ROOHA MEDIA

The Church of St Thomas Christians of Malabar is one of the most ancient Christian communities in the world. They are Hindus or Indians in Culture, Christian in religion and Syro-Oriental in worship. Till the arrival of Portuguese in the sixteenth century, the Thomas Christians had no regular contact with the west. All their relations were normally with the east Syrian Patriarch of Mesopotamia.  The Thomas –Christians had no need to adapt their way of life to the Christian way, they had only to Christianize their way of life, since they were converts from Hinduism. This Christianization they have achieved to an admirable degree. Their daily life closely resembled that of their Hindu brethren. Presently we can find only a few documents with resemblance to the true history of St Thomas Christians.

They are known as St Thomas Christians or Mar ThomaNasranis because their origin traces back to St Thomas one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ who landed at the Malabar coast of Kerala and Baptitised them on AD 52. They are also known as Syrian Christians not because they are descendants of foreigners from Syria, but because they used syriac as their liturgical language. The community was historically united in leadership and liturgy, but since the 17th century, after the intervention of Portuguese Latin missionaries it has been split into several different church denominations and traditions. Till  the arrival of Portuguese missionaries in the Sixteenth century ,the Thomas Christians has no regular contact with the western world .All their contacts were done with the east Syrian patriarch  of Mesopotamia .The bishops for the Church were appointed by the Patriarch , they were only doing the spiritual administration of the community. The effective administration was in the hands of the local leaders or Arch deacon .This is how the Thomas Christians formed their individuality,.Presently the St Thomas Christians are divided into a few denominations mainly they are Syro- Malabar Catholic Church and Church of East in India which use East Syriac liturgy , Syro- Malankara Catholic Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Jacobite Syrian Christian Church , Mar Thoma Syrian church which use West Syriac liturgy or  Antiochean Liturgy