Pakalomattam Family History

It is a very difficult task to prepare the Pakalomattam family history of 2000 years as no effort so far has been undertaken in this direction. The Kerala traditions do not have a system of recording and handing over the details of historical incidents and records. Hence we have to depend on the Church history, social history, oral traditions and legends handed down the generations to distill history out of them. Certain oral traditions and legends have over the centuries corrupted with interpolations and additions to suit the times/interest of its authors. To have a critical evaluation of these facts and to deduct the truly historical elements out of them is a very difficult task but it is absolutely necessary to write the history of the times. Or else it will lead to historical controversies and it may lead to negation of historical truth. Most of the historical critics have pointed out the historical inconsistencies and anachronisms contained in these legends handed down to us by our ancestors.

In the absence of concrete historical corroborative evidence, which can be historio-graphically proved, many historians even expressed doubts on the missionary journey of St. Thomas, the disciple of Jesus, to Kerala and South India. It may be remembered that even secular histories about Emperor Asoka or even Vikramaditya do not have historiographical evidence. Indians have a tendency of treating traditions as history. They even call the legends of India as purana and Ithihasa meaning history. Hence writing history on pure historical records alone will not be possible as far as Indian history is concerned. Indians lack a sense of history as Vincent Smith commented. The Marthoma Christians started writing their history on the compulsive persuasions of Portuguese and other Europeans from the 16th Century onwards. Christians of Kerala call themselves Marthoma Christians, remembering the traditions of their conversion to St. Thomas the apostle of Jesus Christ. When they reduced it to writing, their history happened to be the crystallization of their traditional history held tobe true by them and belived to be true by the contemporary society.

The oral traditions gets historical veracity and authenticity by the supporting evidence from the individual truths connected with histories of families, villages, land and revenue records etc. of the place. The quintessence of this traditional history had created confusion among them and also created confusion among their sister societies.

The Summary of Mathoma Christian Tradion

St. Thomas, the apostle after the Pentesost day, did missionary work in Persia, North India & Afghanistan. He visited Jerusalem at the death of St. Mary, mother of Jesus and attended the Jerusalem Synod in A.D.50.

Then he journeyed to south India and landed at the chera capital port of cranganore or musiris in Kerala. After this he traveled to south East Indian shore and did missionary activity there. In A.D. 72, at the port city of Mylapore, South of Chennai the old Madras city he was martyred.

The living testimony of St.thomas mission in India is the enlivening presence of the St.thomas Christians in Kerala and their living traditions. His tomb is not claimed by any other people in the world requires a special note. The mortal remains of St. Thomas, wherever it is kept like Edessa, Orthona etc certifies that it is brought from India. The fact that the tomb of St. Thomas is 1500 Kms. away from Trichur in Chennai coast and the Solemn celebration of St. Thomas day (Dukrana) on July 3 when Kerala is having incessant rain by Syrian Christians here is a living concrete testimony of the St. Thomas connection of Kerala Christians.