Mar Gregory Karotemprel and Prasant Payyappilly Palakkappilly

Arakuzha is a small village situated 6 km from

Muvattupuzha Muvattupuzha () is a town in the midlands directly to the east of Kochi in Ernakulam district, Kerala, India. It is located about from downtown Kochi, and is a growing urban centre in central Kerala. The town is also the starting poin ...

Kerala, India Kerala ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. The SH 41 connects Arakuzha with Muvattupuzha and

Koothattukulam Koothattukulam is a town and municipality situated in Muvattupuzha taluk, towards the south east corner of Ernakulam district in Kerala State, India. It lies at the junction of three districts: Ernakulam, Kottayam and Idukki, and covers a ...

and Moozhi bridge connects Arakuzha to pineapple city of India,

Vazhakulam Vazhakulam is a village in Muvattupuzha Talukis in Ernakulam district in the Indian state of Kerala. This town is known as ''Pineapple City'' due to its large-scale pineapple farms. Another village named Vazhakulam, is located in Aluva. ...

town which is also 6 km from Arakuzha. It is located on SH 41 towards

, the alternate route for

Main Central Road The Main Central Road, better known as MC Road is the arterial State Highway starting from Kesavadasapuram in Trivandrum city and ends at Angamaly, a suburb of Kochi city in Ernakulam District, in the state of Kerala, India. It is designated as ...

. St. Mary's High School and St. Joseph’s girls' school are the oldest high school in Arakuzha. Arakuzha is also home to two Christian pilgrim centres-St. Mary’s Forane Church and Malekurish Church. The chief festival is on the first Sunday after

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

History

The village has a large population of Syrian Catholic Christians. Marth Mariam Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church has an important role in the life of the people.

Saint Thomas Christians The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, ''Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani'', ''Malankara Nasrani'', or ''Nasrani Mappila'', are an ethno-religious An ethnoreligious group (or an ethno-religious group) is a grouping of ...

of Arakuzha have more than 1,500 years of

recorded history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world hist ...

. This region comprising

Kothamangalam Kothamangalam, , is a municipality in Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. The town is in the foothills of the Western Ghats, and is a part of the Idukki Lok Sabha constituency. The town serves as the headquarters of a taluk and a municipality ...

, Vazhakulam, Arakuzha, Mylakompu, Nagapuzha, Muthalakodam of erstwhile

Travancore kingdom The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

has some very old Syrian churches. Arakuzha, being an ancient Syrian Christian centre has given asylum to many migrant Syrian Christians during the Tipu's persecution of Nasranis.

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

Mar Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly Payyappilly Varghese Kathanar was a Syro-Malabar priest from the Indian state of Kerala and the founder of the congregation of Sisters of the Destitute. He was declared Venerable by Pope Francis on 14 April 2018. Family Kathanar was born as Ku ...

had served as the parish priest of Marth Mariam Church in Arakuzha (1920-22). During his tenure in Arakuzha he started St. Mary's School there. He also purchased of land in M.C.Road for constructing

St. Joseph's Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Meenkunnam St. Joseph's Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is situated in Meenkunnam village, 6 km from Muvattupuzha, India. It was founded by Venerable Mar Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly in 1921.Payyappilly Palakkappilly Varghese Kathanar
Several families migrated to different parts of Kerala, mainly to

Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...

and high range areas, in search of agriculture land.

References

{{Northern Travancore Villages in Ernakulam district

History

See also

References