Religion in Kerala

{{Main|Hinduism in Kerala}}

{{More citations needed section|date=February 2025}}

Hinduism is the most widely professed faith in Kerala. According to 2011 Census of India figures, 54.7% of Kerala's residents are Hindus. Hindus represent the biggest religious group in all districts except Malappuram.{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/2004/09/23/stories/2004092306010500.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041128124211/http://www.hindu.com/2004/09/23/stories/2004092306010500.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 November 2004 |location=Chennai, India |title=Increase in Muslim population in the State |date=23 September 2004 |work=The Hindu |access-date=13 November 2015}}

File:Raja Ravi Varma - Sankaracharya.jpg, was from Kerala.|258x258px]]

Kerala produced several saints and movements. Adi Shankara was a religious philosopher who contributed to Hinduism and propagated the philosophy of Advaita. He was instrumental in establishing four mathas at Sringeri, Dwarka, Puri and Jyotirmath. Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri was another religious figure who composed Narayaniyam, a collection of verses in praise of the Hindu God Krishna.

Various practises of Hinduism are unique to Kerala. Worship of Shiva and Vishnu is popular in Kerala. Lord Krishna is worshipped widely in all parts of Kerala, Guruvayur being one of the most famous temples in the state. Malayali Hindus also worship Bhagavathi as a form of Shakti. Almost every village in Kerala has a Bhagavati Goddess. Hindus in Kerala also strongly believe in power of snake gods and usually have sacred snake groves known as Sarpa Kavu near to their houses.

File:Anantapura Lake Temple.jpg, Kasaragod]]

File:Vadakkumnathan Temple.jpg dedicated to Shiva at Thrissur]]

Some of the most notable temples are: Ananthapura Lake Temple, Angadipuram Thirumandhamkunnu Temple, Alathiyoor Hanuman Temple, Bhayankavu Bhagavathi Temple, Kadampuzha Devi Temple, Keraladeshpuram Temple, Panniyur Sri Varahamurthy Temple, Sukapuram Dakshinamoorthy Temple, Thirunavaya Navamukunda Temple, Triprangode Siva Temple, Tali Shiva Temple, Trikkandiyur Siva Temple, Thrissur Vadakkunnathan Temple, Guruvayur Temple, Thriprayar Temple, Lokanarkavu Temple, Thirunelli Temple, Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple, Thiruvananthapuram Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple, Chottanikkara Temple, Chengannur Mahadeva Temple, Parassinikadavu Muthappan Temple, Chettikulangara Devi Temple, Mannarasala Temple, Chakkulathukavu Temple, Thiruvalla Sreevallabha Temple, Kaviyoor Mahadevar Temple, Parumala Panayannarkavu Temple, Sree Poornathrayesa Temple, Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple, Trikkur Mahadeva Temple, Manalarkavu Devi Temple and Rajarajeshwara Temple. Temples in Kerala follow elaborate rituals and traditionally only priests from the Nambudiri caste could be appointed as priests in major temples. But in 2017 as per the state government's decision, the priests from the historically backward caste communities are now being appointed as priests.

Malayali Hindus practice ceremonies such as Chorunu (first feeding of rice to a child) and Vidyāraṃbhaṃ.{{cite web|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/vidyarambham-opens-wisdom-floodgates-for-kerala-kids/75441-3.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003123741/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/vidyarambham-opens-wisdom-floodgates-for-kerala-kids/75441-3.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-10-03 |title=Vidyarambham celebrated in Kerala – India News – IBNLive |publisher=Ibnlive.in.com |access-date=2011-08-24}}

{{See also|Islam in Kerala}}

• Islam is the second-largest practiced religion in Kerala (26.56%), only surpassed by Hinduism.Panikkar, K. N., Against Lord and State: Religion and Peasant Uprisings in Malabar 1836–1921 The calculated Muslim population (Indian Census, 2011) in Kerala state is 8,873,472.T. Nandakumar, "54.72 % of population in Kerala are Hindus" The Hindu 26 August 2015 [http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/5472-of-population-in-kerala-are-hindus/article7581145.ece]
• Most of the Muslims in Kerala follow the Shāfiʿī School (Sunni Islam), followed by Salafi movement.Miller, Roland. E., "Mappila" in "The Encyclopedia of Islam". Volume VI. E. J. Brill, Leiden. 1987 pp. 458–56.
• Muslims in Kerala share a common language (Malayalam) with the Hindus and rest of the population and have a culture commonly regarded as the Malayali culture.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChEVAAAAIAAJ|title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam 6: Mánd-Marashis|first=C. E.|last=Bosworth|date=1 January 1988|publisher=E.J.Brill|via=Google Books}}
• A number of different communities, some of them having distant ethnic roots, exist as status groups in Kerala.Kunhali, V. "Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798" PhD Dissertation Aligarh Muslim University (1986).[http://ir.amu.ac.in/2736/1/T%205242.pdf]

File:Silk route.jpg map showing the then trade routes. The spice trade was mainly along the water routes (blue).|right]]

File:Periplous of the Erythraean Sea.svg (1st century CE)]]

File:Madhhab Map2.png by region ]]

File:Cheraman Masjid 2.jpg at Kodungallur, Thrissur]]

Kerala has been a major spice exporter since 3000 BCE, according to Sumerian records and it is still referred to as the "Garden of Spices" or as the "Spice Garden of India".{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/of-kerala-egypt-and-the-spice-link/article5625620.ece |first=Kaavya |last=Pradeep Kumar |work=The Hindu |title=Of Kerala, Egypt, and the Spice link |date=28 January 2014 |access-date=12 November 2015}}{{Cite book|title=Striving for Sustainability: Environmental Stress and Democratic Initiatives in Kerala|last1=Chattopadhyay|first1=Srikumar|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|year=2006|isbn=978-81-8069-294-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gOrvghLklKoC|last2=Franke|first2=Richard W.}}{{rp|79}} Kerala's spices attracted ancient Arabs, Babylonians, Assyrians and Egyptians to the Malabar Coast in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE. Phoenicians established trade with Kerala during this period.{{cite book |author=A Sreedhara Menon |title=A Survey Of Kerala History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C&pg=PA57 |access-date=10 October 2012 |date=1 January 2007 |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-81-264-1578-6 |pages=57–58}} Arabs and Phoenicians were the first to enter Malabar Coast to trade Spices. The Arabs on the coasts of Yemen, Oman, and the Persian Gulf, must have made the first long voyage to Kerala and other eastern countries. They must have brought the Cinnamon of Kerala to the Middle East. The Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BCE) records that in his time the cinnamon spice industry was monopolized by the Egyptians and the Phoenicians.

Islam arrived in Kerala, a part of the larger Indian Ocean rim, via spice and silk traders from the Middle East. Historians do not rule out the possibility of Islam being introduced to Kerala as early as the seventh century CE.{{cite web |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Trade-not-invasion-brought-Islam-to-India/articleshow/2144414.cms |title=Trade, not invasion brought Islam to India |last=Sethi |first=Atul |date=24 June 2007 |work=Times of India |access-date=24 September 2014}}Katz 2000; Koder 1973; Thomas Puthiakunnel 1973; David de Beth Hillel, 1832; Lord, James Henry 1977. Kerala Muslims are generally referred to as the Mappilas. Mappilas are but one among the many communities that forms the Muslim population of Kerala.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W0wLgfQyvFAC |title=The Palace of Illusions |author=Chitra Divakaruni |date=16 February 2011 |publisher=Pan Macmillan |isbn=978-0-330-47865-6 |access-date=18 November 2012}} The first Indian mosque was built in 624 AD at Kodungallur.{{cite book |author=Jonathan Goldstein |title=The Jews of China |publisher=M. E. Sharpe |year=1999|isbn=9780765601049 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Z6DlzyT2vwC |page=123}}{{cite book |author1=Edward Simpson|author2=Kai Kresse|title=Struggling with History: Islam and Cosmopolitanism in the Western Indian Ocean|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0qHKA7zEaEC&pg=PA333|access-date=24 July 2012 |year=2008|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-70024-5|pages=333}}{{cite book|author=Uri M. Kupferschmidt|title=The Supreme Muslim Council: Islam Under the British Mandate for Palestine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChEVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA458|access-date=25 July 2012|year=1987|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-07929-8|pages=458–459}}{{cite book|author=Husain Raṇṭattāṇi|title=Mappila Muslims: A Study on Society and Anti Colonial Struggles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlb5BrabQd8C&pg=PA179|access-date=25 July 2012|year=2007|publisher=Other Books|isbn=978-81-903887-8-8|pages=179–}} According to Qissat Shakarwati Farmad, the Masjids at Kodungallur, Kollam, Madayi, Barkur, Mangalore, Kasaragod, Kannur, Dharmadam, Panthalayini, and Chaliyam, were built during the era of Malik Dinar, and they are among the oldest Masjids in the Indian subcontinent.Prange, Sebastian R. Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast. Cambridge University Press, 2018. 98. It is believed that Malik Dinar died at Thalangara in Kasaragod town.Pg 58, Cultural heritage of Kerala: an introduction, A. Sreedhara Menon, East-West Publications, 1978 According to popular tradition, Islam was brought to Lakshadweep islands, situated just to the west of Malabar Coast, by Ubaidullah in 661 CE. His grave is believed to be located on the island of Andrott.{{cite web|title=History|url=http://lakshadweep.nic.in/KL_History.html|publisher=lakshadweep.nic.in|access-date=1 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514235511/http://lakshadweep.nic.in/KL_History.html|archive-date=14 May 2012|url-status=dead}} A few Umayyad (661–750 AD) coins were discovered from Kothamangalam in the eastern part of Ernakulam district.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Miller |first=Roland E. |author-link=Roland E. Miller |article=Mappila |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Islam |volume=VI |publisher=E. J. Brill |year=1988 |pages=458–66}}

The known earliest mention about Muslims of Kerala is in the Quilon Syrian copper plates of the 9th century CE, granted by the ruler of Kollam.{{Cite book|last=Cereti|first=C. G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3gOdaiXNKkC&q=Exegisti+Monumenta:+Festschrift+in+Honour+of+Nicholas+Sims-+Williams|title=Exegisti Monumenta: Festschrift in Honour of Nicholas Sims-Williams|publisher=Harrassowitz|year=2009|isbn=9783447059374|editor-last=Sundermann|editor-first=W.|location=Wiesbaden|pages=|chapter=The Pahlavi Signatures on the Quilon Copper Plates|editor-last2=Hintze|editor-first2=A.|editor-last3=de Blois|editor-first3=F.}} A number of foreign accounts have mentioned about the presence of considerable Muslim population in the Malabar Coast. Arab writers such as Al-Masudi of Baghdad (896–956 AD), Muhammad al-Idrisi (1100–1165 AD), Abulfeda (1273–1331 AD), and Al-Dimashqi (1256–1327 AD) mention the Muslim communities in Kerala.{{Cite book|title=Colonialism and community formation in Malabar: a study of Muslims of Malabar|last=Razak|first=Abdul|publisher=|year=2013}} Some historians assume that the Mappilas can be considered as the first native, settled Muslim community in South Asia.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O_WNqSH4ByQC&pg=PA54|title=Mediaeval Deccan History: Commemoration Volume in Honour of Purshottam Mahadeo Joshi|author=A. Rā Kulakarṇī|publisher=Popular Prakashan|year=1996|isbn=978-81-7154-579-7|pages=54–55|access-date=24 July 2012}} Al-Biruni (973–1048 CE) appears to be the first writer to call Malabar Coast as Malabar. Authors such as Ibn Khordadbeh and Al-Baladhuri mention Malabar ports in their works. The Arab writers had called this place Malibar, Manibar, Mulibar, and Munibar. Malabar is reminiscent of the word Malanad which means the land of hills.{{cite book |author=William Logan |url=https://archive.org/details/malabarmanual0000loga/mode/2up |title=Malabar Manual (Volume-I) |publisher=Madras Government Press |year=1887 |pages=1}} According to William Logan, the word Malabar comes from a combination of the Dravidian word Mala (hill) and the Persian/Arabic word Barr (country/continent). The Kodungallur Mosque, has a granite foundation exhibiting 11th–12th century architectural style.{{Cite book|title=Arab Relations with Mlabar Coast from 9th to 16th centuries|last=Muhammad|first=K. M.|publisher=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|year=1999|pages=226–234}} The Arabic inscription on a copper slab within the Madayi Mosque in Kannur records its foundation year as 1124 CE.{{cite book

| author = Charles Alexander Innes | year=1908

| title= Madras District Gazetteers Malabar (Volume-I) | publisher=Madras Government Press |pages=423–424

| url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.358941/mode/2up

}}

The Muslims were a major financial power to be reckoned with in the old kingdoms of Kerala and had great political influence in the Hindu royal courts.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9RMxjdjUVAC|title=The Legacy of Kerala|last=Menon|first=A. Sreedhara|publisher=Department of Public Relations, Government of Kerala|year=1982|isbn=978-8-12643-798-6|edition=Reprinted|access-date=2012-11-16}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ovxq8enmRKUC&pg=PA144|title=Muslim Architecture of South India: The Sultanate of Ma'bar and the Traditions of the Maritime Settlers on the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts (Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa)|author=Mehrdad Shokoohy|date=29 July 2003|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-30207-4|pages=144|access-date=30 July 2012}} Travellers have recorded the considerably huge presence of Muslim merchants and settlements of sojourning traders in most of the ports of Kerala.Miller, E. Roland. "Mappila Muslim Culture" State University of New York Press, Albany (2015); p. xi. Immigration, intermarriage and missionary activity/conversion – secured by the common interest in the spice trade – helped in this development.Miller, R. E. "Mappila" in The Encyclopedia of Islam Volume VI. Leiden E. J. Brill 1988 p. 458-66 [https://books.google.com/books?id=SiBkMSIZ2LYC]Prange, Sebastian R. Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast. Cambridge University Press, 2018. Muslim merchant magnates owning ships, spread their shipping and trading business interests across the Indian Ocean. The Koyilandy Jumu'ah Mosque contains an Old Malayalam inscription written in a mixture of Vatteluttu and Grantha scripts which dates back to the 10th century CE.Aiyer, K. V. Subrahmanya (ed.), South Indian Inscriptions. VIII, no. 162, Madras: Govt of India, Central Publication Branch, Calcutta, 1932. p. 69. It is a rare surviving document recording patronage by a Hindu king (Bhaskara Ravi) to the Muslims of Kerala. A 13th century granite inscription, written in a mixture of Old Malayalam and Arabic, at Muchundi Mosque in Kozhikode mentions a donation by the king to the mosque.M. G. S. Narayanan. "Kozhikkodinte Katha". Malayalam/Essays. Mathrubhumi Books. Second Edition (2017) {{ISBN|978-81-8267-114-0}}

The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battutah (14th century) has recorded the considerably huge presence of Muslim merchants and settlements of sojourning traders in most of the ports of Kerala.{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Roland E. |author-link=Roland E. Miller |title=Mappila Muslim Culture |date=27 April 2015 |publisher=State University of New York Press |page=xi |isbn=978-1-4384-5601-0}} By the early decades of the 14th century, travellers speak of Calicut (Kozhikode) as the major port city in Kerala. Some of the important administrative positions in the kingdom of Zamorin of Calicut, such as that of the port commissioner, were held by Muslims.K. V. Krishna Iyer, Zamorins of Calicut: From the earliest times to AD 1806. Calicut: Norman Printing Bureau, 1938. The port commissioner, the Shah Bandar, represented commercial interests of the Muslim merchants. In his account, Ibn Battutah mentions Shah Bandars in Calicut as well as Quilon (Ibrahim Shah Bandar and Muhammed Shah Bandar). The Ali Rajas of Arakkal kingdom, based at Kannur, ruled the Lakshadweep Islands. Arabs had the monopoly of trade in Malabar Coast and Indian Ocean until the Portuguese Age of Discovery.

The arrival of the Portuguese traders in Malabar Coast in the late 15th century checked the then well-established and wealthy Muslim community's progress.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CSQUxVjjWQC&q=Muslims+Kerala|title=Communism in Kerala: A Study in Political Adaptation|last=Nossiter|first=Thomas Johnson|date=January 1982|isbn=9780520046672|access-date=2012-11-15}} Following the discovery of sea route from Europe to Malabar in 1498, the Portuguese began to expand their territories and ruled the seas between Ormus and the Malabar Coast and south to Ceylon.Sanjay Subrahmanyam, The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama, Cambridge University Press, 1997, 288{{Cite book | author = Knox, Robert | author-link = Robert Knox (sailor) | year = 1681 | title = An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon | pages = 19–47 |publisher = Reprint. Asian Educational Services | place = London| title-link = An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon }} The Tuhfat Ul Mujahideen written by Zainuddin Makhdoom II (born around 1532) of Ponnani during 16th-century CE is the first-ever known book fully based on the history of Kerala, written by a Keralite. It is written in Arabic and contains pieces of information about the resistance put up by the navy of Kunjali Marakkar alongside the Zamorin of Calicut from 1498 to 1583 against Portuguese attempts to colonize Malabar coast.AG Noorani {{cite web|url=http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2704/stories/20100226270407900.htm |title=Islam in Kerala |access-date=5 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221021629/http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2704/stories/20100226270407900.htm |archive-date=21 December 2012 }} It was first printed and published in Lisbon. A copy of this edition has been preserved in the library of Al-Azhar University, Cairo.A. Sreedhara Menon. Kerala History and its Makers. D C Books (2011)A G Noorani. Islam in Kerala.

Books [http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2704/stories/20100226270407900.htm]Roland E. Miller.

Mappila Muslim Culture SUNY Press, 2015 Tuhfatul Mujahideen also describes the history of Mappila Muslim community of Kerala as well as the general condition of Malabar Coast in the 16th century CE. With the end of Portuguese era, Arabs lost their monopoly of trade in Malabar Coast.A Survey of Kerala History, A. Sreedhara Menon, DC Books, Kottayam (2007) By the mid-18th century the majority of the Muslims of Kerala became landless labourers, poor fishermen and petty traders, and the community was in "a psychological retreat". The subsequent partisan rule of English East India Company authorities brought the land-less Muslim peasants of Malabar District into a condition of destitution, and this led to a series of uprisings (against the Hindu landlords and British administration). The series of violence eventually exploded as the infamous Mappila Uprising (1921–22).

A large number of Muslims of Kerala found extensive employment in the Persian Gulf countries in the following years (c. 1970s). This widespread participation in the "Gulf Rush" produced huge economic and social benefits for the community. Great influx funds from the earnings of the employed followed. Issues such as widespread poverty, unemployment and educational backwardness began to change.

File:Distribution of Muslim population in Kerala (2011 Census of India).svgs in Kerala – District-wise.]]

Politically speaking, Muslims in Kerala have exhibited more unanimity than any other major community in modern-day Kerala.

• Ever since the country gained independence British rule in 1947, an overwhelming majority of Muslims at the former Malabar District (Northern Kerala) has supported the Muslim League.
• In southern Kerala, the community generally supported the Indian National Congress and in northern Kerala a small proportion vote Communist.Nossiter, T. J. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=pDlh-RIqrfoC Communism in Kerala: A Study in Political Adaptation]" C. Hurst and Company, London (1982) p. 23-25

{{Main|Christianity in Kerala}}

File:Branches & Denominations of Saint Thomas Christians.svg

Christianity is followed by 18.38% of the population of Kerala.{{cite web |title=2011 Census of India. C-1 Population By Religious Community |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01.html |publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India}} The Christianity in Kerala has long traditions from first century AD many of which is similar to the Malabari Jews,{{Cite book|title=Frykenberg|year=2008|pages=99}} the latter has settled in Kerala since the King Solomon.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhKGPprbQaYC|title=The Jews of India: A story of Three Communities|publisher=UPNE|year=1995|isbn=978-965-278-179-6|location=Israel Museum|pages=27}} According to traditional accounts,{{Cite web|url=https://catholic.cafe/2020/02/12/what-historical-proof-is-there-that-st-thomas-did-come-to-india-any-documentation-or-indications-that-he-really-did-come-to-kerala/|title=What historical proof is there that St Thomas did come to India? Any documentation or indications that he really did come to Kerala? {{!}} Edin Michael|website=www.catholic.café/|date=12 February 2020 |access-date=2022-01-08}} Saint Thomas the Apostle visited Muziris in Kerala in the first century around 52 AD and proselytized some of the then settled Cochin Jewish families{{Cite book|title=Mundadan & Thekkedath|year=1982|pages=30–32}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.payyappilly.org/history/|title=History {{!}} PAYYAPPILLY PALAKKAPPILLY NASRANI|website=www.payyappilly.org|access-date=2020-04-16}} and some Upper castes, they became the present "Mar Thoma Suriyani Nasrani" or Saint Thomas Syrian Christians.[https://books.google.com/books?id=lZUBZlth2qgC&q=Muziris The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5] by Erwin Fahlbusch. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing – 2008. p. 285. {{ISBN|978-0-8028-2417-2}}.Medlycott, A E. 1905 "India and the Apostle Thomas"; Gorgias Press LLC; ISBN{{cite book|author=Stephen Neill|title=A History of Christianity in India: 1707–1858|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi-tvrYbYxMC&pg=PA237|access-date=31 August 2012|date=2 May 2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-89332-9|page=237}}{{Cite web|title=Why Christo-Racist Nationalism and Anti-Muslim Rhetoric Are Gaining Ground in Kerala|url=https://thewire.in/religion/kerala-syrian-christians-caste-anti-muslim-rhetoric|access-date=2021-06-22|website=The Wire}} According to traditional accounts, on the onset of an invasion Thomas is believed to have left northwest India traveled by vessel to the Malabar Coast, possibly visiting southeast Arabia and Socotra en route, and landing at the former flourishing port of Muziris (modern-day North Paravur and Kodungalloor). Evidence such as the Acts of Thomas, one of the first accounts of the life of Thomas, say he died in Northwest India in the Indo-Parthian Kingdom, at the hands of the monarch Misdaeus, thought to be Abdagases I, a viceroy of the Gondopharnes in Sistan, modern day southern Afghanistan.{{cite web |title=VIII.— On Two Medieval Bronze Bowls in the British Museum. By O. M. Dalton, Esq., M.A, F.S.A |url=https://ia800708.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/28/items/crossref-pre-1923-scholarly-works/10.1017%252Fs0068246200001380.zip&file=10.1017%252Fs026134090000967x.pdf |quote=Gondopharnes, the first of the ‘Indian kings' to whom he is said to have come, is an historical ruler who represented the Parthian power in Seistan and Kandahar, the Kabul Valley and North Western India; his reign began in A.D. 19, and had not ended in A.D. 45. The identity of Misdaeus' (Mazdai), the second king visited, under whom St. Thomas suffered martyrdom, is less certain; he may possibly have been Abdagases, viceroy of Gondopharnes in Seistan. See E. J. Rapson, The Cambridge History of India, vol. i, 1922, pp. 576–80}} This conclusion is supported by Ephrem the Syrian and his contemporaries, Eusebius and Origen, who testify that Thomas evangelized the Parthians.{{cite book |last=Cordier |first=Henri |url=https://archive.org/details/sermarcopolonote00corduoft/page/116/mode/2up?q=edessa&view=theater |title=Marco Polo; notes and addenda to Sir Henry Yule's edition, containing the results of recent research and discovery |year=1920 |quote=St. Ephraem the Syrian (born about A.D. 300, died about 378), who spent most of his life at Edessa, in Mesopotamia, states that the Apostle was martyred in ' India,' and that his relics were taken thence to Edessa. That St. Thomas evangelized the Parthians, is stated by Origen (born A.D. 185 or 186, died about 251–254). Eusebius (bishop of Caesarea Palaestinae from A.D. 315 to about 340) says the same}} Modern scholars also support this point of view, and there is no evidence suggesting Thomas was ever in Kerala, or South India in general.{{cite book |last=Cordier |first=Henri |url=https://archive.org/details/sermarcopolonote00corduoft/page/116/mode/2up?q=edessa&view=theater |title=Marco Polo; notes and addenda to Sir Henry Yule's edition, containing the results of recent research and discovery |year=1920 |language=en |quote=There is no evidence at all that the place where St. Thomas was martyred was in Southern India; and all the indications point to another direction}}{{Cite book |title=Medlycott |year=1905 |pages=18–71}} According to Knanaya Christians, an endogamous ethnic group found among the Saint Thomas Christian community of Kerala, their existence in Kerala is traced back to the arrival of the Syrian merchant Thomas of Cana (Knāi Thoma) who led a migration of Syriac Christians (Jewish-Christians) from Mesopotamia to India in the 4th or 9th century.{{Cite book|last1=Baum|first1=Wilhelm|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203423097|title=The Church of the East|last2=Winkler|first2=Dietmar W.|date=8 December 2003|publisher=Routledge|doi=10.4324/9780203423097|isbn=978-0-203-42309-7}}{{Cite journal|date=2005|title=Author Index Vol. 60, 2005|journal=Human Heredity|volume=60|issue=4|pages=242|doi=10.1159/000091316|s2cid=202648744|issn=0001-5652|doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last=Wallich|first=Paul|date=June 1990|title=Peary Redux|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0690-25|journal=Scientific American|volume=262|issue=6|pages=25–26|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0690-25|bibcode=1990SciAm.262f..25W|issn=0036-8733}} The Knanaya claim descent from Thomas of Cana and those who came with him. The communities arrival was recorded on the Thomas of Cana copper plates which existed in Kerala until the 17th century after which point they were taken to Portugal by the Franciscan Order.{{Citation|title=Socialist Politics Post-Mitterrand 1988–2002 |work=Exceptional Socialists|year=2014|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|doi=10.1057/9781137318688_8 |isbn=978-1-137-31868-8 |last1=Bell |first1=David S. |last2=Criddle |first2=Byron |pages=148–176 }}{{Cite journal|date=July 2005|title=Obesitasrichtlijnen|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf03084328|journal=Huisarts en Wetenschap|volume=48|issue=7|pages=497|doi=10.1007/bf03084328|issn=0018-7070 }}{{cite book|author=Mundadan AM|title=Volume I: From the Beginning up to the Sixteenth Century (up to 1542)|publisher=Theological Publications|others=Church History Association of India|year=1984|series=History of Christianity in India|location=Bangalore}} Before the arrival of Europeans in Kerala there were only Marthoma Nasranis also called as Malankara Syrian Christians due to its historical, religious, and liturgical connection to Syriac Christianity. Marthoma Nasranis remained as an independent group, and they got their bishops from Church of the East until the advent of Portuguese and British colonialists. The first Roman Catholic Diocese in India was founded at Quilon in the year 1329 with the Catalan Dominican friar Jordanus Catalani as first Bishop.{{Cite web|url=http://www.quilondiocese.com/index.php|title=Index – Quilon DIocese|website=www.quilondiocese.com|language=en|access-date=2019-10-14}} The caste system became prevalent in Kerala later than any other parts of India after fourth and fifth century AD. The Nasranis were given special status outside the Varna system. Like Brahmins they were allowed to sit in front of Kings, ride on horse or elephants, to collect taxes. The Marthoma Nasranis back then also has the role of pollution neutralizers i.e., if a lower caste person hand over a substance to a Nasrani and if he in turn gives it to an upper caste, say for example Brahmin, then there would be no pollution for that Brahmin.{{Cite book|last=Varghese|first=Philip|title=Introduction to Caste in Christianity: A Case of Kerala|year=2010|pages=12|ssrn=2694487}}

The arrival of Europeans in the 15th century and discontent with Portuguese interference in religious matters fomented schism into Catholic and Orthodox communities. Further schism and rearrangements led to the formation of the other Indian Churches. Latin Catholics of Kerala has protracted over eleven centuries and the work of evangelization was revived by the western missionaries in the 13th century. Anglo-Indian Christian communities formed around this time as Europeans and natives intermarried. Protestantism took a stronghold in Kerala with missionary activity during British rule.

{{Pie chart

|caption = Denominations among all Christians in Kerala

|value1 = 40.2

|color1 = #C71585

|label1 = Syro-Malabar

|value2 = 7.6

|color2 = #DA70D6

|label2 = Syro-Malankara

|value3 = 8.0

|color3 = #FF1493

|label3 = Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox

|value4 = 7.9

|color4 = #800080

|label4 = Malankara Orthodox Syrian

|value5 = 6.6

|color5 = #9400D3

|label5 = Syrian Marthoma

|value6 = 0.43

|color6 = #FF00FF

|label6 = Syrian Chaldean

|value7 = 4.5

|color7 = #32CD32

|label7 = CSI

|value8 = 4.3

|color8 = #556B2F

|label8 = Pentecost

|value9 = 2.6

|color9 = #ADFF2F

|label9 = Dalit Christian

|value10 = 13.2

|color10 = #00BFFF

|label10 = Latin Catholic

|value11 = 5.47

|color11 = #FFFF00

|label11 = Others}}

The 2011 Indian census found a total of 6,411,269 Christians in Kerala,{{cite web |title=Census of India |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Social_and_cultural/Religion.aspx?cki=MJPdz8hYMlF |access-date=2009-04-12}} with their various denominations as stated: Saint Thomas Christians (Syro-Malabar Church, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, CSI Syrian Christians, Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Pentecostal Syrian Christians, St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India, Chaldean Syrian Church and Malabar Independent Syrian Church){{cite book |last1=Frykenberg |first1=Robert Eric |title=Christianity in India: From Beginnings to the Present |date=27 June 2008 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-154419-4 |page=249 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VhRREAAAQBAJ |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Thomas Christians: History & Tradition-Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Thomas-Christians |website=www.britannica.com |date=4 October 2024 |language=en}} constituted 70.73% of the Christians of Kerala, followed by Latin Catholics at 13.3%, Pentecostals at 4.3%, CSI at 4.5%, Dalit Christians at 2.6% and other Protestant groups (such as Lutheran, Calvinist and other charismatic churches) at 5.9%.

The Saint Thomas Christians (Nasrani) of Kerala primarily belongs to the churches which use the East Syriac Rite (Syro Malabar Church and Chaldean Syrian Church) and West Syriac Rite (Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Mar Thoma Syrian Church, St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and the Malabar Independent Syrian Church). CSI Syrian Christians follow the Anglican rite. Pentecostal Saint Thomas Christians, like other Pentecostals, are riteless (nonliturgical).{{cite book |last1=John |first1=Stanley J. Valayil C. |title=Transnational Religious Organization and Practice: A Contextual Analysis of Kerala Pentecostal Churches in Kuwait |date=19 February 2018 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-36101-0 |pages=167, 203 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kntTDwAAQBAJ |language=en}} The Saint Thomas Christians form 70.73% of the Christians of Kerala and 12.5% of the total population of Kerala.{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Allan |last2=Tang |first2=Edmond |title=Asian and Pentecostal: The Charismatic Face of Christianity in Asia |year=2005 |publisher=OCMS |isbn=978-1-870345-43-9 |pages=192 to 193, 195 to 196, 203 to 204 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LDZgKELq7AoC&q=pentecostalism+kerala+syrian+christian&pg=PA196 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Bergunder |first1=Michael |title=The South Indian Pentecostal Movement in the Twentieth Century |date=6 June 2008 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-2734-0 |pages=15 to 16, 26 to 30, 37 to 57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGiv3riaunQC&q=Pentecostal+evangelical+saint+thomas+syrian+christian |language=en}}

File:St. Mary's Syro-Malabar Cathedral Basilica, Ernakulam by Augustus Binu.jpg

Around 61% of Christians in the state are Catholics which includes the Eastern Syrian Catholics (Syro-Malabar Church and Syro-Malankara Catholic Church) and the Latin Catholics of Kerala.{{Cite web| url=http://cds.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WP468.pdf | title=Religious denominations of Kerala | access-date=21 September 2018 | archive-date=17 April 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417114220/http://cds.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WP468.pdf | url-status=dead}} The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church. The Malankara Marthoma Syrian Church is an Oriental Protestant church. The Church of South India belong to the Anglican Communion. Major Pentecostal denominations in Kerala include the India Pentecostal Church of God, Assemblies of God in India, Church of God (Full Gospel) in India, and The Pentecostal Mission. There has been a strong presence of other Protestant groups in southern Kerala such as the Church of South India and The Salvation Army that are typically based on Anglican beliefs and trace their origins to British rule. They have a significant presence in Neyyattinkara taluk and Pathanamthitta district.

In 2023, the BBC reported on the Christian tradition of photographing funerals in Kerala.

{{cite web

| url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65023059

| title = The photo tradition at Christian funerals in Kerala

| last = Sebastian

| first = Meryl

| date = 25 March 2023

| website = www.bbc.co.uk

| publisher = BBC News

| access-date = 26 March 2023

}}

Judaism arrived in Kerala with spice traders, possibly as early as the 7th century BC.Katz 2000; Koder 1973; Thomas Puthiakunnel 1973; David de Beth Hillel, 1832; Lord, James Henry 1977. There is no consensus of opinion on the date of the arrival of the first Jews in India. The tradition of the Cochin Jews maintains that after 72 AD, after the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, 10,000 Jews migrated to Kerala.

The only verifiable historical evidence about the Kerala Jews goes back only to the Jewish Copper Plate Grant of Bhaskara Ravi Varman in 1000 AD.{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2003/09/11/stories/2003091108060400.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031027084148/http://www.hindu.com/2003/09/11/stories/2003091108060400.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 October 2003|title=Sharon delighted with gift from Kochi|date=11 September 2003|work=The Hindu|location=Chennai, India}} This document records the royal gift of rights and privileges to the Jewish Chief of Anjuvannam Joseph Rabban. Later in the 16th century many Jews from Portugal and Spain settled in Cochin. These Jews were called white Jews as opposed to the native black Jews.File:Jewish synagouge kochi india.jpg in Kochi]]The Portuguese did not look favorably on the Jews. They destroyed the Jewish settlement in kodungallur and sacked the Jewish town in Cochin and partially destroyed the famous Cochin Synagogue in 1661. However, the Dutch were more tolerant and allowed the Jews to pursue their normal life and trade in Cochin. According to the testimony of the Dutch Jew, Moses Pereira De Paiva, in 1686 there were 10 synagogues and nearly 500 Jewish families in Cochin. Later Britishers too were tolerant. The Jews were protected. After the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, most Jews decided to emigrate to Israel. Most of the emigrants to Israel between 1948 and 1955 were from the community of black Jews and brown Jews; they are known as Cochini in Israel. Since the 1960s, only a few hundred Jews (mostly white Jews) remained in Kerala with only two synagogues open for service: the Pardesi Synagogue in Matancherry built in 1567 and the synagogue in Parur.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}}

{{Main|Jainism in Kerala}}

File:Kerala jain temple.jpgi Jain Temple in Kochi]] Jainism, one of the three most ancient Indian religious traditions still in existence, has a very small presence (0.01%) in Kerala, in south India. According to the 2011 India Census, Kerala only has around 4500 Jains, most of them in the city of Cochin and in Wayanad district.

Medieval Jain inscriptions are mostly found on the borders of Kerala proper, such Wynad in north-east, Alathur in the Palghat Gap and Chitharal in Kanyakumari district. Epigraphical evidence suggests that the shrine at "Tirukkunavay", perhaps located near Cochin, was the major Jain temple in medieval Kerala (from c. 9th century AD). The so-called "Rules of the Tirukkunavay Temple" provided model and precedent for all other Jain temples of Kerala.Narayanan, M. G. S. Political and Social Conditions of Kerala Under the Cēra Perumāḷs of Makōtai (c. AD 800 – AD 1124). Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 340-42. A number of images of Mahavira, Padmavati, and Parsvanatha have been recovered from Kerala.

Some of the Jain temples in Kerala were taken over by the Hindus at a later stage. The temple images are worshiped as Hindu gods and considered as part of the Hindu pantheon. It is not uncommon for Hindus and Jains to worship their deities in the same temple.

{{main|Buddhism in Kerala}}

Buddhism probably flourished for 200 years (650–850) in Kerala. The Paliyam Copper Plate of the Ay King, Varaguna (885–925 AD){{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Be3PCvzf-BYC&dq=Paliyam+Copper+Plate&pg=PA138|title=A Social History of India|first=S. N.|last=Sadasivan|date=23 February 2000|publisher=APH Publishing|via=Google Books}} shows that the Buddhists benefited from royal patronage in the 10th century.

The religion's popularity declined following the onset of Advaita Vedanta propagated by sage Shankaracharya.{{Cite web|last=Pattanaik|first=Devdutt|title=How Adi Shankaracharya united a fragmented land with philosophy, poetry and pilgrimage|url=http://scroll.in/article/816610/how-adi-shankaracharya-united-a-fragmented-land-with-philosophy-poetry-and-pilgrimage|access-date=2021-04-10|website=Scroll.in|date=19 September 2016 |language=en-US}}

However there remain Buddhist sites and traditions across Kerala.

There were a number of Parsi families settled in Kerala, particularly around Kozhikode and Thalassery area.

They practiced Zoroastrianism and even built the 160-year-old dadgah (fire temple) at S. M. Street, Kozhikode which is still in existence. They were mostly wealthy families who immigrated during the 18th century from Gujarat and Bombay. The community included famous families such as the Hirjis or Marshalls.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fr/2005/03/18/stories/2005031802590300.htm|website=The Hindu|title=Kozhikode's Parsi legacy|access-date=2017-12-27}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Some famous Malayali Parsis included the reputed Dr. Kobad Mogaseb, who was the first medical doctor from Kozhikode who graduated from London, as well as Kaikose Rudreshan who funded the Basel Evangelical Mission Parsi High School, Thalassery.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thalassery.info/education/bemp.htm|title=THALASSERY – Education – BEMP Higher Secondary school|website=www.thalassery.info|language=en|access-date=2017-12-27}}

Various groups classified as tribes in Kerala still dominate various remote and hilly areas of Kerala.[http://idukki.nic.in/culture.htm Idukki – People and culture – Tribes] They have retained various rituals and practices of their ancestors despite influences of mainstream religions.

{{See also|Demographics of Kerala}}

{{main|Travancore}}

{{main|Malabar District}}

Population by religion, per 2011 census

Population by religion, per 2001 census

Population from 2001 and 2011 census, with percentage by religion for each district{{Clarify|reason=Are these percentages for 2001 or 2011 data?|date=May 2020}}

{{cite web |url=http://www.ecostat.kerala.gov.in/index.php/reports/vital-statistics-reports.html |title=Vital Statistics Reports |publisher=Government of Kerala, Vital Statistics Division Department of Economics & Statistics Thiruvananthapuram |access-date=2023-06-11 |archive-date=7 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160607065625/http://www.ecostat.kerala.gov.in/index.php/reports/vital-statistics-reports.html |url-status=dead }}

{{Pie chart

|thumb = right

|caption = Births by Religion in Kerala in 2019

|label1 = Islam in Kerala

|value1 = 44.35

|color1 = green

|label2 = Hinduism in Kerala

|value2 = 41.04

|color2 = orange

|label3 = Christianity in Kerala

|value3 = 14.28

|color3 = DodgerBlue

|label4 = Others

|value4 = 0.29

|color4 = DarkRed

|label5 = Not Stated

|value5 = 0.04

|color5 = Yellow

}}

• Religion in India
• Religion in Malabar
• Religion in Travancore
• Religious education in Kerala

{{Commons category|Religion in Kerala}}

{{clear}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Citation

| author = S. Muhammad Hussain Nainar | year=1942

| title= Tuhfat-al-Mujahidin: An Historical Work in The Arabic Language | publisher=University of Madras

| url= https://archive.org/details/Tuhfat-al-MujahidinAnHistoricalWorkInTheArabicLanguage

| access-date = 3 December 2020}} (The English translation of the historic book Tuhfat Ul Mujahideen written about the society of Kerala by Zainuddin Makhdoom II during sixteenth century CE, which is also the first recognised book on history of Kerala written by a native of Kerala)

• {{Cite book|title=Mathrubhumi Yearbook Plus – 2019|publisher=P. V. Chandran, Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Limited, Kozhikode|year=2018|location=Kozhikode|last=Chandran |first=VP|edition=Malayalam}}

{{refend}}

{{Kerala}}

{{Kerala topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Religions Of Kerala}}

Kerala