 The
St. Mary's Church, located 2 kms from Kottayam was built as early as
1550 AD. The church is famous for its Persian stone cross, engraved with
ancient inscriptions.
The church was built by the descendants of the Syrian Kanaya Christians
who migrated to India in 345 A.D., from Jerusalem and near-by places
under the leadership of Kana Thoma.
The Valliyapalli Church is famous for its two granite crosses known as
Persian Crosses, which were brought to their present location from a
much older church near Crangannore, built by the forefathers of the
builders of this church.
On each of the stone slabs there is a cross with an inscription in the
Pahalavi language, which was the official language of the Sassanian
dynasty in Persia.
The smaller slab is placed on the northern altar while the bigger slab
lies on the southern altar of the church. |
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