The legend of St Thomas and the arrival of Christianity in India

Rituparna

The legend of St Thomas and the arrival of Christianity in India

For many of us, the history of Christianity in India is heavily tied to the arrival of the first Europeans into the subcontinent in the late 15th century. But, the origin of Christianity in India goes back to the 1st century AD, in the state of Kerala. So in light of this, we will now tell the legend of St Thomas the Apostle and the oldest Christian mission in India.

Saint Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles (original disciples) of Jesus Christ; Image Source: BlessedMart

In India only about 2.5% of the population practise Christianity, which may seem fair considering that the gospel i.e. the message of Jesus did not arrive in India until the late fifteenth century. But, in the south Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, followers of this faith, who identify themselves as Thomas Christians, believe that the message of Jesus Christ arrived in India way back in 52 AD (CE), with the coming of Thomas the Apostle.

Christianity took its birth in Jerusalem. Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary in the 1st century AD and the rest as we know is history. According to the New Testament, Jesus originally had twelve Apostles or chief disciples, one of which was Judas who later betrayed Jesus.

After Jesus was resurrected following his crucifixion in 33 AD, he sent the remaining eleven Apostles on a mission to spread his message (gospel).

One of these was Thomas, who was also popularly called the “Doubting Thomas” because he initially did not believe that Jesus was resurrected. However, upon seeing the wounds on Jesus’ body from the crucifixion, he was convinced and he re-established his faith in Jesus. He, along with the ten remaining Apostles, promised Jesus that they would spread the gospel and went their ways.

But, a few relics were also believed to have remained at his burial site in Mylapore. In the years following St. Thomas’s death, there was no further talk of Christianity, although it is believed that the Saint Thomas Christians continued to practise the religion.

In the late fifteenth century, when the Portuguese arrived in south India, they began inquiring about the burial site of Saint Thomas.

They were familiar with the legend of the Apostle. At the burial site of St Thomas in Mylapore, the Portuguese erected a small church in their architectural style, which since then, became an important religious site for the practitioners of Christianity.

In the 1890s, when the British had replaced all European powers in India, they rebuilt the Portuguese church in Mylapore and renamed it the Santhome Basilica (St Thomas Church), one of the most impressive neo-gothic architectural structures found in India.

But what makes this church even more special is that the Santhome Basilica is one of the three churches in the entire world that were supposedly built over the tomb of an Apostle. The remaining two are in the Vatican (St. Peters Church), and in Spain (St James Church).

The story of St Thomas may very well be considered a myth. In the absence of any concrete evidence of his presence, we cannot ascertain if Christianity actually came with St Thomas the Apostle in ancient India.

Several scholars have disregarded the legend of St Thomas, arguing instead that the gospel was spread to India by ancient merchants from Syria, Persia and other places. Given the age-old established trade relationships between South India and the Mediterranean regions, it may have been possible that some merchants came to India as early as the 1st century AD and it is through them that Christianity first took root in south India.

Since the legend of St Thomas exists in the Syrian Christian accounts as well, perhaps these merchants were Syrian who spread the gospel in the name of Saint Thomas the Apostle.

Whether or not the legend of St Thomas is true, some evidence still points out that Christianity arrived in India as early as the 1st or 2nd century AD.

This would mean that not only was India one of the oldest countries where Christianity was first accepted, it also makes Christianity one of the oldest religions of India!

With this promise, Thomas began his long journey of spreading the message of Jesus far and wide. His journey through the Mediterranean Sea, via the Red Sea and into the Arabian Sea, at last, brought him to India, in present-day Kerala, sometime in the 52 AD.

In Kerala, Thomas began preaching the gospel and successfully converted a group of people who later came to identify themselves as Saint Thomas Christians.

According to the traditional accounts of the Saint Thomas Christians, Thomas the Apostle landed in Muziris (Cranganore). During his stay, he is believed to have established seven churches in Kerala. The church in this case was of course not the massive architectural structure that we find today. For the first St. Thomas Christians, the church was basically just a community of people who followed the teachings of Jesus and accepted him as the messiah. Thomas also baptized several families in the South during his stay.

He later went to Mylapore, in Chennai and there too, he earned quite a handful of followers who listened to his talks regularly and accepted Jesus as their Holy Father.

Thomas is believed to have stayed in India until his death in 72 AD. Interestingly, the record of his death comes from the Syrian Christian accounts that claim that Thomas was killed by a spear at a hillock in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The exact place is now called St. Thomas Mount. The body of St Thomas was formally believed to have been buried in Mylapore, Chennai. However, according to Syrian Christian sources, a significant portion of St Thomas’s relics was sent to Edessa (Mesopotamia) and much later, to Italy as well.