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Introduction
It is a very difficult task to prepare the Pakalomattam
family history of 2000 years as no effort so far has been
undertaken in this direction. The Kerala traditions do not
have a system of recording and handing over the details of
historical incidents and records. Hence we have to depend
on the Church history, social history, oral traditions and
legends handed down the generations to distill history out
of them. Certain oral traditions and legends have over the
centuries corrupted with interpolations and additions to
suit the times/interest of its authors. To have a critical
evaluation of these facts and to deduct the truly
historical elements out of them is a very difficult task
but it is absolutely necessary to write the history of the
times. Or else it will lead to historical controversies
and it may lead to negation of historical truth. Most of
the historical critics have pointed out the historical
inconsistencies and anachronisms contained in these
legends handed down to us by our ancestors.
In the absence of concrete historical corroborative
evidence, which can be historio-graphically proved, many
historians even expressed doubts on the missionary journey
of St. Thomas, the disciple of Jesus, to Kerala and South
India. It may be remembered that even secular histories
about Emperor Asoka or even Vikramaditya do not have
historiographical evidence. Indians have a tendency of
treating traditions as history. They even call the legends
of India as purana and Ithihasa meaning history. Hence
writing history on pure historical records alone will not
be possible as far as Indian history is concerned. Indians
lack a sense of history as Vincent Smith commented. The
Marthoma Christians started writing their history on the
compulsive persuasions of Portuguese and other Europeans
from the 16th Century onwards. Christians of Kerala call
themselves Marthoma Christians, remembering the traditions
of their conversion to St. Thomas the apostle of Jesus
Christ. When they reduced it to writing, their history
happened to be the crystallization of their traditional
history held tobe true by them and belived to be true by
the contemporary society.
The oral traditions gets historical veracity and
authenticity by the supporting evidence from the
individual truths connected with histories of families,
villages, land and revenue records etc. of the place. The
quintessence of this traditional history had created
confusion among them and also created confusion among
their sister societies.
The Summary of Mathoma Christian Tradion
St. Thomas, the apostle after the Pentesost day, did
missionary work in Persia, North India & Afghanistan. He
visited Jerusalem at the death of St. Mary, mother of
Jesus and attended the Jerusalem Synod in A.D.50.
Then he journeyed to south India and landed at the chera
capital port of cranganore or musiris in Kerala. After
this he traveled to south East Indian shore and did
missionary activity there. In A.D. 72, at the port city of
Mylapore, South of Chennai the old Madras city he was
martyred.
The living testimony of St.thomas mission in India is the
enlivening presence of the St.thomas Christians in Kerala
and their living traditions. His tomb is not claimed by
any other people in the world requires a special note. The
mortal remains of St. Thomas, wherever it is kept like
Edessa, Orthona etc certifies that it is brought from
India. The fact that the tomb of St. Thomas is 1500 Kms.
away from Trichur in Chennai coast and the Solemn
celebration of St. Thomas day (Dukrana) on July 3 when
Kerala is having incessant rain by Syrian Christians here
is a living concrete testimony of the St. Thomas
connection of Kerala Christians.
St. Thomas
On the command of Jesus to spread the Gospel to the four
corners of Earth, all disciples traveled to different
parts of the world. St. Thomas was given East and India
and he came to North west India and later South India and
spread the holy gospel of Jesus. Apostle converted many
people to the Christian faith and rituals. The people who
thus became Christians called themselves Marthoma
Christians.
The history of Christianity in India thus starts from the
missionary activity of St. Thomas. The early biographical
details, early life, relatives etc. of St. Thomas are not
recorded in the Gospels. Only Indication in the holy Bible
is that the apostle was a native of Galilee in Palestine,
and was a fisherman by profession. He was called Thomas
and had a second name. Didymos which is the Greek word for
“Twin”.
In the Jewish tradition the name Thomas is absent. The
real name must be Jude. In the Syriac tradition he is
called Jude Thomas or Thoma, who is called Jude Thomas.
Thomas who is called Jude (John 14:18, and 24) and the
other Jude is used in Codex Sinaiticus to distinguish him
from Judas Iscariot, the traitor disciple, who showed
Jesus to Jewish authorities for 30 silver coins. The
synoptic gospels also used the name Juda. The Acts of
Thoma also calls him Jude Thomas. Mar Aprem, for John
20:24, also used the name Juda thoma. The occidental
tradition calls hime Thomas, but the oriental tradition
calls hime Juda. The Syriac traditions holds that Thomas
is one among the four brothers of Jesus, hinted in the
Synoptic gospel. Modern historical research by Martin
Gielen also holds this views. They were actually the
children of clepha’s (brother of Joseph) daughter Mariam,
thus cousin brothers of Jesus. They grew up with Jesus in
Galilee and hence considered brothers of Jesus. The
aprocryphal book of Thomas the contender, also pictures
apostle Thomas as brother of Jesus. But it cannot be held
indisputably whether St. Thomas was one among these three
or four brothers.
St. John the apostle, in his gospel gave much importance
to St. Thomas. This means that eastern European traditions
carried the west Asian traditions connected with St.
Thomas in Persia. “Let us also go and die with him” and
the declaration of faith “my Lord and my God” are credited
to St. Thomas in the Gospel according to St. John. The
innocent expression of St. Thomas that “We do not know,
where are thou going unto” paved way for the declaration
of Jesus “I am the way, the truth and life” in the end.
St. Thomas was courageous, truthful and expressed his
logical mind in the gospel. The declaration of the
godhood, personality and messianic role of Jesus came from
the words of St. Thomas. It is a great testimony of the
greatness of the disciple (John 11:8, 14: 20-28). The
Epistle of Hebrews, and Epistle of Jude are credited to
St. Thomas by Gielen.
The Manichaen and Gnostic thoughts are given in the three
apocryphal books, gospel According to St. Thomas, gospel
according to St. Mary and one Act of Thomas. They are
credited to the authorship of the apostle. They were
detected in 1945 from the Nag Hammadi Texts of Egypt.
These books give clear evidence of his single handed
missionary journey in the west Asian and central Asian
lands and in the Mesopotomian crescent including the
Persian lands of oxus-Jaxartes basins, media, Bactria,Sind
etc. The Indian missionary activity was given a foundation
and initial seeds were sown by him, in his lonely effort.
It is also handed down in tradition that he gave sermons
in Ceylon and China.
The apocryphal biography of St.Mary, States that St.
Thomas reached the Jerusalem tomb of St. Mary and very
typical of him asked to open the tomb to see her mortal
remains. The tomb was found empty and this is cited as one
of the evidences of the assumption of St. Mary to heaven.
But taken in totality St. Thomas is usually called and
universally known as “The apostle of India”. He is the
founding father of so many Christian congregations and
Churches in India. The Jewish merchant guilds in the trade
cities Kerala were a guiding source of St. Thomas journey,
through the trade route to Kerala. The Jew towns existed
in cranganore and palayur from 5th century B.C. It is
suspected by some historians that Jews established trade
with South India even from the times of Solomon the wise
from B.C. 10th century. Jewish settlements started from
B.C. 557 in the Kerala coast. The items like peacock,
monkey, spices, rice, teak, sandalwood etc. were exported
from Kerala to Jewish lands. The Syriac words became
common to South Indian words in this process.
| Peacock |
: |
Tokai in Tamil. Tuki in Syriac the
word used in vulgate
and septugint versions of the Bible AD 1st Century |
| Monkey |
: |
Kapi in Sanskrit and Kaphi in Syriac |
| Sandalwood |
: |
Chandan in Tamil Chandal in Syriac |
| Rice |
: |
Arisai in Tamil Oryz in Latin and
oryza sativa in Botanical
name, Greek word for rice is Ari the same word in
Malayalam |
| Mother |
: |
Amma in Tamil Emma in Syriac |
| Father |
: |
Appa in Tamil Abba in Syriac |
| Teak |
: |
Take in Tamil Teak in Syriac |
These are quoted by linguistic experts in support of
the theory of Kerala trade with Jews from 10th century,
B.C.
St. Thomas the apostle first came to Taxila in present day
Pakistan first. Edessa, Nisibus, Hormuz and Jadaddala were
the trade route to India. He established the native
Churches there. These Churches were later destroyed during
the Hunnish invasion from A.D. 380-500 in North west
India. He went back to Jerusalem from western India by
A.D. 50. In the second Journey, he came to South India.
Hippalus, the navigator had discovered the monsoon wind
sailing route and its mechanism by the first century AD.
St.Thomas might have used these merchant ships to arrive
at the coast of Kerala. He landed at crangenore or muziris
in AD 52 and established the congregations namely
cranganore, Palayur (Trichur District), Paravur or
Kottakavu (Ernakulam District) Niranam,
Kokkamangalam(Alleppy district) Kollam(Kollam district)
Chayal or Nilakkal (Hill Slopes of Pathanamthitta
District). Nilakkal was the township on the trade rout
connecting Madurai to Cranganore , and the other six
places were either sea ports or backwater ports in
lakesides. All of them were trade centers in the beginning
of Christian Era. He later went to eastern coast and was
martyred at Mylapore. The Venetian traveler Marco Polo
records in 1290 AD that a hunter aiming and shooting a
peacock hit St.Thomas and caused his death. The other
names of Mylapore are myloor, Mylan, Calemina, Coyilavaya,
Calemena, Calevonec, Calavini. The Chinnamala is called in
Syriac language “Galmano”. Medlycott (Page 87-86) argues
that “Galmano” became “Calamina” of the Acta Thoma, the
apocryphal book.
The martyrdoms of other apostles are no more credible than
the martyrdom of St. Thomas. All stories and histories of
St. Thomas, cannot write his biography without mentioning
or narrating India. The pilgrimage to St. Thomas Tomb was
an age old tradition. The soil taken from Mylapore was
mixed with water and used as medicine in Kerala. Till 13th
century there was a Christian community in Mylapore.
During the malik Kafur’s invasion of Tamilnadu, the
Christians fled from Mylapore to Kanyakumari District. The
tomb of St. Thomas was protected by Muslims when Marcopolo
and Portugese saw the tomb in 13th and 16th century.
Marcopolo (13th century) Monte Corvino (13th century)
Oderic (14th century) Maringoli, Nicolo Comti, Barbosa are
some of the European travelers visiting Mylapore. In 1522,
Portuguese opened the tomb and got the mortal remains
shifted to Goa. Archeologists confirm the tomb to be
centuries of age. The present Mylapore church was
constructed in 1547. the Periamala is known as St. Thomas
mount. The bones which were carried to Edessa in 3rd
century was later shifted to Orthona, and one bone was
later brought back by Cardinal Tisserent to Kodungalloor
in 1953 and is kept there. When Mosul church was
renovated, the remains of St. Thomas was found in a box
and one bone was brought and kept in Catholicate chapel in
Devalokam, Kottayam in 1965. One bone of St. Thomas was
brought in 1994 and is kept in Mulanthuruthy Marthoman
Church.
The evidence of St. Thomas mission in India
The mission of St. Thomas to India is attested by lot of
foreign authorities, though original records may not be
forth coming. The destruction of all antique records in
the Synod of Diamper, 1599 by Portuguese may be one of the
reasons. Inscriptions on stone or copper plates are far
and few and the palmyra leaf writings were all perishable
material in a monsoon intested Kerala climate. Hence we
are forced to be content with little number of records.
The chief records are the following.
|
1. |
2ndCentury |
Syriac, Doctrine of Apostles |
St.
Thomas wrote letters from “India”. He evangelized
“India” and countries bordering on it. |
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2. |
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