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VERNACULAR CHURCH ARCHITECTURE – THIRUVITHANCODE

AN INVESTIGATION ON CULTURAL INFLUENCE

M. Raghavendran
mailtoarchitectragav@gmail.com, Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture,
Sigma college of Architecture, Anna University, Chennai.

Abstract
Culture is a collection of values of human life. It is the pattern of thoughts and behavior of people. Cultural
differences are seen throughout the globe. In fact, culture is the soul of nation as it determines the nation’s identity.
Culture of a place can be perceived through its material aspects such as Art, Architecture, instruments &
technology, materials & consumer goods and non-material aspects such as norms & values, beliefs & myths, rituals
& religion, language & philosophy. Through all these aspects one can experience the prosperity of a nation’s past
& present. Culture of a place influences its architecture in terms of material usage, local construction techniques,
craftsmanship, ornamentation and detailing, etc. The cultural influence can be evidently seen in religious structures
of a region which in turn makes it very unique and identical among others. This paper aims to study and understand
such cultural influence on Christian church and its architectural style of thiruvithancode region of kanyakumari
district demonstrating how close the church architecture is related to local Hindu temple architecture. Even though
they are several churches around kanyakumari district, the St. Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Church stands unique due
to its vernacular church architecture that differ from conventional style of church architecture.

Keywords: Vernacular church architecture, Cultural influence, Hindu temple architecture, Identity, Unique.

Introduction
The modern day church buildings have a variety of architectural styles and layouts,
whereas the traditional churches have a wonderful historical background. The traditional
church buildings are often in the shape of a cross and frequently have a tower or a dome.
Once Kanyakumari district was a Hindu dominated area where Christianity came in the
midst of the great opposition. The Christianity tradition in India attributes its origin to St.
Thomas, one of the Jesus Christ’s apostles (J, 2006). The origin of Christianity in southern
district of TamilNadu began with the arrival of St. Thomas in 52 A.D (C.B., 1961). It’s a
well-known fact that the indigenous Indian Christians, known as St. Thomas Christians
have a longer history than most of the Christians in European countries. However, the
information of their churches on the history of Indian architecture is still hidden (J.C.,
1986). For the study of the cream of architectural design in church building, one turns to
Rome, Paris, Florence and other places of Europe. But there are churches in India that
were constructed independently from the design pattern of European style.

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The Arapally
St. Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Church is situated at Thiruvithancode in kanyakumari
district and 30 kms east of Trivandrum. The Church is known by other names such as
Arapally (meaning ‘royal church’ in english) and Amalagiri church named by the chera
king Udayancheral (Varghese, 2008). This is the first Christian church of kanyakumari
district and still familiar among Christian followers. It is considered to be one of the
ancient churches in the district and it was consecrated by St. Thomas that it is considered
as a half church while other seven churches are in Kerala (P.K., 2000) (according to the
Christian theories, there are seven and a half legendary churches have been founded by
St. Thomas, the famous half church is the St. Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Church at
Thiruvithancode).

Figure 1 – The Entrance of Arapally Figure 2 – The view from south-west

The Architectural description of the Arapally

The inscriptions of this church is seen in the books of Udhayamperur synagogue in
1599 (Mathew, 1990) and the descriptions are seen in the books of the missionaries like
Francis-co-Diasio, Antonia Devia, Dovaethae Berbosn. The Half-Church was of 25 feet
length, 16 feet breadth and 10 feet in height, built with black stone (G, 1974). The ground
plan of Syrian Orthodox Church in Thiruvithancode reveals three main segments – The
Sanctum, Ante chamber and the Nave. The western entrance hall was only a later addition
in the 20th century. The main three segments of the church is seen through the East-West
cross section, which has been erected in three successive levels from the ground (M,

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1694). The highest level is on the east marks the sanctum with the altar and a statue of
crucification (Jesus with Cross), the medium level with the two shorter pillars represents
the ante-chamber to the sanctum which consists of a door and a window on the northern
and southern side, the lowest level is the nave – place for the worshippers (Vavanikunnel,
1992). The main entrance of the arapally is situated on the western side. Also, there are
two other doors on the northern and southern wall of the sanctum.

Figure 3 – The Plan showing the Nave, the antechamber and the Sanctum

Figure 4 – The Cross-section through east-west showing different levels, pillars a nd

other elements influenced from local Hindu architecture

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The walls were constructed of local quarry stones from nearby quarries. Later the
surface was smoothened based on the same method used in the fortifications of
padmanabhapuram and at the exterior walls of the padmnabhaswami temple at
Trivandrum (G.L., 1995). The stone was not chiselled with a single chisel but with an iron
tool having upto around five chisels at the same time, resulting in a surface texture
characterized by several parallel lines similar to Arab and European countries.

Figure 5 – The Interior of the northern wall (antechamber) showing pillars, door and a
small window

Figure 6 – The Interior of the southern wall (antechamber) symmetrical to that of

northern wall.

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Figure 7 – The Interior view showing the Altar

Cultural Influence
Above the western entrance, architrave is present with flanking decorations in the
form of a corbel with lotus bud (Sanskrit: puspapotika) which is also found in the nearby
Mahadeva temple complex at Thiruvithancode and in the Suchindram temple complex
that is 25km east of Thiruvithancode (S, 1961). These influences dates back to
Vijayanagara style of architecture. The roof of the church sanctum represents the
vernacular architectural style of Kerala that is most prominent in Padmanabhapuram
palace and Padmanabhaswami temple at Trivandrum (G.L., 1995). The outer walls have
flat pilasters with small cross-flowers at the upper part, such architectural style is evident
and well known from local Hindu temples around the region.

Figure 8 – The View of the architrave with Hindu inscriptions (pushpotikas)

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The mouldings seen at the top has ‘kapota’ with ‘kudus’ which rather than just a
decorative element, helps to direct rain water from the roof. The design of the basement
(adhisthana) is simple and conservative which is evidently seen at the temples of nearby
Vizhinjam region (S, 1961).

Figure 9 – The Exterior wall of the sanctum showing the pilasters Figure 10 – The Pillar depicting the
(Hindu temple influence) local temple architectural style

The Pillars of the sanctum are the most interesting part of architectural influence
from local Hindu temples. A close-up view shows the details consisting of a simple capital
(acts as crown of the pillar), the middle and lower parts are square in cross-section.
Between these square blocks we see narrow zones with alternatively eight or sixteen facets
framing a section that is circular in cross-section (S, 1961). At the sides of the interior
walls we can find small triangular niche (small oil lamps) which again resembles local
Hindu temple architecture.

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Figure 11 – The South elevation showing the southern door, pilasters and other decorations

Figure 12 – The Exterior view of the northern wall

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Conclusion
The Arapally – St. Mary’s Syrian Orthodox church at Thiruvithancode reflects the
unique vernacular church architectural style differing from the conventional style, as it
borrows certain design elements such as pillars, basement, upper wall mouldings and roof
from those of local Hindu temple architectural style. Due to its special design pattern, it
stands out of most of the churches around the district. The amalgamation of East Syrian
spatial concepts and local Hindu temple architecture can be called as the ‘Travancore
church style’ as Thiruvithancode was under Tranvancore region during early times. These
rare variety of churches must be conserved and should be listed as heritage monuments,
so that it can deliver much of cultural and historial relevance to future generation of
historians and architects.

References
C.B., F. (1961). Indian Church History. Bangalore.
G, V. T. (1974). Thekkam Pattukal (Malayalam). Trivandrum.
G.L., B. (1995). Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, Trivandrum. Bombay.
J, A. (2006). Christianity in South India. Tirunelveli.
J.C., H. (1986). The art and architecture of Indian subcontinent. Harmondsworth.
M, G. (1694). The History of the Church of Malabar. London.
Mathew, G. (1990). St. Mary's Syrian Church, Thiruvithancode,. Nagercoil.
P.K., G. (2000). History of Kerala. Trivandrum.
S, K. (1961). Dravida and Kerala in the art of Travancore. Ascona.
Varghese, M. K. (2008). St. Thomas International Pilgrim Centre, Vol.I,. Kanyakumari
District.
Vavanikunnel, M. J. (1992). St. Thomas Syro-Malabarase Kirche. Kottayam.