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Religion |
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Christians |
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In the absence of clear
historical records, it is believed that Apostle of Jesus, St.
Thomas himself, introduced Christianity in India in the year
52 A.D. The early Christians (St. Thomas Christians) were
called Syrian Christians because they followed the Syriac
liturgy, a dialect of Aramaic, the language of Jesus.With the
arrival of Portuguese (1498) and the establishment of their
political influence, the Latin rite emerged as an important
factor and a large community of Latin Christianssprang up and
grew, particularly in the coastal areas. The work of St.
Francis Xavier and the synod of Diamper (1599) played an
important part in the Latinisation of the church.
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In the beginning of 19th
century, when the British spread its influence in Kerala, the
Church Mission Society (CMS) of London actively associated
them in the workings of Syrian Church. After some years of
close co-operation, the missionaries broke their connection
with Syrian Bishops and church. It was on their initiative the
Anglican Church came into existence.Some priests of the Syrian
Church under the influence of missionaries advocated reforms,
including the replacement of Syriac by Malayalam, which was
disfavored by Bishops and Clergy of Syrian Church. Following
this the reformers formed a new church known as Marthoma
Syrian church as distinct from the Anglican Church and the
Roman Catholic Church.
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Now there are
five different offshoots of Christianity in Kerala. |
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The
Nestorian Church confined mainly to Thrissur and Ernakulam.
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The Roman
Catholic Church, embracing the whole of Kerala and following
three
different languages for their rites (Syriac, Latin and
Malayalam).
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The Jacobite
Syrian Church, also known as Orthodox Syrian Church.
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The Anglican
Church, part of Church of South India.
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Marthoma
Syrian Church.
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Apart from these, there are
several other Christian denominations deriving inspiration from
some foreign Church or other. |
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The
contribution of Christian religion in the field of education and
care of the sick is innumerable. First Malayalam dictionary and
grammar by Arnos Pathiri, first printing press, study and
classification of Herbs, Hortus Malabaricus, etc. highlight the
eminent position of Christianity in Kerala. The Universal
education propagated in Kerala along with the churches provided
the basic education for the emancipation of the population from
various social and cultural evils. The school, colleges,
hospitals and other numerous socio-cultural institutions run by
the Christians are role models. |
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Jianism |
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Jainism was
founded by Mahavira who was born about 580 B.C. in Northern
India. It has 4 million followers in India. He preached atheism
or the absence of god. Jainism also believes that one can
achieve salvation (freedom from wheel of life i.e. rebirth).
Jains use the word Karma to mean a substance that binds the soul
to physical world. By causing sins you keep accumulating Karma
whereas meditation and fasting burns the Karma. One can get
freedom from rebirth (Salvation) only after burning the Karma
accumulated in past lives.
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Mahavira laid down five ways to
get rid of wheel of life: |
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- Do not destroy life
- Speak the truth
- Be celibate
- Own nothing
- Accept nothing that is not freely given
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The Jain
religion was brought to the South in the third century B.C. by
Chandra Gupta Maurya (321-297 B.C.) and the Jain saint
Bhadrabahu, according to Jain traditions. These men came to
Sravanabelgola in Mysore. Later more Jain missionaries came to
Tamil Nadu and converted many Cheras to their religion. Prince
Ilango Adigal, the author of Shilappadikaram, is believed to be
a Jain. The Jains came to Kerala with the rest of the Chera
immigrants starting in the sixth century. The only evidence of
their presence in Kerala is the incontro-vertible fact that some
Hindu temples of today were originally Jain temples.
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In Matilakam
was a famous Jain temple which Hindus shunned as late as the
fourteenth century according to Kokasandesam, though at present
it is a Hindu temple. Today, the presiding deity of
Kudalmanikkam Temple near Irinjalakuda is Bharata, the brother
of Rama; originally it was Bharateswara, the digambara Jain
saint. Kallil, near Perumbavur, has a rock-cut cave in which we
can still see the images of Parswantha, Mahavira, and Padmavati;
the local Hindus worship Bhagavati in this temple today. Several
places in wynad have Jain temples -an indication that North
Malabar was once a flourishing center of Jainism.
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Historians believe that the decline of Jainism started about the
eighth century during the Aryanization period of Kerala when
Vaishnavism and Saivism were active and aggressive. Jainism
seems to have completely disappeared from Kerala by the
sixteenth century; the foreign visitors from Europe do not
mention the Jains at all. One lasting contribution of Jainism
to Kerala, according to wi'lliam Logan, is that the architecture
of the Hindu temples and the Muslim mosques of North Malabar was
influenced by the architecture of the Jain temples.
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