Kerala, India - Vasco de Gama, Syrian Church, River Cruise

 Recent news about Chaldean Christians who have been persecuted by ISIS in Iraq, made me pause. (The Chaldean Christians, which are part of the Catholic Church, had broken off from the Assyrian Church of the East.) I recalled visiting a Syrian Church in Kerala in India, but it turns out that the the members of the Syrian churches in Kerala are different from the Chaldean Christians. I quote from Wikipedia:

"The Chaldean Syrian Church is an Indian Christian church that is currently an archbishopric of the Assyrian Church of the East. Its members are part of the St. Thomas Christian community, who trace their origins to the evangelical activities of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. They are almost exclusively based in the state of Kerala, with the church's cathedral located in Thrissur. Despite carrying the "Chaldean" title in its name, the church is distinct from the Chaldean Catholic Church of the Middle East, an Eastern Catholic church in communion with the Pope." ~ from Wikipedia

In any case, I culled up some pictures I took in that part of India in 2010, which I'm sharing here. The above picture was where we stayed at in Kumarakom, Kerala. The altar was from the Syrian Church we visited. There are a couple of pictures taken from a river cruise.There is a picture of St. Francis Church Vasco Da Gama Church where the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama was originally buried; his body is now in Belem, Lisbon. The plaque is that of  the Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama, and the big house is where he supposedly stayed in.

Kerala is a state in the south-west region of India on the Malabar Coast. Known as the land of spices, it had contact with ancient Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Arabs, Phoenicians, and other ancient peoples.

Route of Vasco de Gama to India

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This is all for now,
Cecilia