P.J.Cheriyan Presents Paper at Syro-Malabar Church Conference on July 2011 at Mumbai- The Impact of Recent Archaeological Discoveries in the Ancient Muziris on the Historiography of the Establishment of Christianity in Kerala

The 39^th Seminar of the Litrugical Research Centre (LRC)  of Syro-Malabar Church was held in Kalyan, Mumbai from July 29-31, 2011 at the Hope Centre, Amboli, Andheri West. The Theme of the seminar was ‘Early Christian Communities of St. Thomas Tradition inIndia”Dr. PJ Cherian, Director, Pattanam Excavations presented  a paper on -The Impact of Recent Archeological Discoveries in the ancient Muziris on the Historiography of the Establishment of Christianity in Kerala-highlighting the importance of Pattanam as the landing spot of St’Thomas in Kerala.Prof. K S Mathew, Director, Institute for Research in Social Sciences and Humanities. Dr. Pius Malekandathil, Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, Delhi;. Dr. Mathew Vellanickal, Syncellus, Changanacherry;. Dr. James Kurukilamkatt MST, Santhom Bible Centre, Pariyaram presented papers on various aspects of the theme. There are also several presentations on the Syro-Malabar Mission dioceses outside Kerala.. Mar George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church inaugurated the seminar at a meeting presided over by Mar Andrews Thazhath, This seminar was,  as claimed by the  organizers an attempt to trace the existence of Thomas Christians in parts of India, other than the traditional boundaries of Kerala. This assumes importance in the context of All-India Jurisdiction for Syro-Malabar church.