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
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 ...
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