| |
Located 2 km from Kottayam, Valiyapalli church, is one of the largest in the district and was built in the year 1550.This St.Mary's church was built by the descendants of the Syrian Kanaya Christians who migrated to India in 345 A.D., from Jerusalem and near-by places under the leadership of Kana Thoma. The Valiyapalli church is famous for its two granite 8th century Persian Crosses (believed to be one of the seven brought here by St. Thomas) , engraved with ancient inscriptions, which were brought to their present location from a much older church near Crangannore. 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 smaller slab is placed on the northern altar while the bigger slab lies on the southern altar of the church. Not far from Valiyapalli is the Cheriyapalli, which was built and consecrated by Portuguese in 1579, 29 years after Valiapalli was conceived. The architectural style of the church is European, with galleries, pillars, cornices and pediments. The walls are adorned with exquisite and beautiful murals made in oriented and western styles on biblical and non biblical themes. The mural paints on the wall depict various Christian stories and are as old as the church itself. |
