Place · Syrian Christian printing city · India
Kottayam
Also known as Kottayam City
The historic city of Kottayam in central Kerala, 150 kilometres north of Thiruvananthapuram. The town is Kerala's chief Syrian Christian (Suriyani Nasrani) centre and the headquarters of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (seat at Devalokam) and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church (seat at Thiruvalla, 25 km away). The 1821 first Malayalam printing press was established by Benjamin Bailey of the Church Missionary Society at Kottayam, and the 1888 first Malayalam novel (Indulekha by O. Chandu Menon) was published here. The town became India's first 100% literate municipality in 1989 under the Kerala Total Literacy Campaign. The CMS College (1817) is Kerala's oldest Western-style college. Kottayam district is the Travancore royal house's historical heartland.
- Function
- Learning & scholarship
- Patron dynasty
- Travancore · Indian Union
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 9.592, 76.522
Connections (1)
- Site withinKuravilangad
Kuravilangad sits within Kottayam district, Kerala, 25 kilometres from the Kottayam city centre. The Marth Mariam Forane Church (traditional 105 CE Thomas Christian foundation, current structure c.335 CE) is the oldest Marian pilgrimage shrine in India and anchors the central Kerala Marian pilgrimage network. The 2004 Vatican International Shrine designation of nearby Malayattoor and the Pala-Bharananganam Marian circuit together form the central Kerala Catholic pilgrimage geography centred on Kottayam district.
Sources
Standard reference; district gazetteer and Wikipedia.
Open Kottayam in the repository →