St.Thomas International Shrine, Malayattoor-Kurisumudy

Malayattoor is a village in the North Eastern corner of Ernakulam District in the state of Kerala in South India. The name ‘Malayattoor’ is an amalgamation of three small words. Mala (Mountain) Arr (River) Oore (Place). This is to say, Malayattoor is a meeting place of mountain, river, and land.

Kurisumudy is a mountain at Maiayattoor, 1269 'Ft. above sea level.Kurisumudy has its fame as a place visited by St. Thomas, one of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. Jesus gave a mandate to his Apostles to go out to the whole world and to proclaim the Good News. Taking upon himself this commandment, Thomas set out to India and landed at Kodungalloor in AD 52. He spent 20 years in India travelled through different parts of this great country of spirituality.

Upon his visit to India St. Thomas visited Kurisumudy too. His missionary expeditions took him far and wide and while travelling through the famous caravan route from Kodugalioor to Madras St. Thomas came to Malayattoor. A hostile reception was in store and his life was in danger. He was forced to flee to the top of the mountain and he spent days together in prayer. According to the ‘Ramban Paattu’ , St. Thomas went up the mountain to converse with the Lord. In deep anguish and agony, St. Thomas prayed to the Lord and he made a sign of the cross on the rock . The Mother Of Our Lord, Blessed Mary, appeared to console and strengthen him. He descended from the top hill. His zeal for the Lord took him to Mylappoor in Chennai and later died a martyr's death in AD 72. The locals began a practice of lighting an oil lamp and whenever the lamp gave in for the wind, a herd of goats came down wailing and people used to climb the mountain and light the lamp again. Pilgrims, who climb the mountain, even today carry with them seasamum seeds to feed the goats, even though goats are a rare sight.