Ramavarmapuram - Church Murals

Church Murals

The local Catholic St Francis Xavier's Church, established in 1911, upon its renovation in 2005 has been adorned with murals depicting Biblical themes, painted in the traditional Kerala style.

MarGeevarghese Sahda Church,Cheroor

The Assyrian Church of the East in India is known as the Chaldean Syrian Church. Outside India the name Chaldean Church refers to that branch of the Church of the East which has a separate existence from 1553 AD when Pope consecrated a monk named John Sulaqa as the Patriarch of the Chaldeans of Babel. The head of Chaldean Church is Patriarch Cardinal Immanuel Delli who resides in Baghdad. The Catholicos Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East is His Holiness Khanania Mar Dinkha IV who resides in Chicago where a lot of Assyrians from Iran and Iraq have migrated during the 20th Century

The Chaldean Syrian Church in India is based in Trichur. The history of this church in the early centuries is the same as the history of the other Syrian churches in Kerala. From the arrival of St.Thomas till the coonen cross in 1653 the history of the Indian church is common. Therefore, referring to this period the account written by Fr. Dr. Geevarghese Panicker (a priest of the Syro-Malankara Church who accepted the Pope on 20 September 1930) published in the Journal of St. Thomas Christians, Vol. II, and No.2. Oct-Dec 2000 is reproduced below.

According to official records there are only around ten churches in Kerala having murals. All of them are at least two centuries old. The renovated St. Francis Xavier's Church has 16 murals that depict important incidents in the life of Jesus Christ. Blue has been extensively used in these murals in contrast to the use of red as the dominant colour in murals in Kerala. These murals have attracted a lot of media attention. They have been described as an attempt at fusion of Indian and Western traditions. The paintings are the creations of P K Sadanandan, a product of the Institute of Mural Painting, Guruvayur.

The church authorities had christened the place where the church is located as Vijayapuram. But the place name was not accorded any official recognition and quickly faded from local usage. However, in diocese records the location of the church is still mentioned as Vijayapuram. The adjacent road junction is the Church Corner (Malayalam : പള്ളിമൂല) and it is the main road cross of Ramavarmapuram.