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• Private: Detailed study on Muziris- the Muziris Heritage Project
  
  

  MUZIRIS or K O D U N G A L L U R – THE CRADLE OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA

  Chapter. I

  Now it so happened, so the story goes (Strabo/Poscidonius), that a certain Indian was brought to the king by the coast guards of the Red Sea who said that they had found him half dead and alone on a stranded ship, but that they did not know who he was or where he came from, since they did not understand his language; and the king gave the Indian into the charge of men who would teach him Greek, and when the Indian had learnt Greek, he related that on his voyage from India he by a strange mischance mistook his course and reached Egypt in safety, but only after having lost all his companions by starvation; and when his story was doubted, he promised to act as guide on the trip to India for the men who had been previously selected by the king; and of this party Eudoxus, also, became a member.

  “So Eudoxus sailed away with presents; and he returned with a cargo of perfumes and precious stones………… But Eudoxus was badly disappointed, for Euergetes took from him his entire cargo”.

  Hippalus : Today it is believed 33 that Hippalus the pilot accompanied Eudoxus on his voyage to India, and that the route, which the Indian pilot showed them in gratitude for their saving his life, was the monsoon route. The Arabians and Indians must, of course, have known and made use of the monsoon winds for centuries. These winds blow over the Indian Ocean from the north-east in winter and from the south-west in summer; if a man knows the right season to choose, they will carry him straight across the sea in reasonable comfort. When direct passage from India to Egypt became more common, it was these winds that were used, and they came to be called the Hippalus Winds.

  After the records of the early Greek authorities mentioned earlier, there appears a break in the western accounts of Malabar and India, perhaps due to the rise of a new Parthian Empire which formed a sort of barrier between the Greeks and the Indians.

  Then Rome started to absorb the remnants of the Empire of Alexander. Syria had fallen; Egypt became a Roman province in 30 B.C. 34 After Actium Augustus settled down to organise and regulate his vast possessions. Already at the time of Augustus, about 5 A.D., Strabo speaks of noticing about 120 ships sailing from Myos-Hormos to India 35. These ships must have gone to the coast of North India along the coastal waters of Arabia and the Indus mouth. The Romans were not satisfied with such a circuitous route to South India. We read in Strabo (15-1-4) of the South Indian king, Pandion sending an embassy to Augustus; and in Pliny, 6.22 (24), of the king of Ceylon, impressed by the unheard of justice of the Romans whose denari were all of equal weight, despatching to Nero’s Rome 4 ambassadors of whom the chief was Rachis (Raja). It was in Nero’s reign that the Arabs first came under Roman dominion, and Aden and Socotra became Roman colonies. By this time not even the routes to China were unknown. When the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70 A.D. many Jews emigrated and many arrived in India, and even to China according to Hebrew and Chinese inscriptions.

  When, as seen earlier, the Romans finally established a direct searoute to India, Muziris was the chief port they touched, not only because it was the nearest and most accessible port, but also because Muziris and Porakkad could provide them with the commodities which they most valued.

  About Europe in general and England in particular which was the last western power involved with India it has been said, “the history of Modern Europe and emphatically of England, is the history of the quest of the aromatic gum, resins and balsams, and condiments and spices, of India etc. 36″

  “it should not escape notice that gold and silver, after circulating in every other quarter of the globe, come at length to be absorbed in Hindustan.37″ When Persia and Egypt fell beneath the power of the Arabs one of the spoils of their victory was the Indian Trade. 38 Herodotus tells us that India is the wealthiest and most populous country on earth. As Sir George Birdwood has remarked. “The entire record of the intercourse between countries of the west and India from the very earliest times to the present day may be said to be the story of the struggle for the Indian trade”. 39

  PEPPER : YAVANA PRIYA

  The chief commodity exported from Cranganore was pepper and the fair reputation of Malabar pepper had already reached the four corners of the known world from the earliest centuries B.C. So much so it is called Yavana Priya (beloved of the Romans). We have already seen the description of the hillocks of pepper bags at Muchiri (Puram 343). In addition to what the periplus has to say on the area where pepper is produced in Malabar (56. Vide infra note 26), we also have there a list of ports(viz. Thundis, Muziris, Nelcynda and Barace) from which pepper was exported. Cosmas Indicopleustes in the 6th century speaks of ‘Male where pepper grows’ and of ‘Male which has fine marts that export pepper’ (b.3).

  Pepper was in great demand in Rome at the time of Pliny. “It is quite surprising that the use of pepper has come so much into fashion, seeing that in other substances which we use, it is sometimes their sweetness, and sometimes their appearance that has attracted our notice; whereas, pepper has nothing in it that can plead as a recommendation to either fruit or berry, its only desirable quality being in certain pungency; and yet it is for this that we import it all the way from India. Who was the first to make trial of it as an article of food? And who, I wonder, was the man that was not content to prepare himself by hunger only for the satisfying of a greedy appetite?”40.

  Yet, in spite of Pliny’s complaints this demand for pepper continued in Roman circles. The continued use of it in cooking raised its price to 15 denarii a pound for long pepper, 7 for the white, and 4 for the black pepper. 41.

  This vigorous trade in pepper and other spices of India began to drain the Roman Empire of its wealth. Pliny is stupefied at the thought of this drainage. He says; “The subject (of setting forth the whole route from Egypt to India) is one well worthy of our notice, seeing that in no year does India drain our empire of less than five hundred and fifty millions of sesterces, giving back her own wares in exchange, which are sold among us at fully one hundred times their prime cost”. and elsewhere: “At the very lowest computation, India, the Seres, nd the Arabian peninsula drain from our empire yearly one hundred million sesterces; so dearly do we pay for our luxury and our women”. What infuriates him further is that, “Both pepper and ginger grow wild in their respective countries, and yet here we buy them by weight like gold and silver”. 42

  [Some 300 years later pepper was still valued highly in Rome, Alaric the Goth we find, asking for 3000 pounds of pepper as an important part of the ransom to raise the siege against Rome. (Gibbon, Decline and Fall, XXXI)] Pliny minces no words when speaking out against that inordinate and costly fondness of Roman women for the luxury goods from Muziris:

  “Our ladies glory in having pearls suspended from their fingers, one, two or three of them dangling from their ears, delighted even with the rattling of pearls as they knock against each other; and now, at the present day, the poorer classes are even affecting them as people are in the habit of saying that ‘ a pearl worn by a woman in public is as good as a lictor walking before her: Nay even more than this, they put them on their feet, and that not only on the laces of their sandals, but all over the shoes; it is not enough to wear pearls, but they must tread upon them, and walk with them under foot as well”. Again, “I once saw Lollia Paulina, the wife of the Emperor Caius – it was not any solemn ceremonial, but only at an ordinary betrothal entertainment – covered with emeralds and pearls, which shone in alternate layers upon her head, in her hair, in her wreaths, in her ears, upon her neck, in her bracelets and on her fingers, and the value of which amounted in all to 40,000,000 sesterces; indeed she was prepared at once to prove the fact by showing the receipts and acquittances”.

  ROMAN COINS

  Large numbers of Roman coins have been discovered on the Malabar coast (e.g. from Eyyal between Cranganore and Palayur, and from Kottayam in North Kerala). Just two years back more than a thousand Roman gold coins were found buried in Parur, also not very distant from Cranganore. What is interesting is that the majority of these coins belong to a period of some 80 years from Augustus to Nero (B.C. 27 to A.D. 68).

  The Periplus has this remark, “There are imported here (the Malabar Ports), in the first place a great quantity of coin, ….” The Roman could, it is believed make a profit on the sale of gold coins in India, perhaps because these were not only used as currency but also for ornament as is evidenced by the fact that many gold coins found in Kerala have been pierced through. 43

  Roman silver coins of 1st Century B.C / A.D from Eyyal between Kodungallur and Palayur.

  Exports from Muziris included, according to various authors, Pearl in considerable quantity and of superior quality; Pepper in large quantities; Gems in every variety, Diamonds, Amethyst or ruby and a variety of other commodities.44

  Other aspects of Cranganore, especially as the capital of the Chera Emperors have already been dealt with.

  Thus we can see from the foregoing accounts that Muziris or Cranganore was the most important city of South India, at least for considerable periods of time, that it was the capital of the Cheras, that it was prosperous on account of its trade relations with the East and the West.

  It was to this city that St. Thomas the Apostle is believed to have come at the beginning of the second half of the first century A.D.

  Notes :

  1. Cranganore was variously called Muziris, Muchiri, Mahodayapuram, Mahadevapattanam, Makotaipattam, Muyiri Kodu, Tiiruvanchikulam etc. in the early periods.

  Mediaeval travellers refer to the place under various forms (Cfr. K.P. Padmanabha Menon, History of Kerala, I, p.313. Also Hobson – Jobson: Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases by Yule-Burnell, 1886, P. 627):

  Al Biruni… 970 A.D. …Jangli

  Benjamin of Tudela 1167 …Gingaleh

  Friar Odoric 1287 …Cyngilin

  Roman gold and silver coins unearthed around the Palayur-Kodungallur-Parur belt at Eyyal (1945) and Valuvally (1984) Shown above are some gold coins of Tiberius Caesar, Nero and from these collections.

  Chinese Annals 1286 …Shinkali

  Rashiduddin 1300 …Chinkli/Jinkali

  Shemseddin Dimishqui 1320 …Shinkli

  Friar Jordanus 1328 …Singuyli

  Abulfeda 1330 …Shenkala

  Marignolli 1349 ….Cynkali

  Nicolo Conti 1444 …Columguria

  Barbosa 1505 …Cranganore

  Assemani 1510 …Chrongalor

  Colonel Yule thinks that the name Shinkalai or Shigala was probably formed from Tiruvanchikulam. He points out that the data to identify Cranganore with the Gingaleh of Rabbi Benjamin are too vague, though the position of that place seems to be in the vicinity of Malabar.

  2. A factor that led to the ascendancy of Cochin over Cranganore is thus narrated by K.P.P. Menon (History of Kerala, Vol. I, p. 161):

  The town of Cochin is situated on the southern side of a natural harbour. It was formerly the capital of the Native State which took its name after it. Previous to the year 1341 A.D., a small river flowed by Cochin having a narrow opening into the sea, the main outlet for the discharge of the waters that came in torrents down the Ghats, being at the well known opening at Cranganore, some twenty miles to the north of it. In the year 1341, an extraordinary flood occurred which brought down from the Ghats such a large volume of water that it converted the land-locked harbour of Cochin into one of the finest and safest ports in India.

  A local era called the “Putu Vaipu Era” was commenced in commemoration of this event in 1341 A.D.

  3 . A clear idea of the most important trade routes touching Muziris (modern Cranganore) can be gathered from the map given by Bjorn Landstrom. The Quest For India, Stockholm, 1964(Doubleday’s English Edition pp.52,53) Also see the Atlas section by G.M., in Menachery, George (Ed.) STCEI, I especially the maps dealing with the “Journeys of Apostle Thomas”, “Marco Polo’s Voyages,” “Journeys of Francis Xavier,” and “India in the 17th & 18th centuries”.

  4. A. Sreedhara Menon (Ed.), Kerala Gazetteer for Trichur District, 1962, p7.

  5. Id., Ibid.

  6. Pliny describes it as “primum emporium Indiae”

  7. Census of India 1971, Series 9, Kerala, Part X-A and X-B

  8 . Ptolemy has E. Long. 117.00 and N. Lat. 14.00 for Muciris Emporium and 117.20 and 14.00 for the Azhimukham (Pseudostomas) See K.V. K Ayyar, A Short History of Kerala, Ernakulam, 1966, Appendix II, pp. 193, 194, 195 for some two score and ten places in the area mentioned by Greek and Roman authors of the century between c. 50 and 150 A.D.

  9 . K. P. Padmanabha Menon, History of Kerala, vol.I, Ernakulam, 1924, p.297.

  10. V.Nagam Aiya, The Travancore State Manual (in 3 volumes), Vol I, Trivandrum,1906, pp 231-232.

  11 . T.K Velu Pillai, The Travancore State Manual (in 4 volumes), Vol. II, Trivandrum, 1940, p.10.

  12 . K.M. Panikkar, A History of Kerala, Annamalai Nagar, 1959, p.3.

  13 . Galletti, The Dutch in Malabar, Madras 1911, p.9 (Introduction v)

  14 . Yule-Cordier, Cathay and the Way Thither, London.

  15 . Akam, 148. Quoted in K.P. Padmanabha Menon , op.cit., p.307

  16 . Puram, 343. Quoted Id., Ibid. The following note by Menachery, George, appears in one of the papers presented by him at the First World Malayalam Conference, Trivandrum,
  1977: ” The passage in 343 which says that the gold (gold ornaments) brought by ships arrive on the shore in boats, (thonis) corroborates what Pliny mentions in 6.23 (26): ‘besides, the road-stead for shipping is a considerable distance from the shore, and the cargoes have to be conveyed in boats, either for loading or discharging’. A better rendering of the Puram passage would appear to be, “The heaps of paddy procured in exchange for fish make the boats ( carrying the paddy) and the houses indistinguishable from each other. further, spectators would be put to hardship to distinguish the pepper bags piled up in the houses ( which thus mislead the onlookers ) from the land that is noisily busy’. The prosperity and commercial bustle of the thriving seaport of Muchiri could hardly be better described or in fewer lines”.

  17. Vincent Smith quoted in T.K. Velu Pillai, op-cit., vol.II. p.10

  18 . Bjorn Landstrom , The Quest for India , Stockholm, 1964, (Double day English Edition). p.48

  19. K.V. Krishna Iyer, Kerala’s Relations with the Outside World, pp. 70, 71 in “The Cochin Synagogue Quatercentenary Celebrations Commemoration Volume” , Kerala History Association, Cochin, 1971.

  For a discussion of a Roman harbour and its arrangements see ‘Caesarea Maritima”, The National Geographic, 171/2, February, 1987.

  Roman coins discovered in Kerala c. 1942 are discussed in Coins of Kerala, Archaeology Dept., Trivandrum.

  For Megalithic remains of Kerala visit the Archaeological Museuem, Trichur and cf. Ancient India,1952(8) and other issues.

  20 . Nagam Aiya, op.cit, p.43

  21 . Krishna Iyer, op.cit. p.65

  22 . M. G. S. Narayanan, Cultural Symbiosis in Kerala, 1972, p. vii

  23 . Nagam Aiya, op. cit. and T. K. Velu Pillai, op. cit.

  24 . Krishna Iyer, op. cit., p.67

  25 . For a scientific but short discussion and proofs of early Greek and Roman knowledge of India and Kerala nothing better can be suggested than “The Apostles in India, Fact or Fiction ?” by A. C. Perumalil S. J. first published in 1952 (Patna). The quotations there from the Greeks and Romans are often in the original languages, fully corroborated by competent translators. Perumalil appears to have been at great pains to clearly and accurately bring out what the Greek and the Latin writers have said.

  Also cf. Pliny, 6.23 (26); Schoff, H. Wilfred, The periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Longmans, 1912, p. 232; McCrindle J. W, Ancient India as described in Classical Literature, Westminister, 1901, p.111.

  26 . However Pliny appears to confuse certain other ports with Muziris when he condemns it as “not a very desirable place for disembarkation.” Because, the author of the Periplus, who had been to Muziris in the same year (A. D. 77) in which Pliny published his book says: “Muziris, of the same kingdom, abounds in ships sent there with cargoes from Arabia, and by the Greeks” (Periplus, 54) and again he adds that Muziris and Nelcynda are now of leading importance (Id. 53). Actually Nitrias was the town situated quite some distance from Muziris on the Netravati river in South Kannara and the pirate coast lies north of Mangalore and south of Bombay. The port of Barace, thus spelt both in the Periplus and by Pliny, is Bakare or Porakadu, some 10 miles south of Alleppey. Cottonara is the present Kuttanadu. Ullur, “Which was the Chera Capital?” article published in 1939 in the journal of the Pan Kerala Literary Academy.

  27. Periplus, 56

  28 . A. C. Perumalil, S. J., The Apostles in India.

  29 . Arrian: 2nd Century A. D. Greek author; Anabasis-Famed Greek prose history by Xenophon of “Retreat of the Ten Thousand from Persia” (c. 399 B. C.).

  Strabo : (Born around ) 63 B.C. and died after A. D. 21). The only extant work of this Greek geographer and historian, a geography in 17 books, is a rich source of ancient knowledge of the world.

  Plutarch : Greek biographer and essayist (c. A. D. 46-120): “The Lives” have charm and historical value. There are 46 paired Greek and Roman biographies and 4 single biographies in it.

  Herodotus : (484? – 425? B. C.) Greek historian, called ‘Father of history’. The rich diversity of his contemporary secular narrative history makes it an important source book on ancient Greece.

  Diodorus Siculus : Died after 21 B. C., Sicilian historian. Author of world history in Greek, ending with Gallic Wars; of its 40 books I – IV and XI-XX are fully preserved.

  Ptolemy : Greco-Egyptian astronomer, mathematician and geographer born around 100 A. D., fl. 127 to 147or 151- Geographike Hyfegesis.

  Megasthenes : He was sent in 302 B. C. by Selukos, king of Syria as ambassador to Chandragupta and remained for some time with the Indian kings, and wrote a history of Indian affairs, that he might hand down to posterity a faithful account of all that he had witnessed.

  Deimachos : Sent to Bindusara by Antiochus Soter, the successor of Selukos. He also wrote a book about India.

  Dionysios : Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt sent him to Pataliputra as ambassador “to put the truth to the test by personal inspection”. He also wrote a book on India.

  30. Maggy G. Menachery, Roads to India, STCEI, II, 1973, pp. 14, 15.

  31 . Rawlinson, “Intercourse Between India and the Western World”; Maggy G. Menachery. “Roads to India”, STCEI, Vol. II, p. 14.

  32 . See T. K. Velu Pillai, op. cit., p.9: “According to Mr. Howitt the Assyriologist, teak-wood which was found in the ruins of Ur must have been imported by sea from the Malabar Coast. This takes back Malabar commerce by sea to so early a date as 3,000 B. C. About 2,000 B. C. cotton cloth from Malabar appears to have found its way to Egypt. The Phoenicians visited the coast of Malabar about 1,000 B. C. in search of ivory, sandalwood and spices. About the same period king Solomon sent his commercial fleet to Tarshish and Ophir.”

  For these ships of Solomon see II Kings, X, 22. The Hebrew Bible mentions apes, peacocks, and ivory by names derived (?) from the South Indian words for these: Kapi, Tokei, Habh. For the extensive use of other Malabar products by Hebrews see Exodus XXXV, 1-24. Also cfr.STCEI II, 26, 27. Also see M. J. Koshy’s article in the Journal of Kerala Studies on the Religious Policy of the Portuguese…(II, Part III, Sept. 1975, p.407-9).

  33. Bjorn Landstrom, op. cit., gives this possibility although most writers give A. D. 44, 45, or 47 as the date of the Hippalus discovery. If Landstrom’s view is correct, then the Malabar trade with the west must have been even more considerable than is usually supposed, and from a much earlier date.

  34. Rawlinson, op. cit., p. 101.

  35 . Strabo, 2.5.12

  36 Prof. Jevonns’s letter in the London Times (April 19, 1879) quoted at length by Sir George Birdwood, The Modern Quest and Invention of the Indies, 1891. We must not lose sight of the thriving Chinese trade also. For Kerala’s foreign trade see also: Panikkassery, Velayudhan, Sancharikalum Charithrakaranmarum, Kottayam, 1971.

  37. Francis Bormer, Tr. Rock, 1826. This appears to be the case even today, to look at the heaps of gold biscuits captured by the customs departments of Indian ports almost everyday. The price of gold also appears to be comparatively higher in the Indian Market.

  38. Edward Farley Oaten, European Travellers in India, 1909, introduction, p.14. Oaten continues, “And so between Cosmos indicopleustes and Marco Polo all the well known travellers in India were Mohummedan.”

  39. Sir George Birdwood, op. cit. p. 101; E. F. Oaten, op. cit., p.8. P. Thomas, Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan, George Allen and Unwin, London 1954, pp. 6,7 (notes): “It is interesting to speculate on the part the humble pepper creeper of Malabar has played in shaping world history. As is well known Columbus was on the look-out for pepper when he stumbled on America. it was pepper that brought Vasco da Gama to Malabar; the subsequent interest the nations of Western Europe took in Indian affairs and its far reaching effects on world civilisation are too well known to deserve mention here.”

  40 . Pliny, 12.7 (14).

  41 . Id. Ibid.

  42 . Pliny, 6.23 (26); 12.18 (41); 12.7 (14).

  43. Further details could be obtained from the records of the Archaeological Museum of Trichur, the Trichur Museum, the Trivandrum Museum and the Archeaeological publications of the erstwhile Cochin and Travancore States. The kerala Archaeological Department’s monograph “Early coins of Kerala” throws a good deal of light on the numismatic evidences for Kerala’s Roman connections. Also see Thomas P. J., Roman Trade Centres in Malabar, Kerala Society Papers, II, p. 260; and James Hough, The History of Christianity in India, I, p. 28.

  44. K. P. Padmanabha Menon, op. cit., I,305.

  CHAPTER II

  ST: Thomas And Cranganore- Special Problems of Indian History

  Every scholar who essays an historical topic related to the pre-Portuguese or pre-Mughal India is seen expressing from time to time a complete sense of helplessness in the face of the paucity, often tending to non-existence, of reliable indigenous documentary or even other sources, apart from fables or legends, to base their studies on or to test their conclusions by. Even after the latest developments in the various branches of philology, geography, numismatics, and archaeology, and the accessibility today of the writings of travellers, historians and others in many languages and from many countries, many periods, persons and events in Indian history and in the histories of the different regions of India still remain shrouded in darkness. Although this is a condition common to all ancient civilisations and countries, in the case of India much fault has been attributed to the so-called lack of interest in history supposed to characterise India.

• St.George- Geevarghese Sahada traditions and rituals among Nasranis
  
  

  THOMAS Vs. GEORGE

  With regard to St. George Sahada, the following may be interesting. i hope I have not already shared this info.!

  George is the most popular or common christian baptismal name in Kerala. George includes, of course, Varghese, Verghese, Geevarghese, Varu, Varuthunny, Varappan, Varachan, Kunjuvareed, Kunjivaru, ….

  It is funny that just because the Vatican took a negative view on St. George’s history – although George is an Eastern Saint of high repute down the centuries- some Churches and persons are reluctant to give this most reputed and renowned name to their adherents or children!!!

  Pl. remember that there are so many Georges in Kerala not because it is the name of the Patron Saint of England. The other popular names in Kerala before the west arrived here were Kuriakose or Cyriac or Kurien, Kuriakku, Kuriappan, Kuriachan and perhaps Thomas – Thoma, Thomman, Thommy.

  It might appear strange but is true that while the English patron saint’s name is the most popular in Kerala, in England itself the most popular and most common baptismal or christian name is that of the father of Kerala Christianity viz. Thomas. Of course we have all heard about the Thomas Cromwells, Thomas Beckets, Thomas Carlyles, the Thomas Mores…. All because King Alfred the Great of England, by the way the only English king designated “THE GREAT” was able to win his war only after he promised to St. Thomas that if he won the war he would send offerings to Peter in Rome and to Thomas in India. and this is well documented in the Anglosaxon Chronicles. After he won the war he probably encouraged devotion to this most helpful saint – Thomas, and today it is the most popular name in England.

  Even the phrase Every TOM, Dick, and Harry begins with the name of Thomas.

  The popularity of “THOMAS” in England was verifified by Prof. George Menachery in 1975 from the British Census Reportsa of Various years in the British Museum Library – now the British Library.

• Ancient Churches with traditional dates of foundation & Stone Crosses of Kerala- Saint Thomas Cross, Nazraney Sthambams and other Persian Crosses
  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

Related NSC Network Articles

• ‘The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India’- Volume II , Chief Editor Prof.George Menachery
• ‘St. Thomas Christians and Nambudiris, Jews and Sangam Literature – A Historical Appraisal’, Bosco Puthur (Editor)
• ‘The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India’- Volume I -Prof. George Menachery
• ‘The Syrian Christians of Kerala, Demographic and Socio-Economic Transition In The Twentieth Century’ by K. C. Zachariah
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• Mission of Pantaenus in India and Saint Bartholomew, the Apostle in India
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