St Thomas International Shrine, Malayattoor

Thomas the apostle touched the wound of the Risen Christ, believed, and was sent to India. He arrived in Kerala in 52 AD and established a Christian community. His community is still here. Millions of their descendants still climb this hill to the spot where he prayed. The apostle who needed physical evidence created one of the world's oldest continuous Christian traditions — in a country most of his fellow apostles never reached.

Thomas, apostle and doubter, who had to touch to believe and then believed completely — let me climb this hill with something of your seriousness. You went further than almost any other apostle. You carried the Gospel to a subcontinent. You climbed hills like this one to pray in solitude. Let me pray here with your intensity, and let whatever I doubt become, at the summit, something I can no longer doubt. Amen.

One of only eight international shrines in the world, the St Thomas International Shrine, Malayattoor, in Kerala is India’s foremost centre of Christian pilgrimage. Located only a few kilometres away from Kodungalloor, it is also the only international shrine in India.

The Landing of St Thomas

Kodungalloor, or Cranganore, was the town served by the ancient port of Muziris, where St Thomas the Apostle landed in India in 52 AD. The port itself does not exist today, as it ceased to function following the cataclysmic floods of 1341, which made the River Periyar alter the geography of the region.

According to local tradition, St Thomas was greeted by a hostile crowd when he reached Malayattoor. He was forced to seek refuge atop a mountain, where he spent several days in prayer. That place is now called Kurisumudi, the pinnacle of the hill where a cross had been planted by St Thomas. In later years, a shrine was built on the spot where the cross was found.

The Legend of the Goats

It was the custom of the locals to place an oil lamp at this spot and keep it burning all the time. A local tradition states that a herd of goats would come running down the hill whenever the wind put out the lamp. The village folk would climb up the hill and light the lamp once again. To this day, pilgrims who visit the shrine carry sesame seeds for the goats, although they are rarely seen today.

The Holy Spring

St Thomas Shrine, Malayattoor, is located 1,269 feet above sea level, with the River Periyar coursing at the base of the mountain. Kurisumudi, where the mountain-top shrine has been erected, forms part of the Malayattoor parish. During those intense moments of prayer, it is said that St Thomas had struck a rock to quench his thirst. Miraculously, a spring of water erupted from the rock and continues to flow to this day. Pilgrims who visit the shrine believe in the miraculous healing power of the water and consider it divine.

In due course, St Thomas managed to win over the local populace on the strength of his sincerity and his prayers and devotion. It is said that the saint proceeded to Mylapore in Chennai from Kurisumudi. Close to the chapel are the footprints of the saint embedded in rock. Devotees throng the spot, which has now been placed in a glass enclosure, to pray for favours from the saint.

Pilgrimage

Upwards of four million visit St Thomas Shrine, Malayattoor, every year. Visits peak during Holy Week, when devotees in their thousands carry smaller crosses up the mountain in repentance for their sins. The feast of St Thomas is celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter, to commemorate the meeting of the resurrected Jesus with his Apostles. In 2004, the Vatican declared the pilgrim spot an International Shrine, in view of its close linkage with the mission of St Thomas in India and its historic significance in the evangelisation of the subcontinent.