St. Joseph's Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is situated in Meenkunnam village, 6 km from Muvattupuzha, India. It was founded by Venerable Mar Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly in 1921.[3] The church belongs to the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Kothamangalam.
St. Joseph's Syro-Malabar Catholic Church | |
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St. Joseph's Syro-Malabar Catholic Church | |
Location | Meenkunnam, Muvattupuzha |
Country | India |
Denomination | Syro-Malabar Catholic Church |
History | |
Founded | 1921 |
Founder(s) | Mar Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly[1] |
Dedication | Saint Joseph |
Consecrated | 1925 |
Past bishop(s) | Mar George Punnakkottil |
Associated people | Saint Thomas Christians |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Administration | |
District | Ernakulam |
Synod | Syro-Malabar |
Diocese | Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Kothamangalam[2] |
Clergy | |
Archbishop | Mar George Alancherry |
Bishop(s) | Mar George Madathikandathil |
History
editMeenkunnam village has a large population of Syrian Catholics. These Nasrani Christians, who were previously under Marth Mariam Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church, Arakuzha, have more than 1500 years of recorded history.[4]
A main landmark of Meenkunnam is a copy of Michelangelo's Pietà, which was created by the artist Appukuttan. This sculpture at Meenkunnam is roughly 4 times the size of the original Pietà, located at the St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. Owing to its size, the artist could make a compromise on intricate details and created a sculpture lacking realism, ideal beauty, harmony and balance observed in the original sculpture which showcases a balance of Renaissance ideals of classical beauty with naturalism.
References
edit- ^ Deepika newspaper article
- ^ "Eparchy of Kothamangalam". Archived from the original on 15 October 2014.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Payyappilly Palakkappilly Varghese Kathanar Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Ancient Churches, Stone Crosses of Kerala- Saint Thomas Cross, Nazraney Sthambams and other Persian Crosses | NSC NETWORK". nasrani.net. 15 January 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2014.