Marthoman Cheriyapally is a

Jacobite Church , native_name_lang = syc , image = St_George_Syriac_orthodox_church_in_Damascus.jpg , imagewidth = 250 , alt = Cathedral of Saint George , caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascu ...

located in

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 ...

town of

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation a ...

district,

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The church is believed to have been established in 1455 by 18 families who separated from Marth Maryam Valiyapally. The church is famous for the feast of Mor Baselios Yeldo, a

Syriac Orthodox , native_name_lang = syc , image = St_George_Syriac_orthodox_church_in_Damascus.jpg , imagewidth = 250 , alt = Cathedral of Saint George , caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascu ...

saint who arrived in Kothamangalam. He is entombed in the altar room of this church.

History

The present region of Kothamangalam was historically known as ''Malakhachira'' (മാലാഖച്ചിറ, which literally means "Place of the Angel"). According to church history, the

Bishop,

St. Baselios Yeldo Saint Baselios Yeldo was the Maphrian of the East of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1678 until his resignation in 1684. He is venerated as a saint in the Syriac Orthodox Church, Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church and Malankara Orthodox ...

Maphrian The Maphrian ( syr, ܡܦܪܝܢܐ, maphryānā or ''maphryono''), originally known as the Grand Metropolitan of the East and also known as the Catholicos, was the second-highest rank in the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the Syriac Orthodox Church, ...

reached the church in the year 1685, on 11th of

Kanni The Kanni (கன்னி), meaning pure (also known as the Maiden's Beastmaster), is a rare indigenous South Indian sighthound breed of dog found in the state of Tamil Nadu. Their native breeding tract is located around villages in the Ti ...

month of the

Malayalam calendar The Malayalam Calendar is a sidereal solar calendar used in Kerala. The origin of the calendar has been dated to 825 CE, the beginning of the Kollam Era. There are many theories regarding the origin of the era, but according to recent schola ...

Yeldo and Basil

The name Yelda (

East Syriac The East Syriac Rite or East Syrian Rite, also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy ...

) / Yeldo ( West Syriac) means

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

. Yelda/Yeldo lent (Nativity lent) starts 15 December till 25 December. Various spellings are used to write Yeldo (യെൽദൊ) in English (Yeldho, Eldho, Eldo).

Basil Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also kno ...

is the short form for

Baselios The name Basil (''royal, kingly'') comes from the male Greek name Vassilios (, female version ), which first appeared during the Hellenistic period. It is derived from "basileus" ( el, βασιλεύς, links=no), of greek origin, meaning "king", ...

, a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word that literally means "king" or "emperor", and is used to refer to

St. Basil of Caesarea 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 ...

Gallery

File:Altar & Tomb of Mar Baselios Yeldo.jpg, Main Madbaho (altar) and tomb of Mor Baselios Yeldho. File:Tomb of St.Baselios Yeldo.jpg, Tomb of Mor Baselios Yeldo File:Manchal of Mar Baselios Yeldo.jpg, ''Manchal'' (

Palanquin The litter is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of people. Smaller litters may take the form of open chairs or beds carried by two or more carriers, some being enclosed for protection from the el ...

) used by Mor Baselios Yeldo. File:Malankara Syrian church altar.jpg, View from the ''Poomukham'' (front face) of the church.

References

External links

Cheriapally.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Thomas Church, Kothamangalam Churches in Kothamangalam Malankara Orthodox Syrian church buildings Churches completed in 1455 15th-century churches in India 15th-century Oriental Orthodox church buildings Religious organizations established in the 1450s

History

Yeldo and Basil

Gallery

See also

References

External links