Did you know
In January 1653, one of the most dramatic acts of collective defiance in church history took place at Mattancherri, Cochin. Decades of rigid Portuguese Jesuit rule frustrated the native St. Thomas (Syrian) Christians. The intercept and disappearance of their arriving Asiatic prelate, Ahatalla (Mar Ignatius), also frustrated them. Thousands of native St. Thomas (Syrian) Christians gathered to formally cut ties with the Portuguese church authorities. The crowd was too large for everyone to touch the ancient open-air granite cross directly, so they tied a long, thick rope to it. Tens of thousands of people held the rope and one another. They swore their solemn vow in unison that they would never again submit to the authority of the Portuguese Jesuits or their Archbishop. This rebellion is known as the Oath of the Coonan Cross (Coonan Kurisu Sathyam). It led directly to the historic division of Kerala’s ancient church into the Pazhayakuru (Romo-Syrians) and the Puthankuru (Jacobite Syrians).
More about Holy Cross Church (Coonan Kurisu Palli), Mattancherry
3- Did you knowThe cross at Holy Cross Church in Mattancherry has stood since 1550.
- Did you knowHoly Cross Church in Mattancherry holds a veneration of the Holy Cross at 7:30 pm on the first Friday of every month. Hours can change.
- Did you knowTradition says the cross at Holy Cross Church in Mattancherry bent in sympathy with the oath-takers, which gave the church its popular name.
More about Bazaar Road
9- Did you knowPeople trading and working on Bazaar Road speak at least fifteen different languages.
- Did you knowGujarati traders and merchants established many businesses in Mattancherry, especially around Bazaar Road.
- Did you knowThe Memons, a community of Sunni Muslims, have a mosque called Memon Jamat Khana on Bazaar Road in Mattancherry.
- Did you knowBazaar Road dates back to the 14th century, when it was made as the main link between Kochi’s port and its market.
- Did you knowBazaar means market, and Bazaar Road became the main place in Kochi where traders from around the world came to trade.
- Did you knowDuring the British period, the modernisation of Kochi’s port and its move to Willingdon Island affected trade on Bazaar Road.
- Did you knowA three-kilometre stretch of Bazaar Road runs from Aspinwall House to TKM Warehouse in Mattancherry, and old warehouses along it have served as Kochi-Muziris Biennale venues.
- Did you knowOn old Bazaar Road, buyer and seller struck deals by tying a cloth around their joined hands and negotiating in finger signals hidden underneath — so no one else could see the price.
- Did you knowIn December 2025, the Syro-Malabar Church protested against an artwork allegedly depicting the Last Supper, shown on Bazaar Road at an exhibition associated with the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.