St. Mary's Orthodox Church, Kottayam

The church was built by Portuguese architect Antony and his team along with the craftsmen of the Thekkumkore Kingdom (old Kottayam) in 1579. However, the Portuguese had no influence on the mode of worship in the church. It is typically dedicated to Syrian Christians.

Kottayam Cheriapally has the unique distinction of being the first church in India to get the Relics of St. Mary (a small part of the Holy girdle of St. Mary) installed at the church. This relic is also known as the Soonoro or Holy belt of St. Mary. The Holy girdle was presented by Ignatius Yacub III, the Patriarch of Antioch to Baselios Augen I, the then Catholicos & Malankara Metropolitan who ceremoniously installed it at Kottayam Cheriapally on 16 January 1966. The holy girdle is kept in the church and is taken out for public viewing from 10 August to 15 August every year during the 15 days fast to commemorate the translation of St. Mary.

Built in the Portuguese-Baroque-Keralite style, the mural art on the church interiors depicts the major incidents in Jesus Christ's life. The eastern side of the church wall portrays the major happenings in the life of the Lord's mother. Some of the paintings depict the trial of Christ, Crucifixion, and Christ being taken down from the cross. The ceiling with 99 tiles is adorned with various paintings. Historians said that these were painted by foreign artists. Interestingly, the clothes worn by the people in the paintings are also European in style. Thought the paintings are in European style, some experts claim the technique used is that of artists from Kerala. All the paintings have been created by only using organic dyes from vegetables and flowers. The red colour seen in the paintings are drawn using Red brick. People from different countries visit the church to study these paintings. Several of the wall paintings had faded with the passage of time. The centuries-old mural paintings have been restored to their former glory by mural painting artist V.M. Jiju Lal and team after a hard work for three months. The rare paintings, which are believed to be more than 300 years old, at the holy sanctuary (madhaba) of the church were brought back without losing on their aesthetic quality. The consecration of the holy sanctuary (madhaba) after mural painting restoration was done on January 11, 2020.

The church exhibits a blend of Kerala and Portuguese styles of architecture. Its European architectural style galleries, large granite pillars, cornices and pediments make it an attractive building. The roof of the portico is supported by ten granite pillars and has a large lotus carved out of single piece of granite. Even the baptism basin inside the church has been chiseled from a single stone. The walls around the church are over one meter thick and are strongly influenced by Hindu temple architecture. The niches in the walls accommodate hundreds of oil lamps.

The Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Punnathra Dionysius III died on 17 May 1825 and was interred at Kottayam Cheriapally (St. Mary's Orthodox Church). The memorial feast of Mar Dionysius III is observed on 19 May. Dr.Philipose Mar Theophilose (9th May 1911 to 28th September 1997) and Yuhanon Mar Athanasios (21th March 1928 to 12th October 1980) are the two other proud sons of the parish.

The Dormition of Mother Mary or holy Theotokos occupies the most important place in the Orthodox Church next to that of Jesus Christ. It is indeed a great feast which depicts ‘falling asleep’ of the Mother of God and taking her body up into heaven by angels. The Feast of the Dormition of St. Mary (Vaangippu Perunnal or Shoonoyo Perunnal) is observed in this church on August 15. The feast of Dormition is celebrated by two weeks of fasting, known as the Dormition fast, beginning from 1 August to the 15th of August which draws many people from far and wide. The annual feast of the church (Feast of St. Mary) falls on January 15 and is known as Vithukalude Perunnal which means ‘the festival of seeds’. It is observed to invoke the blessings of Virgin Mary upon the agricultural seeds.

A pencil drawing of the church by Bateman in 1835

• Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

• Images at TrekEarth.com
• St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church.