The Ramban Pattu is the traditional Nasarani song about the coming of St. Thomas the Apostle to Southern India. It details his movements, the churches that he founded, and his eventually death and martyrdom in Mylapore. The original Malayalam text is included here as well as an introduction and commentary explain the nature and origin of the text. Its over four hundred poetic stanzas are available here for the first time in English.
Published in the Series Encyclopedia of Indian Religions, this volume is devoted to Christianity in India, where it has had a long presence, going back to the time of the apostles of Jesus Christ. Divided into two parts, this volume focuses on the history, origin, organizations and local engagements, belief system, worship practices, Rites, Rituals, Christian life, Contributions, Spirituality and a few of the main doctrinal items. The Second Part covers the doctrinal and theological arena. It examines the earlier phase of the history of Christianity starting with the traditional belief of the arrival of St. Thomas in AD 52, moving to the periods of its association with the Chaldean church, the Portuguese, the Dutch, English and so on. This volume highlights the missionary activities of persons like St. Francis Xavier, the creative contributions made to the inter-religious dialogue by such people as Roberto de Nobili (1577-1656) and Swami Abhishiktananda (1910-1973), the linguistic and educational contributions of some of the pioneers like the German Jesuit Johanne Ernst Hanxleden (known as Arnos Padiri) (1681-1732), Herman Gundert (1814-1893), St. Elias Kuriakos Chavara (1805-1871), and, a fortiori, the enormous contributions in the healthcare area throughout the country. Caring for and serving the socio-economically marginalized ones, the peripheralized people formed an integral part of the Christian activity In India, as it is done even today. This is highlighted very much in the volume. It, further, explores the contact India had with European Christianity, showing that European Christianity proved to have wider influence in the Norther part of India, unlike India’s early episodic encounters with Palestinian and Persian forms of Christianity, which had deep influence in the Southern part of India. The volume also highlights the inner struggle among the followers resulting even in its division originating at the Synod of Diamper in 1599 manifesting, by and large, the Church-state ‘love and hate’ relationships. In fine, in spite of the drawbacks of putting the herculean task of two thousand years of history in eight hundred pages or so, this volume gives a rather comprehensive view of Christianity in India especially to those who are unfamiliar with its life and dynamics in the Indian context. The wide range of photographs, especially of the churches revealing the architectural beauty and multiplicity along with the ensample of art and paintings and pilgrimage centers adds to the enrichment of the volume.
Margam Kali Pattu, or "The Song of the Way," is a vibrant and poetic expression of St. Thomas Christian community, reflecting on the journey of life, faith, and the course of history. The work itself is a multifaceted folk song that intertwines themes of celebration, Christian devotion, and the trials of life. It begins with imagery of nature and dances, emphasizing harmony and collective experience. The song invokes the figure of the Apostle Thomas, highlighting compassion and the quest for spiritual enlightenment through the light of Christ. It addresses the importance of unity among the early church.The lyrics express a deep connection to the presense of God, the beauty of creation, and the aspiration for goodness through piety.
The Wisdom of Community is a compilation of essays which documents the key issues that have been pertinent in national debates in India. In some ways it takes a linear and chronological position on how the past informs us as we proceed with making sense of postmodern fluid society. It tries to understand how affected or influenced we are by colonialism, and the debates which brought us our freedom. It uses biography, symbols and narratives to piece together our engagement with literature, history, myth and legend. It presupposes that the past is contextualised through narrative production. Each essay in this collection is tuned to the greater debates, which continue today in problematized global and cosmopolitan contexts to describe the relation between town and country. The consistent preoccupation is with labour and its intended consequences. Here, climate change, law court trials and constructing parallel histories which have influenced us are drawn to tell the reader that learning from history is essential for our survival. Readers will see that the world always appears in the spaces that are produced by travel, by terror, freedom, conquest and adaptation. The coexistence of all these across history, allows for the warp and weft of narrative production to be evident as analysable and comprehensive. The reader enters this frame of interlocking essays in order to understand how significant the production of stories are, and how we may find similarities in our condition across time and space. The book consists of 12 essays which are arranged in a way that the essential problems are made evident as questions of occupation, survival, and translation of world views. It brings the world closer, just as in reality it seems to be receding, because we are afraid of what we see, and know. The method is called Learning from History. The Wisdom of Community brings to the reader the interlacing of archival, fieldwork and literary materials in order to bring to the reader the constants that inform our lives, while recognizing the past as ever-present. The essays in this collection span a period of thirty years, and were earlier published as essays in popular journals and magazines and newspapers, but also include some scholarly articles. They are divided into essays on travel, feminism, as well as activist, literary, and analytical essays. The reader will find in them the insights of three decades spanning the years of teaching and writing while living in Delhi. The link connecting these essays is time and memory, as well as the belief that we can learn from the past. The “circulation of ideas” appears as a dominant theme, in all the essays, along with the emphases on agency, and the celebration of the right to choice and the articulation of human will, since the themes of democracy and freedom are common to all.
This volume deals with the history of Kerala with special attention to selected historical personages who had played significant roles in shaping the history of Kerala through the ages.
In St. Thomas and India, renowned scholars trace the historical, religious, and cultural connections link India's Syrian Christian community with St. Thomas the Apostle. They use modern historiographical methods seek to corroborate the ancient tradition that tells of St. Thomas's missionary journey to India in the middle of the first century, in which he established seven churches in some of the major commercial centers of Malabar. From this first churches, Christianity spread throughout the region. St. Thomas in India also examines the legacy of the ancient Christianity on the Syrian community in India today, as well as exploring the various cultural and religious connections between the Syrian church in Indian and other ancient churches in the east.
Judentum, Christentum und Islam - Band 11 der MittelalterStudien widmet sich den drei großen Kultgemeinschaf-ten im europäischen Mittelalter, drei monotheistischen Religionen, die sich und ihr Verhältnis zu einem Gott schriftlich konstituiert und damit die Sprache zu einer grundsätzlichen Kategorie gemacht haben. Im Zentrum der Fragestellung stehen die jeweiligen Umstände und Auswir-kungen der Verschriftlichung als Über-führung eines Kommunikationssystems in das neue Medium der Schriftlich-keit.
This study explores historical understandings of Christian communities, cultures, and institutions within the Indian world from their beginnings to the present time. Frykenberg focuses on trans-cultural interactions within Hindu and Muslim environments, uncovering complexities as Christianity intermingled with indigenous cultures.
