 |
| St Mary's is always spick and span |
Maggie and I had to travel pretty much today for
various reasons. Holidays are reserved for such travels and fulfilment of
certain obligations to ourselves as well as others. Sometimes the fatiguing demands
of a regular working day seem far more accommodatable than these holiday trips.
It was a long day, in short, and I
needed to take a washroom break. Years of drives in Kerala have taught me that
the easily available as well as clean toilets are in the Christian church
compounds. So, as we approached the St Mary’s Church in Manarcad (near Kottayam),
I asked Maggie, “Don’t you want to pray at this famous pilgrimage centre?” I
knew what the answer would be. That is how Maggie and I found ourselves in the
sacred precincts of St Mary’s Cathedral church whose history goes back to a
thousand years. I don’t want to bore you with the history. If you’re
interested, please go to the official website of the church here and
read the history.
The church’s history claims that St
Thomas, disciple of Jesus, came to Kerala in the year 52 CE. That is not
impossible given the trade links between Kerala and the Roman Empire of those
days. Pliny the Elder wondered why pepper, which was the most precious
commodity exported from Kerala’s coasts in those days, elicited so much
interest from the Romans though pepper had “nothing to recommend it in either
fruit or berry” [Natural History, written in 77 CE].
The history of St Mary’s Church on
whose holy ground I stood this afternoon goes on to claim that St Thomas baptised
the Brahmins (called Namboothiris) and that the priests were chosen from those
Brahmin families.
That’s funny. As funny as my family’s
history written by my cousin which begins with the claim that our family was
originally Namboothiris who were converted by St Thomas into Christianity.
Anyone can check the history of
Kerala and find out that there were no Namboothiris in Kerala before the 6th
century CE. It is possible that there were some people who called themselves Brahmins
in Kerala before the arrival of this particular class called Namboothiris from the
North of India. But those Brahmins probably had no significant role in the
region’s sociopolitical life. What role could they play anyway in a place where
people didn’t even have proper food to eat and clothes to cover their nakedness?
History is a dangerous stuff, I tell
myself as I zip up my fly and return to Maggie with a relieved smile. I find
her standing before a Chethi plant, admiring it. I had noticed that plant as I
entered the church complex, particularly because I bought ten of those plants
for my flower pots a month back and none of them gave me any flowers so far. 
Maggie admiring St Mary's Chethi
My Chethi
I entered the church with Maggie. I
prayed for some flowers on my Chethi plants. I hope St Mary will answer my
prayers. But now I’m wondering: should I have prayed for better historical
sense among my country people? My Chethis could wait.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteTo pray for flowers to soften the edges of life is no bad thing. History is an excellent intellectual pursuit - but the practicalities of the present are all that matter as we lay down the next layers within the timeline. YAM xx
History can take us far beyond gods and even infinity!
DeleteNever heard of Chethi plants.
ReplyDeleteVery common in our place.
DeleteFlowers are the perfect thing to pray for. You can't wish to give anyone else sense. That would have been a waste of energy.
ReplyDeleteNo, all good wishes and prayers create positive energy.
DeletePreserving History these days has many takers!
ReplyDeleteUndoubtedly. History may soon become comedy.
Delete