St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral,

Thottamon Thottamon is a village in Ranni, India. The place is home to people of all religious community and well known for its religious harmony and tolerance. Thottamon is an important part of Ranni due to the presence of a large number of Government ...

Ranny Ranni or Ranny is a town in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, India, and the 16th largest ''taluk'' (administrative division) in Kerala, located on both sides of the Pamba River.It Is Located 30 km From Thiruvalla Railway Station & NH 183 i ...

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, is one of the newest Cathedral churches in

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 ...

. This is a Cathedral church of Joshua Mar Nicodemus Metropolitan who is the Bishop in charge of Nilakal diocese. This church is situated by the side of

Main Eastern Highway The Main Eastern Highway is the lifeline of the high range townships of the Travancore region of Kerala state, India. It is also known as Punalur-Muvattupuzha Highway. Main Eastern Highway is categorized as State Highway - 08 ( SH-08 ) of ...

(SH-08) which is also known as the Punalur-Pathanamthitta-Muvattupuzha Highway.

History

This church was founded in 1905 and it is one of the oldest churches of

area. The parish is under the jurisdiction of the Malankara Metropolitan and the Catholicate of the East

Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II Catholicos Baselios Marthoma Paulose II (born K. I. Paul at west mangad ); 30 August 1946 – 12 July 2021) was the primate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. He was enthroned as the 8th Catholicos of the Malankara Church and the 21st Mal ...

of the

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 ...

. With over more than 200 families, St Thomas Syrian Orthodox Cathedral is one of the fastest growing parishes in Ranny area. The Church started modestly and has renovated four times with the last, being done alongside the Centenary celebrations of the church in January 2007. The church was known as St Thomas Orthodox Church, Thottomon before its title was increased to St Thomas Orthodox Valliyapally by Moran Mar Baselios Thoma Didymos I. With the formation of new Nilakal diocese around late 2010, Joshua Mar Nicodemus Metropolitan the newly elected bishop chose this church as his

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

l church.

References

1905 establishments in India Churches in Pathanamthitta district Malankara Orthodox Syrian cathedrals Cathedrals in Kerala Churches completed in 1905 20th-century churches in India 20th-century Oriental Orthodox church buildings {{Malankara-Orthodox-Syrian-struct-stub