Indian Orthodox Church

India is one of the earliest of centres of Christainity in the world. The Christain religion in India is as old as the Christain religion itself. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached in India in the first century itself. Tradition traces the origin of Christianity in India to the missionary enterprises of St. Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. This tradition, most dearly cherished by a large of Christians known as the Saint Thomas Christians.

The name, Malankara Orthodox Church, refers to the section of the St.Thomas Christians of India, that Canonically came under Catholicate of the East whose Supreme Head is His Holiness The Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan,with head quarters at Devalokam, Kottayam,Kerala, India. St.Thomas Christians at present belongs to ten different churches and denominations. The Malankara Orthodox Church is one among them and it is the second largest.

St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, is the founder of the ancient church in India. Christian writers and historians from the 4th century refer to the evangelistic work of Apostle Thomas in India, and the Indian Christians ascribe the origin of their church to the labours of the apostle in the 1stcentury.

The Indian Orthodox Church (also known as the Malankara Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church of the East, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Orthodox Syrian Church of the East), is a prominent member of the Oriental Orthodox Church family.The Indian Orthodox community inherited many aspects of Indian civilization and they are as any other member of any other community in India, in their customs, manners, and life style.

More can be known at following link of wikipedia of the Indian Orthodox Church

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