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periods (asramas) of unequal time. The second asrama is the householder
stage. Accordingly, it is one’s duty to marry and raise a family and also to
provide for the family in what way is necessary. Family life in this case is a
28
religious obligation.

3.3.3 The Cultural Milieu of the Syro-Malabar Church

The Malabar Church, on the one hand, spontaneously received,
adapted and integrated many liturgical elements and canonical institutes of
the Church of the East, because they were congruent with its own original
Thomistic heritage and Indian culture; but, on the other hand, they adopted
and Christianised the socio-cultural customs and those Hindu rites which
were compatible with Catholic faith. Although those people in Malabar who
had accepted Christ and his Gospel due to the evangelising ministry of St.
Thomas had changed their faith, they continued to maintain the very same
customs, tradition and modus vivendi of their Hindu brethren. So the axiom
29
“Hindu in culture, Christian in religion and oriental in Worship” is often
used to indicate the various aspects of the identity of the St. Thomas
30
Christian tradition of that epoch.

When Christianity finally struck deep roots in Kerala, the
characteristic form it took was the result of a protracted interaction between
the Malabar cultural milieu and the Chaldean ecclesiastical system. A
harmonious blend of these two factors became a reality in the secular as
well as in the ecclesiastical life of the Christian community. Hence, the
Christians of St. Thomas could easily be integrated into the social and
31
religious fabric of the country. From time immemorial, the liturgy of the
Malabar Church has been the liturgy of the Syro-Oriental or Chaldean rite.
But the St. Thomas Christians gave a local colour to the East Syrian rite, by
adapting it to their surroundings and to the Hindu culture, by Christianizing
the customs and practices of the high caste Hindus from among whom,

28 Cf. FOWLER, J., Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices, Sussex Academic Press, 18
Chichester Place Brighton in Great Britain, 1997, pp. 25 & 51.
29 This axiom was coined by P. J. Podipara in his article, “Hindu in Culture, Christian in
Religion, Oriental in Worship”, in Ostkirchliche Studien 8, 1959, pp. 82-104. Cf. P.
PALLATH, The Catholic Church in India, Mar Thoma Yogam, Roma, 2003, p. 4, foot note
66.
30 Cf. PALLATH, P., The Catholic Church in India, Mar Thoma Yogam, Roma, 2003, pp.
25-26.
31 Cf. KOLLAPARAMBIL, J., The St. Thomas Christians’ Revolution in 1653, The
Catholic Bishop’s House, Kottayam, 1981, p. 3.

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