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Church History |
St.Gervasis and Prothasis church,
Kothanalloor.
St. gervasis and prothasis church Kothanalloor is situated in
a beautiful hamlet by the side of Kottayam-Ernakulam main
roadside and is 7kms north of Ettumanoor and 7kms south of
Kaduthuruthy. . Tradition has it that the church in its old
form was built in 826 A.D. by the Persian missionaries at a
place called Pallikkunnu and was christened after the holy
mother Mary. This church was built near an aristocratic royal
Nair family who had close links to the Kavumpuram kings; a
great feudal lord of those times. As time passed it so seemed
that the vesper bells and other customary ceremonies of the
church caused inconvenience to the Royal family. One day a
fire broke out and it devastated the church completely.
Historians believe that following the incident many
unfortunate accidents and diseases frequented the royal family
which drove them to their decision to construct the church
anew. The mamalassery lords were given the charge of
constructing the church at its present place. Certain
customary practices are observed even today during the festive
days as a token of gratitude to the noble family who helped in
rebuilding the church.
In the church history of Kerala, Kothanalloor church has a
unique place of eminence. It is believed that this church is
one of the few visited by Archbishop menesis prior to the
udayamperoor sunnahadose held in 1593. Besides, records reveal
that the then vicar of the parish and a few of the
parishioners took part in the sunnahadose and were also a
party to all the deliberations at the conclave.
The church was renovated on several occasions. The credit for
giving the church its present face in the year 1895 goes to
Rev. Fr. Kuriakose Mailapparambil a highly revered figure that
belonged to this parish. The unique marthoma cross throws
ample light on the pride of place it once enjoyed. One seldom
comes across such crosses and apart from the ones to be seen
at Muttuchira and kayamkulam, Kothanalloor is slated to be one
of the select few churches housing such crosses. |
