Bethany Ashram , Perunadu , Ranni is the first Ashram of the

Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. The church serve ...

. It was established by P.T.Geevarghese, later Archbishop Ivanios and Alexios, later Alexios Thevodosios. The Ashram follows the

religious order A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practi ...

called Order of the Imitation of Christ (O.I.C.).

Foundation of the ashram

At Serampore, P.T. Geevarghese had more time for prayer and contemplation. He came across the writings of

St. Basil Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Ca ...

on monasticism. The Basilian monastic vision had a great influence on him. Besides the visits to the

Sabarmati Ashram Sabarmati Ashram (also known as Gandhi Ashram) is located in the Sabarmati suburb of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, adjoining the Ashram Road, on the banks of the River Sabarmati, from the town hall. This was one of the many residences of Mahatma Gandh ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

gave him a new vision of Indian

Sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' As ...

(monasticism). These experiences made him reflect upon starting an order of missionaries to carry out the task of evangelisation in India. Slowly the residence of P.T. Geevarghese and his followers at Serampore became an

Ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or a ...

(monastery), and they began to live a sort of religious life according to the monastic rules of St. Basil, adapting them to

Indian culture Indian culture is the heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, artifacts and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse India. The term al ...

.Fr. Thomas Kuzhinapurath, "Mar Ivanios: Bharata Christava Sanyasathinte Pravachakan", ''Deepika'', 15 July 1997. As he accepted this as his way of life, he resigned from the Serampore College. On his return from Calcutta, Geevarghese looked for a location to establish an ashram. One of his friends, Advocate E. J. John, donated of land at Mundanmala, Ranni-Perunadu,

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a 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 regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

at the meeting place of the rivers Pampa and Kakkatt. The adjacent area of was bought from the Government of Travancore at a rate of 5

rupees Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

per

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

using a fund of about 2000

. The place was thickly filled with thorny bushes and herbs. In 1918 Fr. Alexios along with Oomman Vadhyar reached Mundanmala and made the necessary arrangements to establish the Asramam and started an orphanage at there as part of the Bethany Asramam's social activities.Later in 1919 Fr P T Geevarghese joined at Mundanmala. P.T. Geevarghese founded the

Bethany Madhom The Congregation of the Sisters of the Imitation of Christ (SIC) or Bethany Madhom is a congregation in the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. It was founded by the Servant of God Archbishop Geevarghese Mar Ivanios on 1 May 1925, originally in th ...

for religious women in 1925, with the help of the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

sisters, entitled Oxford Mission Sisterhood of the Epiphany working at

Serampore Serampore (also called ''Serampur'', ''Srirampur'', ''Srirampore'', ''Shreerampur'', ''Shreerampore'', ''Shrirampur'' or ''Shrirampore'') is a city of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarter of the Srirampor ...

Bishop of Bethany

The Malankara Synod decided to ordain P.T. Geevarghese

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of Bethany. He was ordained by

Baselios Geevarghese I Baselios Geevarghese I of the East (born ''Vaakathanam Karuchira Geevarghese'', consecrated bishop as ''Mar Philoxenos'') (11 January 1870 – 17 December 1928) popularly known as Vallikkattu Bava, he was the second Catholicos of the Mala ...

on 1 May 1925. He received the name ''Mar Ivanios''. Bishop Mar Ivanios, one of the founder of the Bethany Asraman left the Malankara Church and the Bethany Asramam in 1930 joined Roman Catholic Church. Fr.Alexios became the superior of the Aramam in 1930.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bethany Ashram Christian organisations based in India Syro-Malankara Catholic Church Christian organizations established in 1919