Tarisappalli

Tarisāppaḷḷi (Malayalam: തരിസാപ്പള്ളി) or Kollam Tarisāppaḷḷi (കൊല്ലം തരിസാപ്പള്ളി) was a Persian–Syrian Christian church in Kollam (also called Kurakkeni Kollam or Quilon) on the Malabar Coast, southern India. The earliest known epigraphical reference to this church appears in the medieval Tarisappalli Copper Plates. The original site of the church is identified with the present-day Tangasseri Fort area in Kollam. Local tradition holds that this ancient church was among the Seven Churches founded by St. Thomas, one of the Twelve Apostles, on the Malabar Coast.

The church in Kollam is regarded as one of the most prominent among the Ēḻarappaḷḷikaḷ (the Seven and a Half Churches), which are traditionally believed to have been established by the Apostle Thomas in the 1st century AD on the Malabar Coast. The Ramban Pattu, the traditional Malayalam ballad that narrates the missionary journey of Apostle Thomas in India, notably identifies it as the second in the list of seven churches after Kodungallur. However, as with most ancient churches on the Malabar Coast, its subsequent history remains unclear.

The medieval history of the church begins with the Tarisappalli or Quilon Syian Copper Plates, issued by the ruler of Venadu (Kollam; formerly Quilon) to the Church of the Tarisais in Kurakkeni Kollam around 849 AD. According to long-standing tradition among the Saint Thomas Christians, the Persian saints Sabor and Aproth, who arrived in Malabar at that time, rebuilt the then-ruined church. The church is also referenced in the accounts of Western missionaries and travelers who visited Kerala in later centuries.