St. Peter's and St. Paul's Orthodox Church (also known as Parumala Pally or Parumala Seminary) in

Parumala Parumala is a village and island on the Pampa River in Thiruvalla Taluk, Pathanamthitta district in Kerala, India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by ar ...

, Thiruvalla Taluk, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India, is a pilgrimage centre and mausoleum 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 Autocephaly, autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in #Catholicate ...

History

The village of

is a small stretch of land on the shores of the river Pamba. Before the church was built, the

Malankara Metropolitan The Malankara Metropolitan, or the Metropolitan of Malabar, is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of the Malankara Syrian Church. It evolved from the sixteenth-century East Syriac metropolitans of India who were also styled as the Metro ...

, Pulikkottil Joseph Mar Dionysius II wanted to establish a seminary in the area. In 1885 a two-acre plot of land was donated by Arikupurathu Mathen Karnavar to Mar Dionysius. With the land there was already a temporary church built by the Arikupurathu Family. Chathurithiyil Geevarghese Mar Gregorios decided to rebuild the temporary church into a more befitting and beautiful church. Mar Gregorios used the personal gifts he received as well as the donations from parishes to build a church and adjoining seminary building. On the feast of the Mother of God, Gregorios temporarily consecrated the church and celebrated the divine

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

in the presence of Mar Dionysius V (Pulikkottil Joseph Mar Dionysius II). The first building was called "Azhippura" and was used for teaching church functionaries for the Orthodox Church, including providing lessons in Syriac. Dionysius eventually passed the responsibility for the seminary to Mar Gregorios in order to carry on the Syriac teaching sessions more efficiently and also to help him in other church matters. The Church is dedicated to the Apostles

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

and

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

Gregorios of Parumala

The church contains the tomb of the first canonized Christian saint from India,

Gregorios of Parumala Geevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala (15 June 1848 – 2 November 1902), also known as Parumala Thirumeni, was a Metropolitan bishop, Metropolitan of the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church. Parumala Thirumeni became the first person of Indian or ...

, who died on 2 November 1902 at the age of 54. In 1947 he was declared a saint by Baselios Geevarghese II, the then

Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan The leader of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church uses the title Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan. The incumbent 'Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan' is Baselios Marthoma Mathews III. History The leaders of the ...

, and the church became a pilgrimage centre.

Building

The church, which can accommodate more than 2000 worshipers, was designed by

Charles Correa Charles Mark Correa (1 September 1930 – 16 June 2015) was an Indian architect and urban planner based in Mumbai, India. Credited with the creation of modern architecture in post-Independent India, he was celebrated for his sensitivity to the ...

. It is a circle with an inner diameter of 39 meters, divided into three segments by two chords of 16 meters length. In 2018 the main altar wall of the church was adorned with a large icon painting.

Gallery

File:ParumalaChurch InsideView.jpg, Interior of Parumala church File:Parumala-Church-Front.jpg, Front view of the church File:Azhippura1.jpg, ''Azhippura'' - Small building where Mar Gregorios stayed in Parumala

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter and Saint Paul's Church, Parumala Churches in Pathanamthitta district Malankara Orthodox Syrian church buildings Religious organizations established in 1895 Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church 19th-century churches in India 19th-century Oriental Orthodox church buildings