Manjanikkara Dayara
Encyclopedia
Manjanikkara Dayara is a monastery of the Syrian Orthodox Church. It is situated at the top of the hillock in Manjanikkara, near Omallur
Omallur
Omallur, often alternatively spelt Omalloor, is a small town, about 4 km south of Pathanamthitta District headquarters, in Kerala. Omallur is famous for Vayal Vanibham which is an annual cattle fair held in the month of Meenam...

, Pathanamthitta
Pathanamthitta
Pathanamthitta is a large town and a municipality situated in the central Travancore region in the state of Kerala, south India, spread over an area of 23.50 km2. It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The city has a population of 38,000...

 District, in South Kerala
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....

, 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...

. The monastery was established by Mor Yulius Elias Qoro, Patriarchal delegate to the Malankara Church
Malankara Church
The Malankara Church is the church of the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala, India, with particular emphasis on the part of the community that joined Archdeacon Mar Thoma in swearing to resist the authority of the Portuguese Padroado in 1653...

. The Manjanikkara Dayro is the seat of the Patriarchal Delegate to Malankara and the metropolitan of the Simhasana churches (churches administered directly by the Patriarchate).

History

On 11 February 1932, at the invitation of Qashisho Kuriakos Elavinamannil, the Patriarch Ignatius Elias III
Ignatius Elias III
Mor Ignatius Elias III was the 119th Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch from 1917 to 1932. He died and is buried at the monastery of Manjanikkara Dayara in Kerala, India, where there is a considerable number of Syriac Orthodox Christians...

 arrived at the Manjinikara Mor Stephanos church from Kallissery
Kallissery
Kallissery is a place in Chengannur Taluk of Alappuzha district of Kerala. It is a part of Thiruvanvandoor village and is a prominent area of local business. Kallissery is part of the Northern Pandanad. Kallissery holds importance in the local community as it serves both as a village market place...

. On arriving at Manjinikara, the Patriarch said, "This place offers us much comfort; we desire to remain here permanently." He died there on 13 February.
Different opinions arose regarding the final resting place for the Patriarch—a situation that the church in Malankara never had to confront before. It was decided to inter his body in a plot of land to the north of the Mor Stephanos church, the title deed of which was transferred to the Patriarchate. On 14 February, the funeral services for the patriarch were held there.

The Mor Ignatios Dayro church was built by the Patriarchal delegate Mor Yulius Elias Qoro over the tomb of the Patriarch. The memory of the Patriarch is preserved by the Syriac Orthodox Church, especially in Malankara where thousands of pilgrims reach the tomb by foot on the annual feast day, 13 February, from all over the world. Elias is the only Patriarch of Antioch
Patriarch of Antioch
Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch. As the traditional "overseer" of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period...

 whose body is interred in Malankara.

On 20 October 1987, Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas
Ignatius Zakka I Iwas
Ignatius Zakka I Iwas is the 122nd reigning Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and as such, Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church. Also known by his traditional episcopal name, Severios, he was enthroned as patriarch on 14 September 1980 in St. George's...

through encyclical E265/87 permitted the Church in Malankara to remember his name in the fifth diptych.

The remains of Mor Yulius Elias Qoro and Mor Yulius Yacoub, former Patriarchal delegates to Malankara, are also interred in the church.

India°N date=July 2009°W
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK