The Apostle St. Thomas landed in Kodungalloor erstwhile mussaris in AD 52. He
began to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mesmerised by his words and deeds,
large number of prominent families or groups of people adopted Christianity as
their religion. St. Thomas baptized their king and gave him the name Andrew
(Anthyayos).
The Apostle ordained King’s nephew and called him Kepha.
After his preaching at Kodungalloor, Apostle St. Thomas went to nearby
Palayoor, which was a stronghold or Namboodiri, Brahmins. As a result of his
preaching, Namboodiri, Brahmins belonging to 32 Illams and some Nair persons
adopted chrissianity. Of 32 Illams Sankarapuram, Kalikavu ( Kalimangalam), Kalli,
Pakalomattom were the four prominent and powerful Illams. Brahmins belonging to
the powerful chieftain namely Kalikau were baptized by the Apostle himself. In front
of their own Kottakkavu temple. This temple was converted to church, later known
as Kottakkavu Church. There is still a compound (Parambu) bearing the name,
Kalikavu near Palayoor Church. Mr. Kunjalu Maleikkal, Chandana Parampil resides
there, whose ancestors were forcibly coverted to muslim religion owing the
ouslaught of Tippu Sultan.
Some Christians, belonging to Kalikavu family migrated to Punnakodu and
settled there. Few decades later, some of them moved to Kuruvilangadu. There
they built a church and established their community. Later a group migrated
eastward to Nilakkal. The ever persevering Christian community focused on
agriculture and trade, resulting in overall prosperity of Nilakkal. During 14th century
wealthy Nilakkal came under attack from a foreigner as well as natural calamities
which took heavy toll on that society. Most of them filed Nilakkal. Few Kaliyankal
family nembers and some other Christians reached Kadampanadu and sought the
permission of Kayamkulam King to settle there. He gave them enough land near
Kadampanadu, which came to be known as Nilakkal Thukal. They built a church
there. Afterwards some Kaliyamkal members migrated to different neighbouring
places like Adoor, Pandalam, Thumpamon, Omalloor, Mezhuveli, Kallooppara. Two
brothers namely Ninan and Varkey moved to Angadikkal a place in between
Chengannur and Puthenkavu. Their family name was ‘Valiyaveedu’. Varkey and
his familoy later moved to Kallooppara. Decades later, Ninan’s successive
generation were well spread all over Central Travancore. |
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