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Christianity in India
A tradition that traces itself to the apostle Thomas: the Syrian Christians of Kerala, the baroque of Goa, Mary in a sari and a star lantern on every veranda in December.
People
Apostle of IndiaApostle Thomasܡܪܝ ܬܐܘܡܐ ܫܠܝܚܐ
Goencho SaibSt Francis XavierFranciscus Xaverius
Saint of CalcuttaMother TeresaSancta Teresia de Calcutta
Mother of GodThe Virgin MarySancta Maria · ܡܪܝܡ
Syro-MalabarSt Kuriakose Elias Chavaraകുര്യാക്കോസ് ഏലിയാസ് ചാവറ
Saint of KeralaSaint Alphonsaഅൽഫോൻസാമ്മSigns
The St Thomas cross
No figure on it, buds at the tips, a lotus below and a dove above. The oldest ones in Kerala carry Middle Persian (Pahlavi) inscriptions and are older than any church in Goa.
The star lantern
A paper star of Bethlehem hangs on the veranda from early December to Epiphany. In Kerala and Goa neighbours of every faith hang one too.
Mary in a sari
The Virgin is dressed like a bride: a sari, a crown, a garland of marigolds. At St Mary's in Bengaluru she wears a sari every day and rides a chariot on her feast in September.
The brass lamp
In Kerala churches a tall brass lamp with a cross on top burns at the door; oil poured into it is a prayer for the departed.
Wax votives
Candles shaped like a hand, a leg, a house or a passport at Mount Mary and Velankanni, lit for healing, or for the very thing they show: a home, a visa.
The flagstaff
A tall flagstaff in the churchyard; raising the flag opens the parish feast, and in some villages the whole town carries the pole together.
The Syriac liturgy
In Thomas Christian churches the Holy Qurbana is sung in Malayalam to Syriac melodies; in most of these churches the priest faces the altar in the east, and a red curtain hides it between the rites.
The festa
A parish feast means fireworks, brass bands, pearl umbrellas, a statue carried under a canopy and a fair, and everyone in town comes, whatever their faith.
Inside a Goan church
1. The facade
Lime-washed white walls (the lime plaster protects the porous stone from the monsoon) with a laterite bell tower; a star lantern hangs at the porch in December.
2. The nave
Wooden pews, gravestones in the floor, a choir loft over the door.
3. The pulpit
A carved pulpit halfway down the nave: sermons were preached from here before microphones.
4. The gilded altar
A reredos of carved and gilded wood rising to the ceiling; at Bom Jesus, Ignatius Loyola with the Child and the IHS disc.
5. The side chapel
At Bom Jesus: the silver casket with the body of Francis Xavier on a marble and jasper tomb.
6. The porch and the yard
Candles are lit outside, not by the altar; the festa fair fills the yard.
How to behave
- Shoulders and knees covered; at pilgrimage churches any modest dress will do.
- In the Syrian churches of Kerala shoes come off at the door; in Goa, Mumbai and Kolkata they stay on.
- During mass do not walk about or photograph; stand when others stand.
- Communion is only for members of that church (at a Catholic mass, for Catholics); for a blessing, approach with arms crossed on the chest.
- Candles and wax votives go on the stands outside; relics and glass cases are not touched.
To experience
Sunday mornings; the novena of St Francis Xavier from 24 November
The place →Wax votives on the stalls; the Bandra Fair in September
Mass in the main chapel; the tomb from eight; closed on Thursdays
Vasco da Gama was buried here in 1524; his remains were later taken to Lisbon
Festivals
Also: Easter, the feast of the Resurrection, in March or April; Lent in Goa with the Procession of All Saints at Goa Velha; the feast of St Francis Xavier on 3 December; São João on 24 June with jumps into wells; and the Bandra Fair in September.
Words
“My Lord and my God!” — the words of Thomas, the apostle of India.
“Many here do not become Christians for one reason only: there is no one to make them Christians.”
“Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the action that we do.”
Thomas Christians
Kerala's Syrian Christians, older than the Portuguese: Syriac rites, Semitic customs, a Passover meal at home on Maundy Thursday.
Inculturation
A cross on a lotus, a lamp at the altar, Mary in a sari, a Jesuit in saffron: the faith took Indian form.
Everyone comes to the feast
At Velankanni, Bandra or Attur the pilgrims are Hindus and Muslims too; a feast belongs to the town.
Books: The Bible, in Syriac for the Thomas Christians, in Konkani for Goa; the liturgy of Addai and Mari; the Krista Purana, a Christ epic in Marathi and Konkani.
Other faiths of India
Buddhism in IndiaBorn under the Bodhi tree in Bihar, it lives on in Himalayan gompas and Tibetan quarters, and in the silence of a meditation hall.→
Sikhism in IndiaOne Creator, ten Gurus and a book honoured as a living teacher, and a free kitchen where everyone sits in one row.→
Islam in IndiaSufi dargahs and Thursday qawwali, Mughal mosques, and the lanes of the old city that stay awake all night in Ramadan.→
Jainism in IndiaNon-violence taken to its limit, twenty-four teachers told apart by the sign at their feet, marble carved like lace, and dinner before sunset.→
HinduismGods, symbols, the temple and key ideas→The street with a guided walk, people cards with places on the map and festivals with dates.
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