Mar Sabor and Mar Proth
Mar Sabor and Mar Proth who came to India along with Maruvan Sapir Iso were two Bishops who built and presided over a number of churches in the Kingdom of Travancore operating in accordance with Saint Thomas Christians. In 825 AD, the seaport of Quilon was part of the Venad Kingdom; the ruling monarch, Iyyanadikal Thiruvadikal, welcomed the monks on their arrival and showered them with special privileges and honours. Maruvan Sapir Iso built the Nilalkkal ashram near St. Thomas Church in Chayal, he died and buried in Chayal ashram. Mar Sabor and Mar Proth came from Dayro d-Mor Mattai,Ninaveh - is located atop Mount Alfaf in northern Iraq and is 20 kilometers from Mosul Mar Sabor and Mar Proth moved to various villages and established churches including Kadamattom St George Orthodox Syrian Church, Kothanalloor, Kadisha Church in Kollam, Kadisha Church in Kayamkulam and finally to present Thevalakkara Marth Mariam Orthodox Church, where they died and were buried. Parochial writers claim that Mar Sabor and Mar Proth came from Persia or Chaldea at the invitation of the King Kuleshakara of Quilon as an Authority for the Doctrine of Trinity against the background of a Shivate Revival of Advaita Vedanta propounded by Adi Shankara There is no documentary evidence that Kulasekhara invited Mar Sabor.
According to available records Mar Sabor had to flee Persia because of persecution of Christians by the Zoroastrian ruler.. The start of the Malayalam era referred to as Kollavarsham, is associated with Kollam; the era was started by these East Syrian Saints who settled in Korukeni Kollam, near to the present Kollam. Communal writers claim that the start of the ME has been dated to 825 AD, when a great convention was held in Kollam at the behest of King Kulashekhara. Kollam was an important town in that period. Velu Pillai's Manual does not show any documentary evidences, it is a mere narration of the imaginary stories of religious sects. The Hindu paper dated March 3, 2010, says that the research conducted by Dr. Jeyapraksh has established the fact that the Kollam varsha was fixed during the reign of Rajasekhara Varma Udayamarthanda. Two sessions of almanac experts took place in Kozhikode. Thed Kollam session decided to make the first day of the Malayalam month Chingam as the New Year day. V. Nagam Aiya in his Travancore State Manual records that in 822 AD two bishops Mar Sapor and Mar Peroz, settled in Quilon with their followers.
Two years the Malabar Era began and Quilon undoubtedly became the premier city of the Malabar region including Travancore and Cochin. Nagam Aiya wrote the State Manual without quoting evidences, he accepted the imaginary stories of communal writers. There is nothing in the Kerala archives that Mar Sabor founded the Thangasserry ports. Chera rulers were having commercial and maritime contacts with foreign countries long before Mar Sabor arrived at Kollam as a refugee. Sanghom literature speaks about Greek ships on Kerala coast. M. G. S. Narayanan in his paper on the Chera-Pandya conflict in the 8th–9th centuries, which led to the emergence of Venad or the Kingdom of Quilon writes, "It is not surprising that the Chera king, contemplating the development of the new harbour town at Kurakeni Kollam welcomed the monks and permitted him to introduce Syrian liturgy in worship other than Sanskrit liturgy following the shivite revival; this was the period. The foundation of Kollam in 825 A. D. must have coincided with this victory of Chera in the Vel province.
Therefore it is easy to understand the anxiety of the Chera king to please Vaishanavites and allow the Assyrian Monks to settle at Kollam so that the harbour might grow and compete with Nillakal further south which had passed under the control of the Pandya. The Syrian Christian Monks who took advantage of the situation were clever and resourceful. In the absence of materials for a detailed history, it is difficult to ascertain whether Mar Abo was a or missionary, he was both at the same time and there was no inherent contradiction between the two roles." Narayanan has referred to the enterprising spirit of Chera kings and how they welcomed merchants from abroad, this does not give special significance to the arrival of refugee monks. Narayanan writes in Cultural Symbiosis in Kerala that "By the time of the Syrian christian Copper Plates of the 9th century the foreign Christians and the Christians of Kerala who were just Nampoothiri Vaishnavites and Nairs had become part and parcel of the local village community."
"The deity of the Tarsa Church was referred to the tevar. An important offering to the tevar was the sacred oil lamp as in the case of contemporary Brahmanical temples, is an indication to the fact that their conception of religion was shaped by local culture." Narayanan would have been carried away by the works of some Christian writers when he wrote "Cultural Symbiosis"that local converts were'just Nampoothiri Vaishnavites". How could Christians become vaishnavites when the Bible categorically states that Christians should not worship pagan gods? Moreover, Persian missionaries. Vaishnava Vishnu worship was alien to the Persians missionaries and to the local converts converted by them.. Most western writers were misled by the claim of parochial writers. Logan writes: " The final Brahman immigration seems to have occurred in or about the eighth century A. D. and Christian colonies had arrived in the country long before that time.: Narayanan wanted to show the existence of various religious cultures in the Chera
Azhikode lighthouse
Azhikode Lighthouse is situated about 8 km west of Kodungallur in Kerala. There was no lighthouse in the present location prior to this being inaugurated on 30 April 1982; the concrete tower of the lighthouse has a height of 30 meters. There is a Radio beacon installed at this lighthouse which came on air on 10 September 1981; the incandescent lamp was replaced by metal halide lamp on 30 September 1997. The direct drive system was incorporated at the time; this lighthouse was earlier known as Periyar river lighthouse. A fixed light of 11 miles range was exhibited from a mast of 96 feet high by the State Port department in 1964 near the Port entrance and it worked till the commissioning of the new light in 1982. Azhikode lighthouse was proposed as a guide light for Cochin port; the Radio beacon was discontinued and a Differential Global positioning system was commissioned at Azhikod lighthouse in 1994. List of lighthouses in India
Beypore lighthouse
The Beypore Lighthouse is a lighthouse at Feroke, Kozhikkode, on the south shore of the Chaliyam River. The six-sided tower has a height of 30.48 metres. The tower is painted with white bands; the lighthouse started functioning on 21 November 1977. The light source is metal halide lamp. List of lighthouses in India
Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society
Founded in 2000 by Jim Weidner, K2JXW, the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society is devoted to maritime communications, amateur radio and lightships. Its members travel to lighthouses around the world where they operate amateur radio equipment at or near the light. Collecting lighthouse QSLs is popular for some amateur radio operators. ARLHS is a membership organization with over 1665 members worldwide as of July 2009. A convention is held in October each year. In 2010 the gathering was in Mississippi. In earlier years it has been held in Solomons, Maryland, St. Simons, Port Huron and other sites. Membership benefits include a newsletter, email reflector, awards program, lighthouse expedition sponsorship, embroidered shoulder patch, a list of every known light beacon in the world capable of supporting a ham station, a web site at; the ARLHS has been featured in national magazines, such as WordRadio. Jim Weidner is its founding President; the club call sign is W7QF and the website is The ARLHS maintains a catalog of lighthouses called The World List of Lights.
Its main feature is a short, transmitted identification number for each lighthouse. The WLOL lists any lighthouse, or was an Aid to Navigation and can reasonably accommodate an amateur radio operation. Lights that are no longer in existence, but were once an ATN show up on the list, designated as historical. With over 15,000 entries, the WLOL is one of the most complete lighthouse catalogs in existence. Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society Website ARLHS Convention web site India's First ARLHS activation in Mahaballipuram, India Aug 2008 Kadalur Lighthouse Centenary and ILLW operation Aug 2009
Vizhinjam lighthouse
Vizhinjam Lighthouse is situated near Kovalam beach in Kerala. It started functioning on 30 June 1972. Vizhinjam was a busy seaport in the nineteenth centuries. Before the current light was installed, there were no lighthouses at this location. A day mark beacon must have been there in 18th century. After 19th century, this port was in a neglected state. A lighted beacon was constructed in 1925 at nearby Kolachal. Subsequently, a day mark beacon was provided at Vilinjam during 1960; the tower is cylindrical with a height of 36 meters. The paint markings are white bands; the lighthouse is equipped with direct drive mechanism. The light source was modified on 30 April 2003. List of lighthouses in India Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships
Anglo-Indian
The term Anglo-Indian can refer to at least two groups of people: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, people of British descent born or living in the Indian subcontinent. The latter sense is now historical, but confusions can arise; the Oxford English Dictionary, for example, gives three possibilities: "Of mixed British and Indian parentage, of Indian descent but born or living in Britain or of British descent or birth but living or having lived long in India". People fitting the middle definition are more known as British Asian or British Indian; this article focuses on the modern definition, a distinct minority community of mixed Eurasian ancestry, whose native language is English. During the centuries that Britain was in India, the children born to the British and Indians began to form a new community; these Anglo-Indians formed a small but significant portion of the population during the British Raj, were well represented in certain administrative roles. The Anglo-Indian population dwindled from two million at the time of independence in 1947 to 300,000 - 1,000,000 by 2010.
Many have adapted to local communities or emigrated to the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States and New Zealand. This process was replicated in many other meetings of European traders and colonisers across the subcontinent, creating the Anglo-Burmese people in Myammar and the Burgher people in Sri Lanka; the first use of "Anglo-Indian" was to describe all British people living in India. People of mixed British and Indian descent were referred to as "Eurasians". Terminology has changed, the latter group are now called "Anglo-Indians", the term that will be used throughout this article. During the British East India Company's rule in India in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it was common for British officers and soldiers to take local wives and have Eurasian children, owing to a lack of British women in India. By the mid-19th century, there were around 40,000 British soldiers, but fewer than 2,000 British officials present in India. Under Regulation VIII of 1813, they were excluded from the British legal system and in Bengal became subject to the rule of Islamic law outside Calcutta – and yet found themselves without any caste or status amongst those who were to judge them.
In 1821, a pamphlet entitled "Thoughts on how to better the condition of Indo-Britons" by a "Practical Reformer," was written to promote the removal of prejudices existing in the minds of young Eurasians against engaging in trades. This was followed up by another pamphlet, entitled "An Appeal on behalf of Indo-Britons." Prominent Eurasians in Calcutta formed the "East Indian Committee" with a view to send a petition to the British Parliament for the redress of their grievances. John William Ricketts, a pioneer in the Eurasian cause, volunteered to proceed to England, his mission was successful, on his return to India, by way of Madras, he received quite an ovation from his countrymen in that presidency. In April 1834, in obedience to an Act of Parliament passed in August 1833, the Indian Government was forced to grant government jobs to Anglo-Indians; as British women began arriving in India in large numbers around the early to mid-19th century as family members of officers and soldiers, British men became less to marry Indian women.
Intermarriage declined after the events of the Rebellion of 1857, after which several anti-miscegenation laws were implemented. As a result, Eurasians were neglected by both the Indian populations in India. Over generations, Anglo-Indians intermarried with other Anglo-Indians to form a community that developed a culture of its own, their cuisine, dress and religion all served to further segregate them from the native population. A number of factors fostered a strong sense of community among Anglo-Indians, their English language school system, their Anglo-centric culture, their Christian beliefs in particular helped bind them together. They formed social clubs and associations to run functions, including regular dances on occasions such as Christmas and Easter. Indeed, their Christmas balls, held in most major cities, still form a distinctive part of Indian Christian culture. Over time Anglo-Indians were recruited into the Customs and Excise and Telegraphs, Forestry Department, the railways and teaching professions – but they were employed in many other fields as well.
The Anglo-Indian community had a role as go-betweens in the introduction of Western musical styles and instruments in post-Independence India. During the colonial era, genres including ragtime and jazz were played by bands for the social elites, these bands contained Anglo-Indian members. During the independence movement, many Anglo-Indians identified with British rule, therefore, incurred the distrust and hostility of Indian nationalists, their position at independence was difficult. They felt a loyalty to a British "home" that most had never seen and where they would gain little social acceptance, they felt insecure in an India that put a premium on participation in the independence movement as a prerequisite for important government positions. Many Anglo-Indians left the country in 1947, hoping to make a new life in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in the Commonwealth of Nations, such as Australia or Canada; the exodus continued through the 1950s and 1960s and by the late 1990s most had left with many of th
Vypin lighthouse
The Vypin Lighthouse or Cochin Lighthouse is situated at Puthuvype in Kochi, Kerala. Though the current lighthouse started functioning only by 15 November 1979, the Cochin lighthouse has a long history; the lighthouse, functioning in Fort Kochi from 1839 was shifted to Puthuvype in 1979. It is the tallest lighthouse in kerala; the tower is made of double layered concrete. The light beam has the range of 28 nautical miles. An oil lamp light started functioning at Fort Kochi in the year 1839. In 1902, a new light and reflecting mechanism was introduced. Modifications were made in 1914. In 1920s, a new 10-meter tall tower came up. In 1936, a 25-meter tall steel tower was installed with a gas light. In 1966, a mechanism called. Plans to construct a taller and brighter light and a radio beacon were drawn up. Since there was a paucity of land, the new light was transferred to Puthuvype in the Vypin island and the radio beacon was shifted to Azhikode. List of lighthouses in India Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships
