St. George Church, Kalady
St. George Church, Kalady is situated on the banks of the river Periyar. Kalady is renowned for its being the birthplace of Sree Sankaracharya, the proponent of Advaita Vedanta philosophy and because of its proximity to the Christian pilgrimage centre, Malayattur, where St. Thomas the Apostle visited according to the tradition of Saint Thomas Christians. The history of the St. George Church is very recent, having it established on 20 March 1960. Fr. George Kochuparambil is the man who worked behind the previous church in Kalady, which he built in a humble way.[1] Prior to 1960,the Christian community of Kalady, frequented the ancient churches of Kanjoor and Angamaly for their spiritual needs. Angamaly was the Metropolitan headquarters of the Saint Thomas Christians and Mar Abraham of Angamaly lived in Ramban Hormizd Cathedral residence in Angamaly until his death in 1597.[2] The new church in Kalady, the fruit of hardworking of the parishioners, was consecrated on 4 March 1984 under the able leadership of Fr. Antony Elavumkudy. With the hardworking and unity of the parishioners, the new church took the form adapted to a town, proclaiming the glory of God into the skies.[3]
Introduction
Kalady Church that belong to the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church is constituted of 623 Christian famililies and more than 3000 parishioners.[4] Twenty priests and about 70 nuns hailed from Kalady parish and they have worked and continue to working in different missions around the world. A good number of the faithful regularly participate in the Holy mass everyday at 5.30 A.M. The families are divided under 13 family units that organize the particular needs and meetings of each zone. Parish council is the governing body of the parish.
The Vicars of St. George Church
The dream of a church in Kalady was fulfilled by the saintly priest, Fr. George Kochuparambil. The parish had the fortune of getting the spiritual care of a number of priests in the previous years. The Vicars of the church were the following: Frs. Joseph Muttumana,[5] Joseph Nettikkadan, Thomas Puthiyavelil, Mathew Koyilparambil, Varghese Njaliath (1969), George Panachickal (1973), Jose Palatty (1973), Antony Elavumkudy (1974), Kuriakose Kalappurackal (1985), Joseph Nangelimalil (1989), George Payyappilly (1994), Vincent Parampathara (2001), John Thottupuram (2004), Francis Arickal (2010), Kuriakose Eravimangalam (2010) and Paul Kaiprampadan (2013). The present vicar is Fr. Joseph Thamaravely (2014-).[6]
The priests, religious and nuns from Kalady parish
Twenty priests and about 70 sisters hail from Kalady parish. The group of priests that is constituted of secular priests and religious, namely Frs. Kuriakose Manjaly, Thomas Manjaly, Varghese Alukkal, Sebastian Ainiyadan (Ord. 1970), James Alukkal (Ord. 1972), Jose Alukkal, Jacob Alukkal, John Ainiyadan (Ord. 1983), Joy Ainiyadan (Ord. 1989), Joy Parappilly C.M.I, Varghese Menachery V.C, Davis Varayilan C.M.I, Varghese Pottokkaran R.C.J, Geeson Ponthempilly, Biju Ponthempilly, Varghese Kozhikkadan (Ord. 1991), Bitto Pottokkaran R.C.J, Varghese Alukkal (Jr-Ord. 2000), Paulson Ponthempilly S.J (Ord. 2007) and Antony Mechery S.J (Ord. 2008).