Christianity is the third-largest practiced religion in Kerala, accounting for 18% of the population according to the 2001 Indian census. According to traditional accounts, Thomas the Apostle sailed t
Percentage of Christians by District
Saint Thomas Cross (Mar Thoma Sleeha) indigenous to the Saint Thomas Syrian Christian community
Mar Thoma Sleeha Pilgrim Church, Kodungalloor where the relics of the right hand of the apostle is kept and venerated. This new church is built where it is believed that the first of the seven churches was built by Thomas in AD 52.
Marth Mariam Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church, Arakuzha was founded in 999
The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani, Malankara Nasrani, or Nasrani Mappila, are an ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the stat
Christianity in Kerala
…much larger than that of India as a whole. A significant portion of the Indian Christian population resides in the state. The tradition of origin among Saint Thomas Christians relates to the arrival of Thomas, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, at the ancient seaport Muziris on the Kerala coast in AD 52. But the visit of St…
Icon of Mar Knai Thoma the Merchant
Tharisapalli Copper plate grant (9th century) – One of the reliable documentary evidences of the privileges and influence that Saint Thomas Christians enjoyed in early Malabar. The document contains signatures of the witnesses in Pahlavi, Kufic and Hebrew scripts. It is the oldest documentary evidence from India that attest the presence of a Persian Christian community in South India.
Catholic critical account of Saint-Thomas Christians in India, written by traveller and missionary Jordanus in 1329–1338 in Mirabilia Descripta