Cheppad
Encyclopedia
Cheppad is a scenic village in Karthikapally Taluk of Alleppy District in Kerala
State, India
. It is about halfway between Kochi
and Thiruvananthapuram
on the National Highway 47.
CheppadKnown as"Cheppukadu'in ancient times..'""Cheppu"indicates a small container and "kadu" indicates small forest.
The main attraction is the Syrian Orthodox Christian Church popularly known as Cheppad Church. Cheppad is inhabited by a predominantly Hindu
community. The Christian
community is the second largest religious community. Almost all denominations of Christian faith can be found here. There is no documentary evidence to establish the arrival of Christian community to this place. However, there is evidence that one of the churches visited by Archbishop Menasis in 1599 was Cheppad St George Syrian Orthodox Church (Valiyapally)
In 1956 The Ethiopian Emperor, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie visited this church. It is believed that the Ethiopian Kings held a blood line to King Solomon. Haile Selassie gifted the church a couple of gold artefacts, which were recently stolen form the church and have not been recovered. This included a Gold Ethopian Cross, a Holy Bible with gold engravings written in Amharic ( a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia by the Amhara).
The 600-year-old Murals (Wall Paintings) in Cheppad St. George Orthodox Church exhibit the Christian traditional paintings. The paintings are on the walls of The Madbaha (altar
) of the Church, and show the events in the life of Jesus Christ from birth to ascension. It also illustrates some events from the Old Testament
era. The 47 murals are arranged in three lines on three walls. The archaeological department calculates that the murals are approximately 600 years old and were drawn with the extracts of green leaves and fruits.
Even though the old church was rebuilt in 1952, the altar was kept intact because of the Murals. The rare and attractive paintings of St. Paul
with a sword, Angels, Jesus
bearing the Cross, Jesus is beaten by the soldiers, St. Thomas
with a mint, Adam and Eve
eating the prohibited fruit, Noah’s Ark etc. shows the mixing of middle eastern Christian painting and Kerala’s mural artwork. By viewing the murals, the visitors of this church get a rare and indescribable experience and travel back through centuries into another world.
issued a Royal Proclamation acknowledging him as Malankara Metropolitan. He was not on good terms with the English missionaries
who worked in Malankara Church under the English. The foreign missionaries suggested to reform the 'Qurbana norms' according to the Protestant standards, and to do away with the worship and prayer conducted for the dead, other suggestions included in raising of a fund to increase the salary of the priests, and giving ordination to only those priests who passed out from the Seminary
and received the certificate from the Principal. The accounts of the Church every year must be submitted to the Resident for annual auditing the church services were to be conducted in Malayalam. The Metropolitan rejected all these suggestions outright. A meeting of the representatives of the church was convened in Puthiyacavu Church, Mavelikara in 1836 in order to discuss the recommendations of the missionaries. The Mavelikkara Padiola was formulated in order to strongly resist the new reforms of the foreign missionaries. In 1846, the Patriarch
sent a Metropolitan Yuyakim Mar Kurilos to Malankara. Later on Mar Donysius gave up the position of Malankara Metropolitan to avoid a split in the church and retired from administrative matters. He died on 9 October 1855. He was laid to rest in St. George Orthodox Church, Cheppad. His Death Anniversary is on October 12 every year.
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
State, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is about halfway between Kochi
Kochi (India)
Kochi , formerly Cochin, is a major port city on the west coast of India by the Arabian Sea. Kochi is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. Kochi is often called by the name Ernakulam, which refers to the western part of the mainland Kochi...
and Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
on the National Highway 47.
CheppadKnown as"Cheppukadu'in ancient times..'""Cheppu"indicates a small container and "kadu" indicates small forest.
St George Orthodox Church, Cheppad
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
community. The Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
community is the second largest religious community. Almost all denominations of Christian faith can be found here. There is no documentary evidence to establish the arrival of Christian community to this place. However, there is evidence that one of the churches visited by Archbishop Menasis in 1599 was Cheppad St George Syrian Orthodox Church (Valiyapally)
In 1956 The Ethiopian Emperor, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie visited this church. It is believed that the Ethiopian Kings held a blood line to King Solomon. Haile Selassie gifted the church a couple of gold artefacts, which were recently stolen form the church and have not been recovered. This included a Gold Ethopian Cross, a Holy Bible with gold engravings written in Amharic ( a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia by the Amhara).
Murals
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
) of the Church, and show the events in the life of Jesus Christ from birth to ascension. It also illustrates some events from the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
era. The 47 murals are arranged in three lines on three walls. The archaeological department calculates that the murals are approximately 600 years old and were drawn with the extracts of green leaves and fruits.
Even though the old church was rebuilt in 1952, the altar was kept intact because of the Murals. The rare and attractive paintings of St. Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
with a sword, Angels, Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
bearing the Cross, Jesus is beaten by the soldiers, St. Thomas
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
with a mint, Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
eating the prohibited fruit, Noah’s Ark etc. shows the mixing of middle eastern Christian painting and Kerala’s mural artwork. By viewing the murals, the visitors of this church get a rare and indescribable experience and travel back through centuries into another world.
Cheppad Philipose Mar Dionysius
St George Orthodox Church is the resting place of Cheppad Philipose Mar Dionysius, Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church during 1825–1855. Philipose Mar Dionysius, Malankara Metropolitan of Syrian Orthodox Church was born in 1781 at the Aanjilimootil family in Pallippad (A place near to Cheppad). After the death of Mar Dionysius III in 1825, Philipose Malpan of Aanjilimoottil, Pallipadu was ordained as Metropolitan Mar Dionysius IV for The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. The ruler of TravancoreTravancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
issued a Royal Proclamation acknowledging him as Malankara Metropolitan. He was not on good terms with the English missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
who worked in Malankara Church under the English. The foreign missionaries suggested to reform the 'Qurbana norms' according to the Protestant standards, and to do away with the worship and prayer conducted for the dead, other suggestions included in raising of a fund to increase the salary of the priests, and giving ordination to only those priests who passed out from the Seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
and received the certificate from the Principal. The accounts of the Church every year must be submitted to the Resident for annual auditing the church services were to be conducted in Malayalam. The Metropolitan rejected all these suggestions outright. A meeting of the representatives of the church was convened in Puthiyacavu Church, Mavelikara in 1836 in order to discuss the recommendations of the missionaries. The Mavelikkara Padiola was formulated in order to strongly resist the new reforms of the foreign missionaries. In 1846, the Patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...
sent a Metropolitan Yuyakim Mar Kurilos to Malankara. Later on Mar Donysius gave up the position of Malankara Metropolitan to avoid a split in the church and retired from administrative matters. He died on 9 October 1855. He was laid to rest in St. George Orthodox Church, Cheppad. His Death Anniversary is on October 12 every year.