Thiruvithamcode Arappally

திருவிதாங்கோடு அரப்பள்ளி

A small stone church tied to the apostle Thomas

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You arrive

You come to the small town of Thiruvithamcode and look for a church that does not try to impress. St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church, known here as the Arappally or Royal Church, is low and made of local stone. It is small enough to take in with one look. You walk up slowly, aware that Christian communities in Kerala believe the apostle Thomas himself built this church in the first century, and that daily prayers still happen inside it.

Stone inscription at the church · Photo: SAJEEVJINO · CC BY-SA 3.0

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The stone walls

You stop outside and look closely at the walls. They are built of locally quarried stone, finished with a multi-tipped chisel, and if you bend near you can see the fine marks it left. The technique is known in Kerala and may have arrived through foreign contact in the 16th century. Step around the building: three main parts date from the 17th century, and the entrance hall from the 20th.

Thiruvithamcode Arappally · Photo: SAJEEVJINO · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Inside the church

You go in through the entrance hall to the older rooms beyond. The interior is simple and small, and the scale is the point. Sit for a minute if a service is not under way. The claim that this is one of the oldest churches in the world is a matter of faith and debate, but the people who pray here know exactly what it means to them.

Being here

You see

Low walls of chisel-marked local stone.

You hear

Quiet, or the sound of daily prayers if you arrive at the right time.

You smell

Old stone and candle wax.

You feel

The cool of a thick-walled building on a warm day.

The story

Christian communities in Kerala believe the Thiruvithamcode Arappally, also called Amalagiri, a name attributed to the Chera king Uthiyan Cheralathan, was built by St. Thomas in 63 AD. It claims to be the world's oldest church with daily prayers still held. The historical record is more complicated: the church has three main parts built in the 17th century, and it was one of the earliest to be rebuilt by the Portuguese in line with the Synod of Diamper. A 20th-century entrance hall was added later.

Sources: Wikipedia: St. Mary's Church, Thiruvithamcode

Photo: Kingstonberyl · CC BY-SA 3.0

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