MALAYATTOR

St. Thomas is believed to have landed in Kerala at Kodungallur (Cranganore) in AD 52.

Oral tradition says that while travelling through Malayattor, faced with hostile natives, he fled to the hilltop where he is said to have remained in prayer and that he left his foot prints on one of the rocks.

According to beliefs, during prayer, he touched a rock and blood poured from it.

The chief festival is on the first Sunday after Easter. It is traditionally believed that St. Thomas used to make the Sign of the Cross on the rock, kiss it and pray at Kurisumudi. The story has it that a miraculous golden cross appeared at that particular spot.

Pilgrims going up the hill call out incessantly "Ponnum Kurishu Muthappo, Ponmala Kayattom", meaning "O Patriarch of the Golden Cross! Climb we shall, this golden hill!" \

Please click on the photos for a larger view.

A breathtaking view from a vantage point above the hill.


A lovely sunset through the trees.







There are 14 Stations of the Cross on the way upto the hill top. I did not even climb upto the first Station of the Cross.I felt tired and and decided to come down. Coming down is more difficult than going up. One has to be very careful. One of these days I will climb up this hill not only to comfirm my faith but also to test my endurance and health.

I had a glass of tea here to refresh myself.

JOHN WEDS TERESA

My brother Antony's son John married Teresa in Chennai. The mass was said in Malayalam and the sermon was delivered in Tamil. You will find both Catholic and Hindu customs being followed since we Christians in India were Hindus before we accepted Christ as our Saviour.

Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure. Please click on the photos for a larger view.


WEDDING MASS IS IN PROGRESS


JOHN PUTTING ON THE WEDDING CHAIN

JOHN PUTTING ON THE WEDDING RING ON TERESA'S FINGER

JOHN GIVING TERESA A SAREE

RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION

SIGNING THE REGISTER IN THE CHURCH

JOHN GARLANDING TERESA

TASTING A PIECE OF CAKE

LIGHTING THE TRADITIONAL LAMP

OTTAMTHULLAL

There is a Hindu temple near my house.Every year they have a festival for three days. During the festival days a variety of entertainment programmes are held.

One such entertainment programmes during this year was Ottamthullal. Ottamthullal is a very special art form of Kerala state. This is a dance, act and song performance by an actor dressed is a very colorful costume. I enjoyed it. I hope you will enjoy it also. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure. Please click on the photos for a larger view.

COCHIN CARNIVAL-continued

Initially I was standing behind the crowd and taking photos. This meant I had to hold my camera above people's heads to get a photo. I found this quite difficult. Besides darkness was descending upon Kochi.So if have to get a photo I had to use the flash.I pushed myself through the crowd and managed to get close to the floats. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure. Please click on the photos for a larger view.

COCHIN CARNIVAL

Some of you associated with Kerala like Rema,Sindhu and Ram guessed correctly.Those people in my previous post were waiting for the Cochin Carnival parade which is held once a year in Fort Cochin on the 1st of January. Many of them had come hours before to occupy vantage positions. The crowd was indeed huge and the police had a tough time controlling the crowd. Not that there were any untoward incidents but the people were getting in the way of the parade and hindering smooth flow. The air was elctrifying, the excitement was unbridled and the festive mood filled everywhere. I am posting some photos for your viewing pleasure.

PLEASE CLICK ON THE PHOTOS FOR A LARGE LOVELY VIEW.

TO BE CONTINUED:)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2010

MY DEAR FRIENDS,

I WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY, PROSPEROUS AND SUCCESSFUL NEW YEAR, 2010. MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL AND MAKE ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.

YOURS AFFECTIONATELY,
JOSEPH

AWARD DISTRIBUTION AND CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

I am delighted to inform you that among all my friends Yvonne from WELCOME TO MY WORLD OF POETRY and Margaret Cloud from OLD DIGGER have graciously come forward to accept the award from me. I profusely thank Yvonne and Margaret for giving me the pleasure of passing on the award.

Yvonne is a distinguished poet who writes enchanting poem in her inimitable style on a variety of subjects such as travel, family, her joys and sorrows, her hobbies etc. She has to her credit a poetry book published. She lives in Boscombe, Dorset, UNITED KINGDOM. You will also be entertained with some lovely songs streaming from her blog.

Margaret Cloud lives in Ferrysburg, Michigan, UNITED STATES. She is a wonderful writer sharing her colorful experiences and memories in a very interesting and informative manner. I learnt many things from her writings. She has a wealth of knowledge of inestimable value.

I am greatly honored to present the awards to these outstanding ladies. Kindly visit them and I am sure you will be able to form life long friendship.

I also take this opportunity of wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas and all joys and happiness associated with the celebrations. May INFANT JESUS bless you all and grant all your wishes, hopes and prayers.