2/23/10

doubting thomas

you know the story thing from three angles.this is one such.so let me start with the most famous one

Portuguese and english hybrid version-st.thomas came to india.time is bit debated.but some where around 4ad accepts our church.sees there are no Christians in india.injustice every where.so he preached around.started building six churches in kerala.all convert.even the highly respected namboodhri brahmins convert when meet our saint.then came to the prosperous village of thirumylai or mylapore as we call it.village full of brhamins and hence full of evils.thomas is introduced to king as a skilled carpenter.king gives st.thomas money to build a great palace.st.thomas being the saint he was gave money to the poor,healed many.king not happy.brahmins also not happy.so st.thomas is assassinated by a hindu(specifically brahmin) on a deserted hill just outside mylapore.st.thomas was peacefully praying to the cross then.so as he was slayed , bleeding st.thomas hugs the church and dies a martyr.he is burried there.later when Portuguese come and say hey lets build a great cathedral on the beach and bury st.thomas .he deserves it.so they try to do it.but hindus dont allow.they pray to jesus.god sends hurricane.kapaleeshwarar temple destroyed by hurricane.build church in beach (and not in the site of the old kapalesshwarar temple but nearby)when the Portuguese come to power.so the santhome cathedral and the st.thomas mount becomes sacred places.in 1986 pope visits these places.most Christians in india identify themselves as st.thomas christians.

other version given by hindu "scholars"-a merchant named thomas lands in india.around 1600s.syrian christians peacefully co-exist with other religions till then.infact Christianity came to india even before europe adopted it.such the power of trade.but portuguese dont like this.trade and religion they use to win land.but for them to spread their version of christianity they need some hold.so step up thomas the merchant.the story of st.thomas in reinvented.they go around spreading false stories.they get a martyr who spread love and peace and brahmins killed him.st.thomas himself choose india and he is a martyr.what a power full vessel that was.so many convert.they come to mylapore.large number of brahmins.they not able to convert them.so they claim that st.thomas was actually buried near the walls of the kapaleeshwarer temple.not the new one we see now.the original temple.that which was on the beach,was recorded as early as 1ad,really old big grand and so on.many poets sing about it.historical records all there.so they claim st.thomas is buried there.fight brakes out.king says no fight.lets dig up a bit.they dig it.bones.christians cry st.thomas. hindus say its a chozhan king who was given the honour.they show records on the temple walls.finally compromise.christians build a small shrine next to the temple.slowly they keep expanding it.and when Portuguese come to power they bomb and destroy the temple.and the church is built right on that site.and there was a hill called brinji malai. sage brinji lived there.so when rama was going to ceylon he came to get blessings.on sage advice rama stayed,prayed and all that.so that hill sacred place for hindus. all the hindu settlements were just destroyed and was named mount thomas and another church built over it.


historically supported version.one with historical evidence-to start with there is no evidence whatso ever that st.thomas came to india.none whatso ever.thomas the merchant is recorded.syrian christians are well recorded.stories of big temples being destroyed and churches being built upon recorded in kerala.ASI confirms that.and says that the church exists exactly over the old temple site.there is another church over temple case in nearby luz.but thats by the english.one damning evidence comes from pondicherry. the vedapuri eshwaran temple is destroyed and st.paul church is built.a proper written record of how this happen is available.it says shrine near temple built,shrine grows and commits nonsensical acts like throwing garbage and meat into adjoining temple campus.slowly big fight breaks out.hindus go to guvner.guvner says worry not dear people.so loads of guards put around the temple.that night temple is bombed and destroyed.guards prevent people from going near.many people die trying to prevent it.then the church is built over it.hourly updates of the destroying event are available.it is accepted that this model was quite standard.of course not all churches were built like this.but famous temples were destroyed and built upon.this is agreed by historians.so there is no evidence of st.thomas coming mylapore or rather india or all that matter.and kapaleeshwarer temple existed in that spot for thousands of years.the present one is dated at about 350-375 years old.built in vijayanagara style which is comparatively new,land given by arcot nawab.deeds were legally done.the new temple was actually an extension of an already existing small muruga temple.as a thankyou to the nawab for giving land,every year temple closes back door for a day.the nawab family celebrates some festival in the tank where they put stuff in water and pray.that is to say muslims and hindus lived at peace with each other in this part.most outside indian historians go with the hindu version so far.

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due to the tsunami a few pieces of sculptures were found in the santhome church cathedral premises. it is said to belong to the original kapaleeshwarer temple.hindus wanted it so that it can be returned to the new premises.but it went straight into the cathedral museum.not open to public section.coz if that is given out it means admission that the temple existed there(i still cant figure that).you see there is a piece on the east wall of the cathedral which has really old chozhan inscriptions.it is claimed it belongs to the original temple.but church says some stone just had random inscription and was used to build.what baffles me here is how ASI dint confiscate the discovered stuff.i think legally it belonged to them.anyways they wanted the stones for the temple.

church got insecure.so it asked the vatican to declare that st.thomas is officially buried in the santhome church.if thats done the church can be encroached or destroyed.but the vatican dint do it.infact it declared that there is no evidence that st.thomas visited india,nor any of the apostles did.it also says st.thomas is buried in europe as per its legal records.it says he died a peaceful death.so santhome church got tension.and guess what they are trying to do??a mega budget movie.80 crores has been touted.one that will show st.thomas landing in kerala,preaching,getting killed on mount thomas.the church head was giving this announcement.then he says the movie will also involve thiruvalluvar.i was confused.he went on and says this "thiruvalluvar is actually disciple of st.thomas.he gave thiruvalluvar all the wisdom and taught him the bible.and asked thiruvalluvar to write a tamizh version based on the teachings of the bible so that common man will benifit.so thiruvalluvar wrote thirukural".when i heard this first i was amused to no ends.really??am actually confused.are the church people really that idiotic or takes to be such idiots??FYI-thiruvalluvar lived in 1bc.and santhome church version says st.thomas came to india in 4bc.of course it does not matter for the church.

and let me tell you why this is ultra baffling.some years back the church was in tatters.it had to be renovated.few crores needed.govt dint help coz it dint come under certain act.so they asked for donations.we gave 1k.loads of local people contributed.coz its part of our locality.and its beautiful.i love that place.so church is repaired.there is one mr.paul dinakaran.google him.speaks and preaches the lords name.heals it seems.he unofficially owns billions.literally.like he has a private jet hanger and all that.bloody rich.i know that for sure.he dint cough a penny.and now church says 80 crore budget movie.wow.

and are they afraid that we will destroy the church if temple old temple location is determined properly?come on we are not ayodhya monsters.contrary to popular north indian beliefs we chennai people are lazy peace loving and rajnikanth loving.anyways why is the church so insecure.and the movie.bloody hell.if they try to show some religion gave thiruvalluvar wisdom i will castrate them.wtf?? bastards who do they think they are.just like that keep on claiming?if the movie goes ahead i wont be pleased.and i think i wont be alone.

and one more thing media.i have heard many claims that the media is biased.not in the way you think.more along religious lines.you see most major papers are owned by christian missionaries.including the hindu.this i already knew.so when this whole thing happened the hindu choose to remain silent.when a book was released by some hindu fellow on this the hindu refused to review this.when a christian fellow wrote his version of the story as a book it was reviewed.this i have heard.i can not confirm this of course.hindu is my fvrt paper.in my eyes largely non partial.its religion column has always been the butt of jokes in my family gatherings.its been ridiculed.but i dont care about it.but if they are actually biased i will be disappointed.i hope not.

anyways is it impossible for you to say something in this indian society and not being questioned if you are hindu or chirstian or rich or poor.is it possible to be really non partial and look at things??

i read a few books and have written this based on them.if i am wrong ,its coz the books are.so let me know if somethings wrong.i cant find the online version of the christian authored book about santhome cathedral history and st.thomas story.but i found the hindu version one against it.its long.but its fully of details and historical evidence.take a look.this is the book that hindu apparently refused to review.the introduction is here. the book is here .

free

ps-btw if anyone says you wrote this coz ur hindu or something, castration only.i dont like Hinduism.more on that later.anyways i read both sides of the argument as non partially a human can and wrote this.thasall.no offense if any.

pps-is it too long?or did you just scroll down here..

9 comments:

mentalie said...

argh. very long. and i don't like history. or forms that ask you to fill in your religion - like every form in india. bloody nosy parkers.
ps: why do you always sign off 'free'?

KD. K Bodhi said...

Awesome stuff. How did you get the idea to read up on this?

HaRy!! said...

broooo edhuku ipo thalaya pulling :( ... edho bcos of rajni nama tamil atkal mathikiranga ( immediately dont think am with ramadoss shit of tamil and stuf....) ....aana yes...i heard sometime back abt the renovation... dunno how it came of!

Gymnast said...

I read for a bit , till about the second story..

Then scrolled down till the end.

Not because it was uninteresting or anything , only because it was too continuous..like , no space between the words , everything so close together...it hurts the eye..

Anyway i love the kapaleeshwar temple and the santhome church both , beautiful buildings both , very soulful..

Gymnast said...

Came back. Read fully. Lots of things that i didnt know ..interesting!

This institution of religion , hindu , muslim , christian anything..is like this!

Pseudo and illogical..

Nice article , but only if u would write it legibly!!

Insignia said...

How did you end up knowing about this? Interesting!! And you say that there are cholan inscriptions on the east wall of the church. I very much expected you would support that with a photo.

Guess its not impossible to click that. Can you try? I am very curious!!

Soin said...

@mentalie..why everyone just needs to ask about free.why.anyways will be explained in due course.free

@bodhi..me attends lectures on local architecture and history.really interested in those.so those circle people put me onto this and i read on.free

@hary..saar me just telling what is there.free

@gymnast..well this just reflects my normal handwriting which is at beast cryptic.anyways i get your point.but me is too lazy.will try to space properly from the next post.free

@insignia..first of all me in raipur and not chennai.and i went there to click it.put its not allowed there.thats why i clicked only outside stuff which is on flickr.visit there once.or let me try when i get back to chennai.free

Ketan said...

soin,

I would feel sorry for you if you would get emotionally hurt to discover that 'The Hindu' is biased.

No, I am not saying it is biased, but there is no reason to attach your emotions to purely commercial things. Commercial things are for profits. You will never be able to make out what are the sources of some group's profits.

I have heard NDTV is funded by middle east. And the way they are biased towards Congress and SRK, does not seem unlikely also. I have also heard CPM of Bengal is supported by China to halt India's progress.

The important thing is not that whether what I have heard is true or not, but to remember that we have to be always careful in believing anything anyone says - whether commercial enterprise or not.

The point is do not get emotional about The Hindu. :)

TC.

Soin said...

@ketan there is difference between disappointment and emotional hurt.for me hindu still seems to value journalism over commercial stuff , more than other papers.so i would be just disappointed and not upset if it is what they claim it to be.for it also represents the ownership honesty battle thats the media is accused of.thatsall.free