in church building. [For some illustrations cf. Thomas Encyclopaedia,Vol.1.] These churches were elaborately decorated; they expressed the Baroque ideal of making visible here on earth the heavenly darbar, centred round the Eucharistic presence of Christ among his people.

The composite Indo-Portuguese culture which developed in Goa [and elsewhere in India] over more than 450 years of Portuguese presence in this locality of Indias West Coast, is a fascinating but vast subject..with…the shapes which European Baroque, with the Christian art and architecture which came with it, took in the hands of the Indian artisans and craftsmen who had their own repertoire of skills, styles and motifs, developed through millennia of building and carving – the unique, locally developed style of the Hindu temple and its companion lamp-tower…22

05.03. Cochin continued to be the Portuguese capital in India until 1530. Western style forts, houses, churches with their spires, and monasteries began to be built in Cochin and Goa. Fort Manuel at Cochin was enlarged and the Mattanchery Palace, now called the Dutch Palace was constructed and gifted to the Maharajah of Cochin for the favours granted. In Cochin even today can be seen many of the churches and convents the Portuguse built – such as the St. Francis church, the first European place of worship in India perhaps, where Vasco da Gama was first buried, although the church itself became afterwards a Dutch church and later an English church and finally came to be under the Church of South India. It is a protected monument today under the Archaeological Survey of India as is also the so-called Dutch Palace not very far from it. In this locality can also be seen the Santa Cruz Cathedral, the palace of the Bishop of Cochin, the St. Bartholomew church, the Dominican church and the St. Pauls church.

05.04. Already by 1542 Francis Xavier writes that Goa is a city entirely of Christians, something worth seeing. There is a monastery of friars,… he continues, and a noble cathedral with many canons, and many other churches. City planning and building activity continued apace so much so by the end of the 16th century Goa is compared to Lisbon and is termed the Rome of the East. And Francois Pyrard has this to say: The buildings of the churches and palaces, both public and private, are very sumptuous and magnificent. The Se Cathedral begun in the middle of the 16th century, some years after the completion of the first church of St. Catherine of Alexandria, and the church of Our Lady of the Rosary are examples of the earliest large-scale building activity in Goa. The latter brings to mind the contemporary need for a church to be also a fort at the same time.

05.05. The ecclesiastical furniture of that time was artistically formed altar pieces, pulpits, statues, sepulchres, tombstones, chairs, tables, confessionals. Special attention was given to the sacristies, their ceilings, their walls, their almirahs. [See the illustrations in Vol.II (1973) and I (1982) of the Thomas Encyclopaedia.] Even now a large number of excellent statues both in churches and in homes are still available, done in wood or in ivory, the delight of the tourist and the souvenir collector. These statues betray their European artistic inspiration, but they also show the hand of the local artisans. Some figures have local face expressions. In a large stucco representation in the Margao church, the Virgin in standing on a peacock which may have been influenced by the presentation of Parvati standing on a peacock. Goa had a developed art of painting, first done by Europeans, then taken up by local craftsmen. Often the paintings were on wood, as it was difficult to get a good canvas. Murals too are to be found, as also work in precious metals. The most outstanding piece of craftsmanship done in Goa is the reliquary of St.Francis Xavier executed in Goa in 1936-37. Embroidery too, was encouraged. The Indian contribution to Goan art is more in the decorations than in the church structures, which on the whole, kept the forms of their European origins.Though the employment of Hindu artisans to produce objects of Christian worship was forbidden by ecclesiastical and secular authorities, both Christian and non-Christian artists were employed even by religious orders.23

The new Euro-impressed, Indian Baroque made its first appearance in Kerala, where Catholic churches came up on the Indian temple plan [Kerala architectural plan], giving full scope to the native wood-worker to show on a wider scale than he was accustomed to , his carving skills while sculpting church-ordained motifs and themes. These skills were to meet, in a dazzling display of gold painted wood carving, the challenges of crafting ceilings, outsized altars, retables and pulpits in numerous churches in Goa and other Portuguese territories on the West Coast.24

05.06. The tower of the Augustinian monastery, the Jesuit hospital, the Bom Jesus Basilica cloisters and the shrine of the saint, the church of St. Peter, the Santa Monica, Rachol, Pilar are only some of the edifices which must be studied for their architectural features and artistic treasures. And many other churches and public buildings in the various divisions of Goa still proclaim the glory of Golden Goa as sung by Luis de Camoens in his celebrated epic Os Lusiadas.25

05.07 The Hellenistic inspired Gandhara school of art and the Indo-Persian creations of the Mughal period have been claimed as Indian art. The European-Christian inspired art of Goa, too, has to get its place among the various forms of Indian art.26

It is remarkable that Goan art reached its highest development during the 17th century, a period of political decline, and of a growing Hindu dominance of Goan economy. The Christian art of Goa was carried on not by political patronage but by the devotion of the people. (For this section cf.E.R.Hambye, S.J., Christian Art in Goa-Some Reflections, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay, XIL-XIIL,1966-67, New Series, pp.194-202).27

06.01.The Mogul Court and Christian Art 28:

The Christian art in Goa grew up within a Christian community reflecting the socio-cultural mood of this community. Something quite different developed in Northern India at the court of Akbar(1556-1605). The Mohammedan empire in the North was different from the various smaller political powers in the South of India. Akbar, open to other religions, invited Jesuit priests to his court. They aimed at gaining influence at the highest cultural and intellectual level. Jesuits stayed at the court from 1550-83,1591,1595-1603. They could even continue their stay when Aurangzeb ascended the throne in 1658.

As there were no large Christian communities in the North there was no need for big churches. The Jesuits made good use of paintings, and especially engravings which were more easily available and transportable. These gifts were appreciated for their artistic qualities and for their religious contents. For example they presented to Akbar a copy of Plantins Polyglot Bible printed in 1569-72 for Philip II of Spain, illustrated with engravings by Flemish artists of the school of Quentin Matsys.

Akbar ordered his court painters to copy the new art. They copied, adapted and in some cases created new pictures, a happy blending of Christian content and local forms. Throughout the period there was interest in and preference for religious themes. This continued even when secular pictures reached India through officials of the East India Company and the Dutch embassy. Religious pictures in India at that time referred mainly to mythology or they showed human beings who were not divine. The Gospel scenes appealed as they showed the divine through human forms. They were religious paintings with historical motives. The Jesuit mission at Agra succeeded not only using art as a very effective missionary medium, but also in founding a new school of painting. This was profoundly influenced by Western techniques and was in a way of Christian art, yet it was also free enough and copious enough to be a genuine and almost a major element in the art-life of its time and place.(J.F.Butler, op.cit., p.66) At present, upto one hundred Christian pictures of the Mughal period are still in existence. Besides paintings, ivory and wood work, statues and panels with Christian themes were produced at that time.

Along with the general decline in creativity during the period preceding British rule in India, Indian Christian art also lost its impetus. Of the works of the later period some have their origin in Pondicherry, Vishakapatnam and other centres of French influence.

Some Sources for Christian Art in the Mogul Court:

Space does not permit the present writer to go deeper. However exhaustive information on this phase of Christian art in India can be obtained from the Sir Edward Maclagan, The Jesuits and the Great Moguls, London 1932. The chapters dealing with the first, second, and third missions to Akbar (II, III, IV), and the fifth chapter dealing with Jahangir, must be read. But more especially chapter XIII entitled Culture and Language (pp. 190 – 202) and chapter XV, The Missions and Mogul Painting (pp. 222 – 267). The works by Fr. Hosten also has a great fund of information on the present topic.

Attention of the reader is invited to these illustrations in Maclagans book: The first Jesuit mission arguing before Akbar (Narsingh); The Good Shepherd (Maskin); S. Matthew (Kesho); The court of Jehangir, including a Jesuit priest; Shah Jahan and a courtier, with Christian symbols (Bichitr); S. Cecilia (Nini); The inn at Bethlehem; An Indian artist drawing the Madonna (Kesho); and Figures from Durer.

The interest shown by Akbar and Jehangir in the missionaries and the western paintings was not unmixed. For example see this passage in Jahangir and the Jesuits, London, 1930: While he (Jahangir) prized the sacred pictures which the Fathers gave him, not, as they fondly imagined, out of veneration for the subjects represented, but because he had a passion for works of art and curios of all kinds, and especially for pictures, of which he was not only an enthusiastic collector, but a very competent judge.

Indian Christian Art in Modern Times:

When the third period of Christian influence in India began, its missionary method was pioneered by William Carey in Bengal, stress was laid on literature (the Bible) and education. The fine arts were neglected; compared with the previous period there was less interest in music, drama, feasts and festivals.Church buildings showed often the influence of the country of origin of the respective missionary society. Still, as regards painting there have been more creative attempts during this modern period than ever before. We find two types of paintings: those done by non-Christians and those done by Christians. This corresponds to two efforts at understanding Christ in relation to Indian traditions. Non-Christian painters expressed their search and insights in relation to the person of Christ, Christian Painters interpreted Christ through the means of Indian traditions. Christian painting in India, and especially its modern period is excellently treated by R.W.Taylor, Jesus in Indian Paintings, Madras, CLS, 1975.

Contributions of Non-Christians to Indian Christian Art.

Members of the modern renaissance movement in India showed great interest in Christ, especially during the early religion based period, above all in the Brahmo Samaja movement of Bengal, and then again in the Gandhian movement. The first modern school of art in India, the Bengal School of Art centred in Shantiniketan, was through the Tagore family closely linked with the Brahmo Samaja movement. Also Gandhijis influence was felt at Shantiniketan. C.F.Andrews lived there for some time.

Nandalal Bose studied under Abindranath Tagore and exercised great influence in the Bengal School. Of the Christian painters Angaelo da Fonseca and Vinayak S. Masoji studied under both of them. One of the recurring themes of Nandalal Boses Christian paintings is the cross. Representations of Christ on the cross and his passion, his love of the humble and the low, along with the representation of the incarnation (Christ and his mother Mary) will for many an artist be the medium through which they express their own ideals and struggle, their experiences and insights.Jamini Roy, for several years chose Christ as a main theme for his paintings. He did not belong to the Bengal School, but drew his inspiration from Bengal folk art of Western Europe. K.C.S.Paniker carried on the spirit of India in a modern form. Intense in his colours and expressive in his form he was often drawn to Christian themes. R.W.Taylor sees in his Christian paintings a pronounced social dimension and a tendency largely towards the events of the passion.(R.W.Taylor, op.cit., p.78). It was also Paniker who said, and this shows one of the reasons why he was attracted to paint Christ, If you scratch Christ there is the carpenters son, something authentic.(Taylor, ibid, p.73). P.V.Janakiram specialised in wash and tempera techniques and later in sculpture and reliefs. Christian themes are recurring in his works. The most often portrayed theme is the cross, followed by the theme of the Virgin and the Child. Christian themes with these artists share their place of predominance with many other themes and there are many artists who never painted any explicitly Christian subject, yet the number of those who did is astonishingly great.

Christian Artists in Modern Times

During recent times several Christian artists have come forward to express their Christian Faith through the medium and form of Indian art. The comprehensiveness and openness with which this is done is something new. The newness is in this that the artist, not always consciously perhaps, regards the traditional and contemporary forms of Indian art as his own also. He is not an intruder into something not related to him. Still he has to do a pioneering job. Christian paintings now in use in homes and churches are to a large extend western and often than not of an inferior quality. The artist can in a visible way express the ideal of the integration of the Christian community in the country. He can also contribute towards activating an Indian orientation of the Christian communities. The people using religious art in India are not always attuned to modern trends in painting. Indian Christian works of art are more accepted if they are linked up with one of the periods of the past: Ajantha, Mughal, Neo-Bengali. Experience shows that the artists themselves undergo a change. We can recognise the development of an even greater individuality, a more personal note as the years go by.This requires that the individual artist finds encouragement, enlightened sympathetic criticism – and also patronage. Art can only progress if the artists can also live from their art. The purchase of original works for homes and institutions is a very realistic way of promoting art.

The Christian artist in India is confronted by a number of difficulties. The popular, widely accepted bazaar art shows that many are satisfied with cheap, artistically inferior works of art, as their artistic taste remains underdeveloped. It is a widely spread opinion that representations related to a historic religion have to show the religious events and persons in a historically true setting, in something like a photographic presentation. But with the exclusion, perhaps, of the shroud of Turin, we have no historically correct representation of Christ. Besides the art of painting is different from the photographic art. An artist expresses in colour and form what he feels, how he understands. He does this through the media which are congenial to him, the media from his own culture. In Western modern art, Christ is portrayed in many ways; he is seen as the leader of masses, the redeemer, the man of sorrow, the bringer of peace besides all the various other forms Christian Faith or the inspiration of his person suggests. He is depicted in realism, impressionism, expressionism, cubism and many other trends of painting. An Indian artist will look at Christ through Indian eyes and this will give his discovery meaning, form and beauty.

In the Bible, for example, in the childhood narrations of Christ, passages are expressed as midrash. Midrash means research.The sacred writer searched the old scriptures for passages which would interpretatively depict a present reality. That the child was brought to the temple 490 days after the angels announcement to Zachariah depicts the 490 years mentioned by Daniel and supposedly required till the coming of the Messiah. The child brought to the temple is therefore the Messiah. Should one not speak of a cultural midrash also? Searching in the treasures of a given tradition, modern and ancient, the artist takes the language of this tradition to explain his own insights. As there are many traditions in India the Christian artists in India may speak in many ways of the one reality of his Faith.

As the Christian influence in the shaping of Indian traditions is a minor one, the symbols of these traditions will therefore not always adequately express Christian meanings. While Christians in India have a preference for typically Christian symbols (e.g. the cross) or at least neutral symbols (e.g.flame, flower, gesture of offering), they are reluctant to accept symbols with a typical Hindu cannotation (e.g.the word OM). Art India, Pune a publishing centre for Indian Christian art, prints pictures with various symbols, the same amount at the same time. It is possible, therefore, to determine the likes and dislikes of the buyers.It has to be kept in mind that most symbols, in the course of centuries, have been given various meanings. Let us take the symbol of the peepal tree. Ancient Indian tradition represents the cosmos in the form of a giant, inverted tree. This tree, a peepal tree, buried its roots in the sky and spreads its branches over the whole earth. It represents creation as a descending order. There have been interpretations which were pantheistic and therefore not acceptable to Christians. There were also other interpretations fully agreeable with Christian ideas. This gives the symbol a certain ambivalence. A Christian can see in the inverted peepal tree a representation of creation in a descending order. This can point to Christ, as He, through Him and for Him all things were created, appeared as man and Saviour. The peepal tree reminds then of the first creation and of the new creation brought about by the coming of Christ. (In this sense the peepal tree has been used for a Christmas card by Sr.Veera Pereira.)

Symbols become part of a culture; they stay even when philosophies change; they are then reinterpreted.This holds good also as regards basic concepts, e.g. karma,maya,etc. Symbols may even have been given tantric interpretations with erotic meanings, even shocking erotic meanings. But this does not mean that these symbols are necessarily connected with such meanings. If a symbol is reinterpreted, it is done in the hope that the new meaning can hold its ground, does not lead to syncretism, and strikes a new cord in the depths of ones soul.

The number of Christian artists who struggled to present their Faith through the medium of Indian culture is considerable. One of the great pioneers is Angelo de Fonseca, a Catholic of Goan origin who grew up in Pune and studied under Abanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose. When he left Shantiniketan, Abanindranath gave him the commission, Now go out and paint churches. It was only towards the end of his life (he died in 1968) that the general climate had changed in favour of Indian art. He worked for many years in the inspiring atmosphere of the Anglican Khrista Prem Seva Ashram, Pune. His more than 500 paintings show how he grew in his work, how he left the early Bengal School influence and developed his own style- mainly,harmonious,impressive,with its clear lines and the preference for earthen coloured shades. A.da fonsca freely shared his wide experience when an altar had to be erected, an ecclesiastical vestment designed, a church built, vessels to be used. He pointed our how much, genuinely good, was available in the small shops of the cities and in the bazaars.

Alfred D.Thomas, an Anglican, from Uttar Pradesh, depicted Christs life and ministry. His Christ had the ideal male body of classical Indian sculptures,with broad shoulders and narrow waist. His Christ was soft but not feminine. His women had the fully flowered female forms of the classical tradition.

Vinayak S.Masoji, born 1897, at Kolhapur, a member of the United Church of Northern India, studied at Shantiniketan, and became the Director of its Kalabhavan. He painted, modelled, worked with leather, wood and in Batik. He wanted to express a message that India could understand. In the Mughal style of painting he found a method suitable to tell stories, in his case to retell biblical events in an Indian setting. A biography is now being prepared and published by friends.

Angela Trinidade, comes from a distinguished artist family of Bombay. She painted Christs life in the Ajantha style, a wide step away from the Western techniques of her father, often called the Rembrandt of the East. Later she changed and painted in triangular forms. She explains this to be the result of a religious experience she had. Now she wants to express everything in this triangular trinitarian form.

Frank Wesley, a Methodist from Northern India, lives at present, like A.D. Thomas and Angela Trinidade, outside of India. He intends to paint the external rather than the historical Christ, to paint Him with Indian feeling.(c.f.R.W.Taylor, op.cit.p.135). Frank Wesley likes to use symbols. He is a gifted artist,able to use various styles and methods. In this way he conveys an idea more than he reveals himself.

The most popular Christian artist in India at present, (popularity here means demand for her paintings), is Sr. Genevieve, now at Bangalore, a nun of French origin. She likes to give importance to lines and to striking colours. (There are two pictures by her in the Thomas Encyclopaedia II, 1973.) Her figures, often the humble, the meek in the spirit of the Gospels, have an intense quality of Indianness. She painted many scenes of the Lords life, especially Christmas scenes. She has prepared huge compositions, slides series, film strips, and the Old Testament series of the NBCL Centre, Bangalore. Sr. Genevieve, in more recent years, has raised a voice of warning against the use of Hindu symbols, which she regards, to a large extent, as unsuitable for use in Christian paintings.

Sr. Genevieves disciple, Sr. Claire from Andhra Pradesh, a convert from Hinduism, is a member of the same religious congregation as Sr. Genevieve. Sr. Claire has great talent, her paintings are attractive, simple, and full of feeling. At Nueremberg, Germany, a calendar for 1976 with her pictures was published. She writes about these pictures, I love our Mother Mary so much that you will find her on all my pictures. Recently she has worked with cloth also and for silk-screen printing and painted two sets of stations of the cross.

Jyoti Sahi, Catholic from Bangalore, had some ashram experience and has a wide cultural background. He built his home, an artists ashram, in a village near Bangalore. He wrote ( 19.2.76) about a prospective chela, I would teach the person what I can, but would expect the person to be fully involved in my work, that would be not only painting, but helping in the village, doing things about the house, even gardening at times, helping me to teach others – you know, the sort of creativity events I am increasingly involved in. It would be good if he thought of the possibility of religious art being his profession eventually. Jyoti Sahi combines art with theological reflection. His lectures at the Jnana Deepa Vidyapeetha, Pune are greatly appreciated. For him the symbols of the Hindu tradition are to be creatively interpreted. It can be said about him, that he searches for the Unknown Christ in Hinduism. Missio, Germany, published a beautiful calendar with mandalas (symbols helpful for meditation) in 1975. This was received as a gift of the Indian Church to a Church in the West, in a spirit of partnership.

Due to shortage of space we can mention only the names of other Christian artists: A. Alphonso, Madras; Sudhir Bairagi, Bengal; Frederick Chellappa; Anthony Doss; F. N. DSouza; Eustace Fernandes, Bombay; John W. Gonsalves; Taba Jamyang, Mussoorie; Peter Lewis; K.N. Misra, Lucknow; Lemuel Patole, Bombay, (now – 1976 – in the USA); Albert O. Pengal, Bombay; Duckett J. Prim; G. D. Paul Raj; Olympio C. Rodrigues, Bombay; V. M. Sathe; G. R. Singh; Sr. Sylvestra, FMM, Madras; Sr.Theresa, O. Carm., Sitagarha; Marcus Topno (+), Ranchi; Joseph V. Ubale (+), Bombay; W. Vandekerckhove, SJ, Ranchi.

In the field of painting modern Indian Christian art has achieved considerable results. As regards statuary, most of what is produced is on the level of artistically inferior plaster-of-Paris production. The artistic level of the 17th century has not been reached. The more extensive use of wood, metal and ivory for statues would mark a big step forward. The present (1976) mood for function and utility does not include sufficient encouragement for the promotion of embroidery and woodwork.

Conclusion:

A number of other artists and a large number of objects of art and architecture aught to be dealt with in this article. Some areas and locations are almost left out. But it is hoped that a general appreciation of the origin and development of Indian Christian art, its variety, its spread, its influence could be gained from what has been attempted here.

Notes:

1. M. G. S. Narayanan, Cultural Symbiosis in Kerala, Trivandrum, 1972, p.1.

2. Id., p. vii.

3. George Menachery in Kodungallur : City of St. Thomas, Kodungallur, 1987, p.4, et.sq. of 2000 reprint.

4. Id. p. 19, n.3 which refers to the many relevant maps in Bjorn Landstorm, The Quest for India, Stockholm, 1964 and in the Atlas by G.M. in Menachery, George (Ed.), The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Vol. I, esp. those dealing with the Journeys of St. Thomas, Marco Polo, B. Diaz, & St. F. Xavier.

5. We quote from the edition by Schurhammer, Georg, The Malabar Church and Rome, Trichinopoly, 1934, the relevant portion of which is reprinted in the Indian Church History Classics, Vol. I The Nazranies, Ed. G. Menachery, Ollur, Jan. 1998, pp.526 – 529.

6. Cf. Scaria Zachariah, Udayamperur Soonnahadosinte Kaanonakal, in Malayalam, 1998.

7. Jornada, Lisbon and Coimbra, 1606. A new English translation is being published by the LIREC, Mount St. Thomas, Ernakulam.

8. London, 1694; reprinted in Vol. II of Hough, History of Christianity in India, pp.511 – 683; and a new rendering in Menachery (Ed.), The Nazranies, pp. 31 – 112.

9. Schurhammer, op. cit. p.526, col.2 in The Nazranies.

10. Id., ibid.

11. Geddes, op. cit., passim. Visits to Mangate (Alangad), Cheuree (Chowara), Canhur (Kanjur), Molandurte (Mulanthuruthi), Carturte (Kaduthuruthy), Nagpili (Nagapuzha), Diamper (Udayamperur),Paru (Parur), are quite illuminative in this respect.

12. History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, London, 1876. Quoted by Menachery, George in Pallikkalakalum Mattum (Malayalam), Trichur, 1984, p.60.

13. This writer during interviews on Radio Vatican in 1975 and 1978.

14. For these thoughts vide G. Menachery, Pallikalile Kala, Mathrubhoomi Weekly, March 1978.

15. For details Pallikkalakalum Mattum and also paper by Menachery, G., Social Life and Customs of the St. Thomas Christians in the Pre-Diamper Period, Mt. St. Thomas, June 1999. Printed in The Life and Nature of the St. Thomas Christian Church in the Pre – Diamper Period, Ed. Bosco Puthur, Kochi, 2000, pp.188 – 203. Also the writers papers at the World Syriac Conferences and the Societas Liturgica Congress reproduced in various issues of the HARP, Kottayam (Ed. Dr. Jacob Thekkepparampil) and the St. Thomas Christians Journal. Rajkot ( Ed. Mar Gregory Karotempral).

16. For hundreds of illustrations dealing with the art and architecture of Kerala Christians see Vol. II of the STCEI (alternately the Thomapedia) and the Nazranies.

17. India in 1500 A. D. about Joseph the Indian by A. Vallavanthara, Trivandrum, 1984, chapters 4 and 5.

18. His unpublished paper Construction of Images in the Art of Early Christian Churches, presented at Trichur and Kottayam which may be seen on the ICHR website. Also see articles by Dr. James Menachery and P.Andrews Athappally in the STCEI, II, Trichur, 1973.

19. From Yule Ed. Cordier, Travels of Marco Polo , Vol. II, London, 1926 reproduced in the STCEI, II, pp.12, col. 2 ff.

20. George Menachery, Malayala Manorama, Sunday Supplement, April 19, 1987.

21. Unpublished article written by Mathew Lederle (21.2.1976) for the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India now scheduled to be included in STCEI Vol.III.

22. T.P. Issar, Goa Dourada The Indo-Portuguese Bouquet, Unesco aided work, Bangalore,1997. This interesting volume has an excellent collection of photographs dealing exhaustively with the art and architecture of the Goan Circle along with many insightful comments.

23. Lederle, op. cit.

24. Issar, op. cit., p.35.

25. There were constructed in Goa hundreds of churches, chapels, wayside crosses and statues, monasteries, and convents in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. For example 25 churches in Ilhas, 25 in Salcete, 7 in Marmugao, 27 in Bardez, and dozens in other locations including Old Goa. Other Portuguese territories also had their own share of churches in these centuries. Cf., f.i., An Illustrated Guide to Goa, Furtado,1922 (pp.183 ff.). Also cf. the many other guides, ecclesiastical directories, and publications.

26. Lederle, op. cit.

27. Lederle, op. cit. As this pathbreaking article written in 1976 by. Fr. Lederle for the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia could not be included in the 1982 volume by this writer and as it did not see the light of day during the authors lifetime large portions from it are being reproduced here for the first time.

28.Lederle, op. cit.

29.Lederle, op. cit.

30.Lederle, op. cit.

Some light on the raised questions may be found in the following article by Prof. George Menachery in “Christian Contribution to Nation Building”:

Ancient Kerala Christian Art

Art and Architecture of the Ancient Christians of Kerala

Foreign Influence on Kerala Art and Architecture:

Kerala Murals older than Rajput and Mughal paintings

Paper presented by Prof. George Menachery at the National Seminar – Calicut University 2002 on WESTERN IMPACT AND NEW SOCIO-CULTURAL FORMATIONS IN KERALA FROM THE XVI CENTURY: European Influence on Church Art and Architecture of Kerala

1.1.1 What art and architecture is purely indigenous? There is no art or architecture – no socio-cultural formations of any significance, anywhere in the world – relating to a nation, a region, a religious or racial or linguistic group – that is fully local or indigenous. The art and architecture of Kerala – secular or religious – from the sixteenth century onwards is no exception. Thus Church Art and Architecture of Kerala from the commencement of the Christian presence on these coasts at the dawn of the Christian era have been to a greater or lesser degree influenced by those of other nations and religions as they have been influenced by Kerala’s wealth of artistic and architectural traditions. All the nations and cultures that came into contact with Kerala – the Egyptians, the Phoenecians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs (of pagan, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic persuasions), and the Europeans of a later date like the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, and the English and even other Europeans have all left their mark on the society and culture of Kerala, as has also been the case with mainland Indian groups.

1.1.2 The location of the state [Kerala] on the westwern seaboard, at the centre of the international highway of sea-borne trade connecting the East and the West, [and the North with the South] made it a meeting point of many worlds, a melting pot of races and creeds, from early times.1 The Hindu monarchs and chieftians of the post-Sangam period ruled over a fertile agricultural tract the peace and safety of which were guarenteed by the Western Ghats on the one side and the Arabian sea on the other. The land itself was [for long] a secret shared between the sea and the mountain, an illegitimate child of the two natural forces, protected by and provided for by them in a special way.2 But already we find in the first centuries B.C.E. / C.E. that while the monsoon route connected Muziris (cranganore) directly across the Arabian Sea with cities in the west (e.g. Alexandria, Aden) the West Coastal route gave its ships ready access to the Indus3 and to countries to the North and Northwest in Asia and Europe.4 .

1.1.3 It would appear that the impact of her trans-Arabian-sea visitors were much more pronounced in the case of Kerala than that of her mainland neighbours, even during and especially after the Sangam age. This contact with the countries west has paved the way for considerable influence of the societies and cultures of those lands and their peoples on every phase and aspect of the life of the inhabitants of Kerala. Thus from the arrival of Vasco da Gama in 1498 Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and England have had a great deal of influence on the people of Kerala not only in the matter of material cicumstances of life but also in the field of ideas and ideologies. One of the strongest areas where this influence is manifested is in the field of Kerala art and architecture in general and Christian art and architecture of Kerala in particular.

2.1.1 Christian art and architecture in Kerala in the pre-European periods had developed obtaining nourishment from two sources: one, from the countries in the near-east including perhaps Greece, Rome, Egypt and other Middle East countries from which ideas and practices were imported by missionaries and traders, and two, the indigenous forms and techniques of art and architecture that existed in the land.

2.1.2 By a happy mingling of these two streams already by the arrival of the west in Kerala there was existing here a strong tradition of Christian art and architecture which was notable for its aesthetic as well as pragmatic excellence. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and the English and also the missionaries from Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium &c. brought with them their own art traditions which resulted in adding certain features to the already existing structures and traditions without trying to or succeeding in totally replacing the cultural heritage of the Christians. Hence today one can see a harmonious blending of the East and the West in the Christian art and architecture of Kerala although examples are not altogether lacking of attempts made to implant certain incongruous elements into Kerala’s cultural formations.

2.1.3 Hence to understand and estimate the quality and quantity of this European influence on Kerala Christian art and architecture it may be best first to analyse the nature of such art and architecture at the coming of the Portuguese in 1498 and thereafter to study the items introduced by various western administrators and missionaries, along with their varieties and spread …

3.1.1 Two pictures are available about the churches and churchbuilding activities of the Christians of Kerala at the beginning and end of the sixteenth century. At one end we have the letters written by the four bishops in 1504.5 At the other end of the century we have the documents of the Synod of Diamper in Malayalam as found in the Kerala churches, in Portuguese in the work of Gouvea6, and in English in the work of Geddes7.

3.2.1 The tale of how Vasco da Gama went into a Hindu temple in Kerala and mistook it for a church and venerated tha idol of Bhagavathi (?) mistaking it for an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary would have clearly illustrated the similarity of the Houses of God in Hinduism and Christianity in Kerala had we any assurance that Gama already knew about the shape of Devalayas in the land from his many spies and scouts.

3.2.2 The description of the reception given to the bishops by the faithful sheds considerable light on the state of the churches, the Christians and their cultural and artistic traditions: “…they were received by the faithful with great joy and they went to meet them with joy, carrying before them the book of the Gospel, the cross, censers, and torches…”8. “And they, the bishops consecrated altars…”9.

3.2.3 In the Synod of Diamper, 1599, there were represented more than a hundred churches of the St. Thomas Christians. This indicates the existence of a very large number of churches already at the coming of the western powers to India. The description of the visits of Archbishop Dom Menezes to various churches before and after the Synod throw some light on the structures and arrangements of the churches before western elements and types were introduced into Malabar.10

4.1.1 There were three striking objects of significance in front of the typical Malabar churches, either inside the courtyard or just outside it: the open-air granite(rock) cross which the present writer has christened Nazraney Sthamba or Flag-staff made of Kerala’s famed teak wood(e.g.at Parur), and often enclosed in copper hoses or paras(as at Changanassery, Pulinkunnu, or Chambakkulam), or made out of some other wood or other material.Stambas or pillars of some type or other are to be found among the Buddists, Jains, Hindus, etc. in India.Such pillars and structures were part of the Christian heritage of Kerala much before the ascendancy of the Vedic Hinduism in these parts , although J.Ferguson did not know or care about these11. …

4.1.2 The ubiquitous cross of Malabar churches is best represented by the rock crosses,mostly outside the churches.The open-air rock-cross of Malabar is an obelisk ,a tall stone column,with four,sometimes decorated,slightly sloping sides.Rome has many obelisks (from Egypt and East, but no cross-bearing structures decorating the piazzas and squares); London has one on the banks of the Thames;Paris has one at the place d’ la concorde; and even New York has one in the central park. Many memorials like the Washington Memorial are obelisk-shaped. The Asoka Pillar and other such Indian pillars were influenced by the Graeco-Parthians,under Egyptian-Persian influence. The Nazraney sthamba is a direct descendant of the obelisk., and much closer to it than the other Indian pillars- in shape,method of constuction and transportaion , method of erection , function, and solar symbolism. “The Roman obelisk,bearing crosses today, have been converted to christianity , while Kerala’s cross-shaped obelisks were born Christian”.The obelus and the double -dagger reference marks in printing may be profitably recalled here. Such obelisk crosses continued to be erected mostly in front of churches even after western ascendancy without much change although a few changes in the motifs on the pedestals etc. could be noticed.

4.1.3 The three-tier gabled indigenous architecture of Kerala churches, which lacked facades until the coming of the Portuguese, immensely gains in richness symmetry, and beauty because of the open-air rockcrosses,some of them more than 30 feet in height including the intricately carved pedestals, and monolithic shafts. No other community in Kerala has such a huge monumental stone structure. The indoor counterparts of these crosses have the earliest carvings in Kerala of the national flower lotus and the national bird peacock. Perhaps even the national animal tiger is first depicted in Kerala art in church sculpture. There was no rock carving in South India prior to the period of these indoor crosses. The motifs, message ,and images on these crosses and their pedestals display a remarkable degree of Indianness and Malayalee Thanima or identity. Vedic Hindu Gods and Goddessess like Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva, Sapthamathas , Jeshta etc. appear in the art of the central Guruvayoor/Palayoor-Quilon part of Chera country only after the 11th-13th centuries, and even in the Salem-Erode section, and the Trivandrum-Cape Comorin section Vedic Hindu deities appear in art only as late as the 9th century A.D. …

4 .1.4 The base with a socket, the monolithic square and slightly tapering shaft with cylindrical terminals, the horrizontal piece forming the arms with a double(hole) socket in the middle, and the capital with a cylindrical bottom end are the four members of the open air cross.They are so well chiselled and proportionate that when put together the socket and cylinder arrangement enables the cross to stand by itself. However for the bigger crosses,pedestals in the form of sacrificial alters of Ballikallus are found, often carrying exquisite reliefs of the flora and fauna of the land in addition to scenes from daily life and biblical scenes.The cross representing the supreme Bali (sacrifice) or ‘Mahabali’ appearing on the Balikkallu most appropriately represents the Calvary/Bethania events and sheds plenty of light on the ideological ,historial,cultural and technological bent of mind of the forefathers .Compare with the base of the Obelisk of Theodosius,Constantinople,.A.D.390.

4.1.5 The obelisk is a ray of the sun – here a ray of Christ(of Hours -Xt. the sun-God). This ray helps the lotus near – universally depicted on such crosses to blossom forth representing in a typical Indian poetic conceit the grace received by the sin – bound human soul(panka jam) from Christ. Lotus representing the sun is found in other early Indian art also.The half dozen interior Pehlavi inscribed crosses, some of them surely of pre 7th century origin,which were mostly tombstones before they were put up on the altars ,have generally the dove (Holy Spirit) depicted on top of the clover or flowertipped equal-armed Greek cross,in addition to the lotus at the bottom.In this three piece (Thri-kanda) cross one might, perhaps, with considerable effort read the lotus represented Brahma (Father), the flowery cross (Son), and the dove (Holy Ghost). But the lotus has more universal and more diverse implications in the various eastern creeds.

4.1.6 The arrangement to hold wicks found on the crosses may be related to the preservation of fire ,and the effort to make it available to the common people in the dim past, when Homakundams were rare in Kerala or beyond the reach of the common folk.It is perhaps in connection with the need to preserve fire that the oil-Nerchas and oilAraas of the churches, and the compound -wall rocklamps are to be evaluated.The oil related objects in the churches also indicate the connection of this christianity with the trade of the land,especially oil-trade.The bell like arrangement on some crosses also are noteworthy.Veneration of the cross,angels,Adam and Eve… and of course the Indian Cross itself are some of the religious carvings on these structures.

4.2.1 Dwaja-Sthampa - The square of polygonal shape of the individual pieces in the granite or rock lampstands at Kallooppara,Kundra, and Chengannur indicate the antiquity of such lampstands in the churches.Unlike in the churches ,in the temples ,the tradition of these lamps continued and thus developed in to the present-day round shape of the pieces. In art history generaly the simpler forms make their appearance first , and refinements and complications indicate a later date. Even when the tradition of lampstands declined in the churches, many open-air crosses had wickholders incorporated in to them, with the advantage that wind and rain do not put off the flames. Church walls still display rows of rock of lamps. Inside the churches the tradition of bronze lamps continued display rows of rock lamps. Inside the churches the tradition of bronze lamps continued vigorously, representing a variety of shapes and types, and some lamps having even hundreds of wickholders, e.g. the Aayiram Aalila lamps at Arthat or Angamaly, Kottekad.

4.2.2 In front of the church the third interesting object is the flagstaff, sometimes covered with copper paras. Every festival is announced with the Kodiyettu or flag-hoisting, a tradition going back to early Buddhist times at least. All these three objects in the courtyard of the church have a variety of liturgical functions associated with them.

4.3.1 Baptismal Fonts. Let us now climb and go across the portico and enter the Haikala or nave beyond the Aanavathil to look at the rock baptismal font in the baptistry.

4.3.2 There are interesting rock baptismal fonts at Edappally, Kanjoor, Mylakkombu, Muthalakkodam, Changanassery, Kothamangalam, Kadamattom etc. The similarity of these baptismal fonts with illustrations of the fonts used for the baptism of Constantine (4thC.) and Clovis (RheimsC.496) is remarkable.

4.3.3 All the old baptismal fonts are of granite or very hard laterite. They are all huge in size indicating that baptism by immersion must have been the order of the day. Most of the old baptismal fonts depicted in the STCEI & the ICHC were probably of a date prior to the decree of the Synod of Diamper which made permanent fonts more or less compulsory. Although most of the old baptismal fonts/ baptistries are found near the west end or middle of the nave on the northern side – Kaduthuruthy(Big), old Edappally, old Kanjoor, Changanassery (Southern side), in many churches, mostly Jacobite/Orthodox they are found close to the sanctuary e.g. Angamaly (Middle-church). They are exquisitely carved with reliefs of the baptism of Christ, Mary feeding the Child, angels, Indian crosses, etc. There are also wonderful motifs of leaves, the basket pattern, coir pattern, etc. engraved on these stones. By the way the very Malayalam word Mammodisakkallu indicates a font made of stone. Another term is mammodisath-thotti. The Holy Water Font is called Annavella Th.-thotti.

4.3.4 The Architraves and doorposts in many churches are good examples of south Indian rock-carving. (e.g.old Kayamkulam, Chengannur, Kanjoor)But the rock-baptismal fonts are the real pride of many an old church.

5.1.1 Another aspect of church architecture that has scarcely been affected by the later types from abroad is the old three tier gabled wooden roofing with the highest roof for the Madhbaha or Sanctum Sanctorum and the lowest for the Mukhamandapam or portico with the nave or Hykala having a roof of middle height. Although the rock crosses, the flagstaffs, the rock lampstands, the baptismal fonts, and the three tiered roofing pattern have not been much affected by the western visitors and conquerors many of the objects inside the churches and the very appearance of the inside have undergone many changes after the arrival of the Portuguese and other westerners. Let us look at some of these changes.

5.1.2 There is an interesting description of Kerala churches in the account of Joseph the Indian, c.1500. “The Christians have their churches, which are not different from ours, but inside only a cross will be seen. They have no statues of the saints. The churches are vaulted like ours. On the foundation is seen a big cross just as in our place. [May be the open air cross?] They have not any bells.”

5.1.3 There is much truth in the statement of Gerge Varghese: “But once these churches came under the jurisdiction of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, the ornate monumentality of the European churches was introduced into the small temple-like Syrian Christian churches, which even did not have windows in the early past. The baroque and ornate altars with statues and foliages replaced the Chaldeo-Syrian altars, which were infact only stone-tables with nothing more than candles, Chalice and the Holy Book on them, the bare necessities for observing the Holy Mass. Despite unpleasant frictions with the Portuguese, both in political and ecclesiastical matters, this was the golden era of the Church Art in Kerala. They introduced the Romano-Portuguese style, which was assimilated with such artistic and structural finesse by the artists of Kerala, so that it created some of the finest pieces of artistry in the Nazrany school. Later, British also were equally enthusiastic in introducing their skills and forms into the Church Art of Kerala. Hence, from a conservative perspective, the art in these churches may appear…7 eclectic, with diverse traditions, both western and eastern, superimposed one over the other. The exclusively “Asiatic” symbols like stone lamps, flag masts, stone-crosses, arched entrances etc., untouched by the foreign hands, co-exist with the Renaissance frescoes, and the Baroque Art of Europe in the same church-complex. There is, infact, an underlying unity behind this apparently confused juxtaposition of images, symbols and monuments; this is due to the fact that as universal archetypes, images and symbols of religions, both in the west and in the east, have many common elements.”

5.1.4 Among the additions which took place in Kerala churches with the advent of Europeans might be counted paintings and sculptures on a large scale, imposing altarpieces or reredoes; rostrums or pulpits, statues of all sizes, types and shapes; plaster mouldings and pictures; huge bells and belfrys. Murals and frescoes on a very large scale make their appearance as well as paintings on wood panels and clothes. But the most apparent introduction of the Portuguese was the facades they put up between the portico and the nave in order to impart a christian appearance to the churches.

Notes:

1. M. G. S. Narayanan, Cultural Symbiosis in Kerala, Trivandrum, 1972, p.1.

2. Id., p. vii.

3. George Menachery, Kodungallur the…, Kodungallur, 1987, p.4 of 2000 reprint.

4. Id., p.19, n.3 which refers to the many relevant maps in Bjorn Landstrom, The Quest for India, Stockholm, 1964 and in the Atlas section by G.M. in Menachery, George (Ed.), STCEI, I especially maps dealing with the Journeys of St. Thomas, Marco Polo, B. Diaz, F. Xavier, &c.

5. We quote from the edition by Schurhammer, The Malabar Church and Rome, Trichinopoly, 1934 the relevant portion of which is reprinted in the Nazranies (ICHC, I), Ed. G. Menachery, Ollur, 1998, pp. 526-529.

6. Lisbon and Coimbra, 1606.

7. London, 1694; reprinted in Vol. II of Hough, History of Christianity in India, pp.511 – 683; and in Menachery (Ed.), The Nazranies, pp. 31 – 112.

8. Schurhammer, op.cit., p.526, col. 2.

9. Id., ibid.

10. Geddes, op.cit., passim. Visits. to Mangate (Alangad), Cheuree (Chowara), Canhur (Kanjur), Molandurte (Mulanthuruthi), Carturte (Kaduthuruthy), Nagpili (Nagapuzha), Diamper (Udayamperoor), Paru (Parur), are quite illuminative in this respect.

11. Sir James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, London, 1876. Quoted by Menachery, George, Pallikkalakalum Mattum, Trichur, 1984, p.60.

12. India in 1500 A. D., A. Vallavanthara, Trivandrum, 1984, chs. 4 and 5.

13. Construction of images in the Art of Early Christian Churches-K.George Varghese

Thanks a lot for sharing the “Ancient Kerala Christian Art” and “Christian Contribution to Art and Architecture in India” articles.

You may refer the following for exhaustive information on the Rock Crosses of Kerala:
1. Thomas Christian Architecture, Dr. E. J. James Menachery, The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Vol. II, 1973, Trichur, Ed. Prof. George Menachery.

2. Kerala Church Architecture, P. Andews Athapilly, The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Vol. II, 1973, Trichur, Ed. Prof. George Menachery.

3. “Pallikalile Kala”, George Menachery, Mathrubhoomi Weekly, March 28,, 1978

4. “Pallikkalakalum Mattum,” (Malayalam) George Menachery, Trichur, 1984

5. “Granite Objects in Kerala Churches,” Prof. George Menachery in “Glimpses of Nazraney Heritage”, Ollur, 2005.

FOR PICTURES OF STONE CROSSES:

There are more than hundred photographs of the Granite Crosses and the relief and round sculptures on them in 1. The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India Vol. II alias The Thomapedia. and 2. The Indian Church History Classics, Vol. I “The Nazranies” – both edited by Prof. George Menachery.

Some sites: http://www.indianchristianity.com, http://www.nazraney.com, http://www.menachery.org.

Dear enarsea:

I’ve read a few articles by Prof. Menachery (basically, what I could find on the internet), and I’ve not been extremely impressed.

He’s obviously done much research, certainly it seems that he’s done more research that any other individual on Kerala Nasrani history. And he writes fantastic history: stories that anyone would love to believe. And I would never deny him the accolades he deserves for bringing the study of Nasrani history out of the (often perverted) clutches of Church historians, and into more scholarly venues.

But … what kills it for me is I’ve never seen his sources! Has he done carbon dating (or whatever other process) of the monuments he claims to be over 1000 years old? His claim that “Christianity is older than Hinduism in Kerala” is interesting — but he doesn’t offer proof with substantially strong foundations. Sure, his theories may sound possible, but are they in fact correct? One needs more evidence, or at the very least substantial citations of prior work by scholars, archeologists, etc.

Other than the works of Dr. Menachery, is there anyone else that did a scientific study of these artifacts? Or perhaps my limited familiarity with Menachery’s work is at fault: in that case, has anyone read his more substantial printed works, and can they provide some insight into the proofs that Menachery offers?

Has anyone else read “MACKENZIE :CHRISTIANITY IN TRAVANCORE”?

Thanks for Enarsea for the links!

The author seems to have a pro-Catholic bias; however, he offers justification for what he writes. Plus, he has a slew of references from a diversity of sources. This text ought to be required reading for anyone studying Nasrani history; I think it’s incredible.

To M. Thomas Antony: it also offers some evidence for the theory that the Nasranis weren’t necessarily always Nestorians, even prior to the Chaldean schism. He offers some evidence that suggests that periodically, over the millenia, some Syrian priests of West Asia have submitted to Rome, eg., Pope Gregory III.

Although I don’t think one can say that we were always continuously in communion with Rome, we certainly did have periods of communion, when our counterparts/leaders in West Asia decided to enter into communion (even before Sulacca and the Chaldean movement of the 15/16th century).

The book is excellent. It has some problems (the author takes a small number of unscientific leaps of faith), but it contains copious citations.

John Matthew: w.r.t. .“MACKENZIE :CHRISTIANITY IN TRAVANCORE.”
The complete book is available at the BOOKS page of http://www.indianchristianity.com on the net.

I thought I would just add this also: Sorry if I am cluttering the space. For those who have not seen any rock cross of Kerala pl. refer http://www.indianchristianity.com HOMEPAGE. At the top the left hand picture shows a full view of the Ollur open air G.cross. Scrolling down the page the pedestals of the Ollur Cross, one of the Angamaly crosses (again only the pedestal), and the pedestal of the Changanassery cross can be seen.

Dear Enarsea:

It seems that the entire Mackenzie book is not on the page; a large fraction of it is, but it seems to be missing some pages (e.g., the part that refers to footnote 95).

Do you, or does anyone out there have a copy that they could share?

Thanks!

Dear John Mathew

I hope you have checked this link at Indianchristianity.com. I think all the pages are there as i read them some time back. Incase if you prefer a PDF version, which can be downloaded check this out. It is also included in the Nazranies edited by Prof. Menanchery. By the way, the then British resident was not a pro-catholic, he is infact reported to have omitted several notes/ observations put forward by Catholic Syrians.

Dear Admin,

Yes, I’ve checked the link; however, it seems that page 2 is cut of (”Go” is the last word, and it seems to end mid-sentence). Also I’ve looked for the part of the text that refers to footnote 95, to no avail. The text seems to jump from p. 2 to p. 3. I spent a few hours going through his end notes — an incredible amount of historical and scholarly info can be found there. In particular, note 95 was a little interesting and I wanted to find the text that referred to it, but couldn’t.

Am I missing something?

Also, Google books doesn’t seem to have a pdf … am I mistaken?

By the way, Mackenzie was British, but he was also a Roman Catholic (at least according to another reference—I could be wrong). At any rate, his text seems to be written by a Catholic (he certainly does not seem to be Protestant) but, unlike other authors, he doesn’t seem to express any overt bias: he seems very scholarly, and defends most of his points by appeal to either evidence, or citations w/ analysis of those citations. I think his work isn’t perfect (omissions, dismissing some theories too quickly, leaps of faith in some circumstance), of course, but it’s the best I’ve seen thus far.

Dear Admin:

Re: Mackenzie and Catholicism.

You can find corroboration in Adrian Fortescue’s work “The Lesser Eastern Churches” on p. 368 footnote 1:
“Mr. Mackenzie, who is a Catholic, compiled the chapter on Christianity in the Travancore State Manual…”

Not that it diminishes the value of his work — not in the slightest. In fact, one hardly finds the nauseating prejudice of Protestant writers in his work (with respect to the latter, it is no surprise that Protestantism infected the Nasrani community, when one reads the horrible, misleading propaganda of the low church Anglican “missionaries” who came to, essentially, disrupt and misguide the Puthenkoor). Of course, Catholic writes have been known to write distortions too — e.g., Fortescue himself, despite being a knowledgeable scholar, can’t seem to stop denigrating the “heresy” of Eastern Churches and their Fathers, even as he attempts to writes their history as a scholar. And then, we can’t forget the Orthodox distortions, in which our *proven* Nestorian/Chaldean/Roman pasts are effectively written off as just “influences” from mere “visitors”.

Dear John Mathew

I don’t know if it is some bug with google books. Try this link – download PDF. Yes page -2 is missing in IndianChristianity.com

I was not talking about MacKenzie from his denomination perspective ( What you said on MacKenzie is new information for me). MacKenzie, wrote this for chapter on Christianity for the Travancore State Manual. The.story was that, MacKenzie omitted the notes/ observations from Catholic Syrians, when the draft was privately circulated for correction with some reason that, they didn’t want to give offence to anyone.

This being a state document, was published by the Government press on 1901. MacKenzie’s writings were taken later by latin church ( Mylapore and Cochin diocese) in India and Catholic Syrians seemed to have been challenged to prove their Orthodoxy. “The orthodoxy of the St. Thomas Christians- A review of ‘some elucidations’ by the bishop of cochin : together with some vatican documents and notes on the syrian church in malabar” by C. J. George Cathanar published in 1904 has some of these notes and critical examination of MacKenzie’s statements.

Dear Admin,

Thanks for the link … however, I’ve not been able to download it! Perhaps it’s a US vs Canada thing? So you’re actually able to download the full pdf with that link? I just get a 404 error; searching for the book directly yields a “No Preview”.

Perhaps the fact that the paper was going into a State Manual helped to keep the tone neutral; however, on my reading of it, I was amazed at some of the evidence he gave. I’ve always dismissed most Indian Catholic authors, and their claims of our ancient connection to Rome, because it seemed to much of a stretch. However, Mackenzie gives some excellent examples of prior intercommunion between the East Syriac “Nestorian” Church and the Roman Church—which makes it entirely possible that there must have been periods when Malabar was, vicariously through it’s parent West Asian Church, in communion with Rome.

I’ve started to look at our history in a new light. Underlying my new understanding is Bar Hebraeus’ conviction that the Catholics, Jacobites, and Nestorians were all orthodox in the most important sense, with their differences being trivial. With that neutralization of my prior “animosity” towards the RC (due to propaganda about their book burning, torture, etc., in Kerala — stories that I now feel were probably grossly exaggerated), I re-read the Diamper proceedings. What I understood is that it really seems like Menezes, et al., were actually trying to help us. It’s obvious that the Syrian “Fathers” didn’t do a good job of keeping the entire Malabar Church strong. The stories of far flung Churches with no regular priests, degraded rites, etc., make that amply clear. Plus, the maltreatment of southern dioceses by archdeacons and metropolitans glued to the luxury of Angamaly is in stark contrast to the Latins who sent their clerics anywhere, at their own expense.

I’m sure there must have been some political motives as well, that’s the nature of humans, and it was certainly a nature shared with the Nasranis (who have copious examples of corruption to eliminate any claim of total righteousness!) and the Syrians. But ultimately I believe the Portuguese helped the Nasranis, and both the Catholics and the Orthodox of Kerala owe a debt of gratitude to them. Too bad the Orthodox entered into a positive feedback loop of anti-Catholic animosity, which ultimately screwed them up (Protestant influence that continues to this day). Perhaps the old dream of Mar Mani Kathanar and Mar DIonysius—a shared seminary and college—will come to fruition yet… but the Puthenkoor will have to cure itself of its Protestant infection before that can occur, I suspect.

Dear John,

You are right. A few pages are missing on the web page( between page 2 and 3 on the web page) but it is complete in the book “The nazraneys” Ed by Prof. George Menacherry. If you send me an e mail on m.thomas.antony@live.co.uk, I can share the information missing.I think the story of the Bishop John brought over by Ezhechiel and the import of three jacobite Bishops Basil, Gregory and John by the Dutch and the following disputes with them etc are described in “Whitehouse”‘ book.

Re Mackenzie,
Nidheerickal Mani kathanaar was involved in the issue.The Government of Travancoore decided to publish a state manual containing tne exhaust history of the state and the then British resident in Travancore took over the charge of thr history of christianity.He was naturally under the influence of European missionaries and european historians but sent questionnaires to the local syrian christians including vicar apotles at Changanacherry and Ernaculam.Both Bishops at Changanacherry (Mar Makil) and Ernaculam ( Mar Pazheparambil) and the Proir of CMI monastery at Mannanam requested Mani kathanaar to take up the task. He did extensive research work and sent a thesis but without that, Mackenzie published his book. Upon Mani kathanaar’s letter to Mackenzie, he added those findings as an additional note on the revised edition. (ref.Father Nidheeri, a history of times, byAbraham M Nidheeri, 1971) See the foot note 116.
Nidheerickal Mani kathanaar argues that Mar Sabour and Mar Afroth were Catholic chaldeans with evidences. I would be very interested to see his 86 page thesis sent to Mackenzie. Does anyone know whether it is available anywhere ?

The evidences presented by Nidheerickal Mani kathanaar was satisfactory to Mackenzie-”that is the therory put forward by these two syrian priests. The tone is hostile to the portuguese but the arguements deserve consideration on their merrits and certainly the attitude of St Francis Xavier towards these christians is a point which cannot be explained away”( ref. foot note 116, mackenzie)

I have great problem with google books. I can find the read and download pdf buttons on some books but not all, esp mackenzie, another book by Kollamparambil etc.

Dear M. Thomas Antony:

Yes, I agree, we need to find the thesis by Mar Mani. It might have the original citations about Mar Sabor and Mar Aproth, and other elements of our history.

Does anyone out there have it? TItle?