Fr Kurian Vazhayil, Vicar of St. Martin De Pores church, Ambalavayal blessing

KOZHIKODE: As tribute to a shared and symbiotic history, Ponmudikotta Sree Parthasarathy temple near Ambalavayal in Wayanad served food to over 1,000 Christians belonging to St Martin De Porres church who undertook the Way of the Cross to commemorate Christ’s passion at Golgotha on Good Friday . The temple hosted a traditional Kerala lunch to the pilgrims who trekked six kilometres to a cross atop a hillock adjacent to the temple and to another 1,000 people, mostly relatives and neighbours of the pilgrims.

In pics: Good Friday special prayers across cities

The parishioners visited the temple premises after completing their prayers at the cross and the statue of Saint George situated next to the temple. Scenes of spontaneous religious harmony abounded at the temple as the vicar of the church blessed (vencherippu) the food prepared at the temple. Here, St George and Krishna, the presiding deity of Parthasarathy temple, have an interesting history, an example of how Kerala’s multiple faiths co-exist so harmoniously.

Vicar, imam to light lamps at temple

Sree Parthasarathy temple and the cross and statue of St George, which are separated by less than 100 metres, have a unique bond. Both temple and cross were in ruins a decade back. When the temple authorities conducted a `prashnam' [seeking astrological clues] for temple renovation nine years ago, the thantri came out from the temple midway during the prashnam and walked to the cross and declared that before renovation of the temple, the cross has to be renovated,” said Father Kurian Vazhayil , vicar of Martin De Porres church. On learning what the ‘prashnam’ demanded, the church had the cross renovated and since then the temple has been arranging food to participants in the way of the cross procession every Good Friday.

In previous years, church authorities used to contribute part of the expense for the Good Friday lunch but this year temple authorities decided to meet the entire expense on their own as Holy Week coincided with the annual temple festival. “We readily accepted their gesture as the parishioners felt that this was a striking symbol of religious harmony and co-existence especially when reports of incidents of religious strife are increasing in society," Fr Vazhayil said.

Jyotish M K, president of Sree Parthasarathy temple committee, said that as part of the unique interfaith camaraderie in the area, people gave equal respect to the temple, which has a history of over 1,000 years, and the cross (Kurishadi) situated nearby. “We will have vicars of St Martin De Pores Church, Ambalavayal, and St George Malankara Church, Kuppakkolli, and the imam of a Kuppakolli Juma Masjid to light lamps in the temple as part of the Lakshadeepa Samarpanam (offering of lamps) to be held as part of the annual temple festival on April 1, which is incidentally Easter day as well,” Jyotish said.

“The hearty welcome extended by the temple authorities, the food they served us to mark the end of the Lent and the varied scenes of religious harmony would be ingrained in the hearts of the young kids of the parish. We hope it will have a lasting impact on them in their lives," Aji Thomas , a member of the parish, said.

