Knanaya Nazarene Academy in Muziris (Kodungallur)
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Sundeep Abraham
Nov 17, 2009, 12:41:15 PM11/17/09
to ameri...@googlegroups.com, knanay...@googlegroups.com
Dear folks,
It is with glad news that I would like to announce at this forum that
a project has been initiated to acquire land in Kodungallur to set up
a research training Centre at Kodungallur which will research into the
historic evidences regarding the antiquity of the Knanaya community
from the time we set foot at Kodungallur till the time we all had to
flee Kodungallur ie from AD 345 to AD 1548.
The project revolves around the theme of the Knanaya and Nasrani Sabha
of Kerala. These communities have existed as the Thekkumbhagom and
Vadakkumbhagom communities since ancient times. The core of the
project is to trace the origins of these two communities prior to the
4th century and also their activities from the 4th Century till the
16th Century. While the Vadakkumbhagom origins could possibly be
traced to the unconfirmed advent of St. Thomas to Muziris in about AD
52, the Thekkumbhagom community is believed to have migrated to
Kodungallur from three different places in the Middle East – Cana/
Jerusalem, Edessa and Mesopotamia. The 72 migrant families are
believed to have belonged to 7 Tribes – Haddai, Belkuth, Mezboth,
Thezvoth, Baji, Khoja and Kujalik (according to Sri. E M Philip). But
both these communities show a strong influence of the Essene community
that existed in the wilderness of the Dead Sea coast at Qumran near
Masada upto the 1st Century AD until they were resettled in the caves
of Edessa and the marshlands of Iran, Iraq and Sabaa or Yemen. This
community, also known as the Jamesian Community, was revered for their
simplicity, piety, humility and perseverance in upholding their faith
without succumbing to torture, humiliation or pressure. It is also
believed that this Jamesian community is the remnant group which was
preserved by God as the Holy community from the time of Noah. History
claims that this community became extinct after the Synod of Nicea in
325 AD when all the Nazarene sects were forced to merge into the
Universal Christian Church shedding their Jewish identity upon the
threat of excommunication. But could this community have died out or
did this community merge with the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala?
Could a community chosen by God to be the remnant ones become extinct
by the act of man?
Is the Knanaya community a remnant community preserved thus far by
God?
What happened to the remaining members of the Knanaya community that
did not take the ship to Kodungallur in AD 345?
Did they perish in their identity or are they somewhere out there in
the Middle East still holding on to their identity?
Can this community come to an end because there is a talk that the
membership of the community is dwindling rapidly?
Are we seeing a weeding out process from the Holy Remnant Community?
Is this community a mere creation of superstitions and caste identity
adopted from the ancient Kerala caste system?
This is the core matter which needs to be probed through this project
and the answer should be found and published to the interested
audience across the globe. The odyssey of the remnant Knanaya
community of Kerala is the subject matter of this project and thus
this project has nothing to do with religious emotion or creation of a
mythical story to justify any particular Church denomination.
The study will be led by internationally acclaimed academicians
involved in research into ancient Jewish, Nazarene, Christian, Muslim
and Hindu communities besides the archaeologists, anthropologists and
secular historians involved in studies regarding the ancient Spice
trade of Muziris. A 50 cent property is being acquired at the northern
river bank of the Periyar adjacent to the ancient Kottapuram market
which once served as the major port for the loading of the European
ships with spices and other products of trade. This site will serve as
a study center cum museum with accommodation and other facilities. The
Study Center will be the rallying point for research and will invite
the above scholars to conduct seminars, help in translations as well
as interpretation of ancient texts. There will be a resident history
community who will be employed to study the ancient evidences which
will be acquired from different parts of the world and which will
consist of copies of source documents in ancient languages such as
Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Portuguese and Dutch besides
commentaries in French, German and English. The students will be
involved in understanding these source documents from the perspective
of the Knanaya and St. Thomas Christians and will translate these
works based on these local perspectives for which they will involve
internationally renowned scholars. The works will be published by the
Research Center in the local vernacular as well as in English meant
for the international audience. Hence there will be a book shop
selling publications of other publishers as well as own publications.
A good income will come in the form of residential accommodation and
tutoring of heritage oriented tourists on an academic holidy where
they could be given an insight into the findings of the research
center. The hospitality part of this cultural heritage tourism will be
handled very professionally by experts in the Hospitality industry.
There will be a well researched ethnic Syrian Nazarene restaurant and
bakery which will serve Nasrani cuisine and rice based food products
to the residents and guests at a healthy price. This centre can
accommodate atleast 4000 Knanaya youth per annum so as to guide the
interested community youth about the antiquity of the historic
community.
The Knanaya Nazarene Academy in Muziris is to be a public limited
Company with shares offered to members of the Knanaya Community,
irrespective of their church affiliation (Jac or Cath) and it shall
focus on the study, research and propagation of the antiquity of the
community and its practices. A special advisory Board will be set up
to oversee and advise the Company in the project consisting of experts
such as Mr. Jose Dominic, the Chairman and Managing Director of CGH
Earth (formerly Casino Group) and distinguished scholars such as Dr.
Robert Eisenman, Dr. Shalva Weil, Dr. Federico De Romanis and Dr.
Shinu Abraham besides others who will be incorporated according to the
need of the period to aid and advise the Company to fulfill its
objective. Mr. Jose Dominic has agreed to be the Chairman of this
Board and is highly regarded as a man with the vision to make the
Muziris Project an Internationally visible cultural center. He has
played host to many of the international scholars who have toured
Kerala regarding research in the subject matter and they have all been
very appreciative of the hospitality at his various resorts such as
Coconut Lagoon, Marari Beach Resort, Spice Village, Brunton Boatyard
and Casino Hotel. His vast experience and expertise in the Hospitality
industry combined with his interest in the subject matter of this
project will ensure that the project is run at very high standards.
The management Board of the Company shall implement the
recommendations of the Advisory Board. The shares of the company will
be floated soon.
Best regards,
Sundeep.
It is with glad news that I would like to announce at this forum that
a project has been initiated to acquire land in Kodungallur to set up
a research training Centre at Kodungallur which will research into the
historic evidences regarding the antiquity of the Knanaya community
from the time we set foot at Kodungallur till the time we all had to
flee Kodungallur ie from AD 345 to AD 1548.
The project revolves around the theme of the Knanaya and Nasrani Sabha
of Kerala. These communities have existed as the Thekkumbhagom and
Vadakkumbhagom communities since ancient times. The core of the
project is to trace the origins of these two communities prior to the
4th century and also their activities from the 4th Century till the
16th Century. While the Vadakkumbhagom origins could possibly be
traced to the unconfirmed advent of St. Thomas to Muziris in about AD
52, the Thekkumbhagom community is believed to have migrated to
Kodungallur from three different places in the Middle East – Cana/
Jerusalem, Edessa and Mesopotamia. The 72 migrant families are
believed to have belonged to 7 Tribes – Haddai, Belkuth, Mezboth,
Thezvoth, Baji, Khoja and Kujalik (according to Sri. E M Philip). But
both these communities show a strong influence of the Essene community
that existed in the wilderness of the Dead Sea coast at Qumran near
Masada upto the 1st Century AD until they were resettled in the caves
of Edessa and the marshlands of Iran, Iraq and Sabaa or Yemen. This
community, also known as the Jamesian Community, was revered for their
simplicity, piety, humility and perseverance in upholding their faith
without succumbing to torture, humiliation or pressure. It is also
believed that this Jamesian community is the remnant group which was
preserved by God as the Holy community from the time of Noah. History
claims that this community became extinct after the Synod of Nicea in
325 AD when all the Nazarene sects were forced to merge into the
Universal Christian Church shedding their Jewish identity upon the
threat of excommunication. But could this community have died out or
did this community merge with the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala?
Could a community chosen by God to be the remnant ones become extinct
by the act of man?
Is the Knanaya community a remnant community preserved thus far by
God?
What happened to the remaining members of the Knanaya community that
did not take the ship to Kodungallur in AD 345?
Did they perish in their identity or are they somewhere out there in
the Middle East still holding on to their identity?
Can this community come to an end because there is a talk that the
membership of the community is dwindling rapidly?
Are we seeing a weeding out process from the Holy Remnant Community?
Is this community a mere creation of superstitions and caste identity
adopted from the ancient Kerala caste system?
This is the core matter which needs to be probed through this project
and the answer should be found and published to the interested
audience across the globe. The odyssey of the remnant Knanaya
community of Kerala is the subject matter of this project and thus
this project has nothing to do with religious emotion or creation of a
mythical story to justify any particular Church denomination.
The study will be led by internationally acclaimed academicians
involved in research into ancient Jewish, Nazarene, Christian, Muslim
and Hindu communities besides the archaeologists, anthropologists and
secular historians involved in studies regarding the ancient Spice
trade of Muziris. A 50 cent property is being acquired at the northern
river bank of the Periyar adjacent to the ancient Kottapuram market
which once served as the major port for the loading of the European
ships with spices and other products of trade. This site will serve as
a study center cum museum with accommodation and other facilities. The
Study Center will be the rallying point for research and will invite
the above scholars to conduct seminars, help in translations as well
as interpretation of ancient texts. There will be a resident history
community who will be employed to study the ancient evidences which
will be acquired from different parts of the world and which will
consist of copies of source documents in ancient languages such as
Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Portuguese and Dutch besides
commentaries in French, German and English. The students will be
involved in understanding these source documents from the perspective
of the Knanaya and St. Thomas Christians and will translate these
works based on these local perspectives for which they will involve
internationally renowned scholars. The works will be published by the
Research Center in the local vernacular as well as in English meant
for the international audience. Hence there will be a book shop
selling publications of other publishers as well as own publications.
A good income will come in the form of residential accommodation and
tutoring of heritage oriented tourists on an academic holidy where
they could be given an insight into the findings of the research
center. The hospitality part of this cultural heritage tourism will be
handled very professionally by experts in the Hospitality industry.
There will be a well researched ethnic Syrian Nazarene restaurant and
bakery which will serve Nasrani cuisine and rice based food products
to the residents and guests at a healthy price. This centre can
accommodate atleast 4000 Knanaya youth per annum so as to guide the
interested community youth about the antiquity of the historic
community.
The Knanaya Nazarene Academy in Muziris is to be a public limited
Company with shares offered to members of the Knanaya Community,
irrespective of their church affiliation (Jac or Cath) and it shall
focus on the study, research and propagation of the antiquity of the
community and its practices. A special advisory Board will be set up
to oversee and advise the Company in the project consisting of experts
such as Mr. Jose Dominic, the Chairman and Managing Director of CGH
Earth (formerly Casino Group) and distinguished scholars such as Dr.
Robert Eisenman, Dr. Shalva Weil, Dr. Federico De Romanis and Dr.
Shinu Abraham besides others who will be incorporated according to the
need of the period to aid and advise the Company to fulfill its
objective. Mr. Jose Dominic has agreed to be the Chairman of this
Board and is highly regarded as a man with the vision to make the
Muziris Project an Internationally visible cultural center. He has
played host to many of the international scholars who have toured
Kerala regarding research in the subject matter and they have all been
very appreciative of the hospitality at his various resorts such as
Coconut Lagoon, Marari Beach Resort, Spice Village, Brunton Boatyard
and Casino Hotel. His vast experience and expertise in the Hospitality
industry combined with his interest in the subject matter of this
project will ensure that the project is run at very high standards.
The management Board of the Company shall implement the
recommendations of the Advisory Board. The shares of the company will
be floated soon.
Best regards,
Sundeep.
Alex Alappat
Nov 18, 2009, 8:35:26 PM11/18/09
to knanay...@googlegroups.com
,
Wonderful! Noble aspirations.
Hopefully it will succeed where many before it have fallen by the wayside.
Whatever the final outcome may be, it is certainly a worthy endeavour.
Good luk & god speed.
Regards
Alex
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:11:15 +0530
Subject: [Knanaya Family] Knanaya Nazarene Academy in Muziris (Kodungallur)
From: sundeep...@gmail.com
To: ameri...@googlegroups.com; knanay...@googlegroups.com
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Philip Mathew
Nov 24, 2009, 11:02:06 AM11/24/09
to knanay...@googlegroups.com
Let me introduce myself. I am Shaji (Philip Mathew officially) born & bought up in Ranchi, Jharkhand. We are three brothers two of us in Ranchi & one in Bhubneshwar all married to knanayite girls. In kerala our house is in valamkullam (Mangaluthu House)
I was really very happy reading this. This is a wonderful initiative especially for families like us who live outside kerala. My children who have hardly any emotional bonding with knanayites would benifit a lot once it comes up.
Best of Luck for the project. Certainly we would subscribe to the shares.
Regards to all
Best of Luck for the project. Certainly we would subscribe to the shares.
Regards to all
Philip
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/knanayafamily?hl=en.
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