Kottayam

History

Kottayam literally means the interior of a fort - Kotta + Akam. Rulers of Munjanad and Thekkumkur had their headquarters at Thazhathangadi in the present Kottayam town. Marthanda Varma of Travancore attacked Thekkumkur and destroyed the palace and the Thaliyil Fort. The remnants of the palaces and forts are still seen here. The present Kottayam District was previously a part of the erstwhile princely state of Travancore. Earlier, the Travancore state consisted of two revenue divisions viz. the southern and northern divisions, under the administrative control of a 'Diwan Peshkar' for each. Later in 1868 two more divisions Quilon (Kollam) and Kottayam were constituted. The fifth division Devikulam came next but only for a short period, which in course of time, was added to Kottayam. At the time of the integration of the State of Travancore and Cochin (Kochi) in 1949, these revenue divisions were renamed as districts and the Diwan peshkars gave way to District Collectors, paving the way for the birth of the Kottayam District in July 1949. Kottayam has played its role in all the political agitations of modern times. The 'Malayali Memorial ' agitation may be said to have had its origin in Kottayam. The Malayali Memorial sought to secure better representation for educated Travancoreans in the Travancore civil service against persons from outside. The Memorial, which was presented to the Maharaja Sri Moolam Thirunal (1891) was drafted at a public meeting held in the Kottayam Public Library. The event marked the beginning of the modern political movement in the State.

It was here that the famous Vaikom Satyagraham (1924-25), an epic struggle for eradication of untouchability, took place. Scheduled castes and other backward classes in Travancore were denied not only entry into temples, but also access to temple roads. Vaikom, the seat of a celebrated Siva Temple, was the venue of the symbolic satyagraha. It is of immense historic significance that national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, C. Rajagopalachari, Acharya Vinoba Bhave and E.V. Ramswami Naykar, associated with this struggle. The ' Nivarthana ' agitation of the early thirties, to secure adequate representation for the non-caste Hindus, Christians and Muslims in the State Legislature, enjoyed considerable support from this district. The district was also a centre of the agitation led by the State Congress for responsible Government in Travancore. The agitation had a triumphant end, with the overthrow of Sir. C.P. Ramaswami Iyer, the then Dewan of Travancore.

Kottayam valiyapally

The history of Kottayam in the early centuries of the Christian era is obscure. Geologists are of the view that the western part of Kottayam emerged from the Arabian Sea as a result of some violent convulsion of nature.

In the 13th Century A D. Thaliyilkotta, about 2 km. west of the present center of Kottayam town (Thirunakkara) became the capital of a small princely state called Thekkumkur and most probably the name Kottayam was derived from ''Kotta-akom" (fortified town). There is still a temple at Thaliyilkotta built by theThekkumkur Rajas. Not very far from this temple, on the top of a small hill, nursed by the Meenachil River at the foot, stands the ancient Syrian Knanaya church.This church is the mother church of most Christians of this area.

The church was built in the year 1550 AD by the descendants of the Syrian Knanaya Christians who migrated to India in 345 A.D. from Jerusalem and near-by places under the leadership of Kana Thoma. The migrants consisted of Bishop Joseph of Urhoy (Edessa), two priests and two deacons, besides a group of four hundred persons, representing seventy-two families from seven clans. They landed at Kodungallor and were cordially welcomed by Cheraman Perumal, the then ruler of Malabar, Northern region of modern Kerala.

This church is also famous for its two granite crosses known as Persian crosses. These crosses were brought here from a much older church near Crangannore built by the forefathers of the builders of this church. On each of the stone slabs there is a cross with an inscription in the Pahalavi language, which was the official language of the Sassanian dynasty in Persia.

The small slab 75 cm. x 58 cm. is fixed on the northern altar and is more ancient while the big slab 220 cm. x 103 cm. is set up on the southern altar of this church. The inscriptions in Pahalavi are one and the same on both the slabs except for the additional inscription in Syriac (in Estrangelo script) on the big slab placed on the southern altar. Many scholars and researchers have visited this church and tried to decipher these inscriptions in Pahalavi. The interpretation of Dr. Burnnel (former Archaeological Director of India) is regarded as most acceptable. It reads as follows:

"In punishment by the cross (was) the suffering on this one; He who is true God and God above, and Guide ever Pure."

History

Throughout Syria and Mesopotamia, Aramaic, in its many dialectical forms, was the language of the land, and Syriac, originally the Aramaic dialect of Edessa in Northern Mesopotamia, must have been the most influential literary form of Aramaic. When we speak of Syriac Christianity, we refer to Christians whose native tongue was Syriac and those who employed Syriac as their liturgical language.

Syriac Christianity was not centered just in Antioch, the Roman capital of Syria. In fact, Syriac Christianity can be traced further East in Mesopotamia. As local tradition tells us, Christianity was received in Edessa during the time of the Apostles. This is reported in a number of documents including Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History. He gives us the text of a correspondence between the city's king, Abgar Ukomo, and none other than Jesus Himself: