Thiruvithamcode Arappally ("Royal Church"; Tamil:திருவிதாங்கோடு அரப்பள்ளி; Malayalam:തിരുവിതാംകോട് അരപ്പള്ളി;), or Thomayar Kovil or St. Mary's Orthodox Church, is a church located in Thiruvithamcode in Kanyakumari District,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

state in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is believed by the Christian communities in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

that the historic Thiruvithamcode Arappally, also called ''Amalagiri'' church as named by the

Chera The Chera dynasty ( or Cēra, ), also known as Keralaputra, from the early historic or the Sangam period in Tamil-speaking southern India, ruled over parts of present-day states Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Cheras, known as one of the mu-ventar ...

King Uthiyan Cheralathan, was built by St. Thomas, known as the Apostle of India, in 63 AD. It is believed to be the world's oldest existing church structure, and is now declared an international St. Thomas pilgrim center. Thiruvithamcode_Arappally3

It claims to be the world's oldest church that still has daily prayers and India's oldest church that hasn't been reconstructed till now. The church has three main parts built in the 17th century and a 20th-century entrance hall. Its walls are built of locally quarried stone, chiseled with a multi-tipped chisel, a technique known in Kerala and possibly introduced there by foreign contact in the 16th century. Thiruvithamcode (also spelled Thiruvithancode, Thiruvithankodu and Thiruvithangodu) is a small panchayat town located in the Kanyakumari district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is about 20 km from

Nagercoil Nagercoil, natively spelt as Nāgarkovil (, "Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a Municipal Corporation city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the ...

, and 2 km from Thuckalay. The church today is maintained by 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 ...

Catholicos of the East Catholicos of the East may refer to: * Patriarch of the Church of the East * Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan * Catholicos of India * Maphrian See also * List of patriarchs of the Church of the East {{OrientalOrthodoxy-st ...

and

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 ...

, Baselios Marthoma Didymos I proclaimed the church as an international St. Thomas pilgrim center on 16 December 2007. Legend says that the newly converted Christians during St. Thomas’ time went through a lot of persecution and a woman by the name of CHIRUTHA organized her own army called CHIRUTHA PADA (Army of Chirutha) to put up a tough fight against the persecutors. It is believed this fight continued for several decades. Later, many of her relatives migrated to different parts of Kerala to join their siblings and families. There was a historical book written about this fight and it was widely circulated in Tamil nadu. It clearly mentions CHIRUTHA and her army, CHIRUTHA PADA.

References

External links

Website of the church
(in English) Malankara Orthodox Syrian church buildings Churches in Kanyakumari district {{Malankara-Orthodox-Syrian-struct-stub