Dr.P.J.Cherian Sits in Middle Project to trace and preserve Syrian X''ian texts in progress
PTI | 12:02 PM,Feb 20,2011 As part of the resistance to the "Latinisation" campaign, community leaders congregated at Mattanchery near Kochi in January 1653 and took a vow not to fall in line. This event was known as the "Bent Cross Oath" or "Koonan Kurishu Sathyam" in Kerala history. The facsimile edition of the canon law was published by the Georgias Press LLC, USA, as part of an extensive project to survey, catalogue and digitise manuscripts in Syriac, the language spoken by Jesus, Aprem said. The project also seeks to unearth and preserve other heritage material relating to over 2000 years of Christianity in Kerala and make them available to the scholarly community as well as the public. According to tradition, Syriac, also known as Aramaic,was not just the mother tongue of Jesus but also held in high reverence by early Christians as the language in which God conversed with Adam and patriarchs like Abraham, Aprem said. The project was first launched by the Kottayam-based Saint Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute (SEERI) and the Central European University, Budapest. The project has also collaboration with the Oriental Institute of Tubingen univsersity, Germany, Hill Museum and Manuscript library (HMML), Minnesota, and Beth Mardutho, the Syriac Institute, New Jersey. A local forum, called Association for the Preservation of the Saint Thomas Christian Heritage, with Dr P J Cherian, Director of the Kerala Council for Historical Research as President and Aprem as Hononary President was formed in March 2008 to locatae, gather and preserve all available documents. The Association's efforts in tracing and preserving the manuscripts and archival documents in diverse languages as well as monuments and works of art were progressing,Aprem said "The Syrian Christians in Kerala, despite being divided into different church denominiations, are keen to trace their roots and preserve documents relating to their evolution through centuries," he said. About 150 manuscripts had been digitized including the Chaldean Kashkol written in 1585 at Kothamangalam and 'Hudra' (prayer book for 365 days), he said. An Aramaic scholar, Aprem received his doctorate in History of Assyrian Church and some time back brought out a book, 'Teach Yourself Aramaic', received well in India and abroad. For Saint Thomas Christians in Kerala, Syriac used to be the main church language until the mid-20th century and it has enriched the vocabulary of the Malayalam language contributing words lik 'Malaakha' (Aangel), 'Kudasah' (Sacrament), Qurbana' (Mass), Mishiha' (messiah) and 'Mammodeesa' (baptism), Aprem said
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