About Us

Our Parish

Mar Severios Sleeba Orthodox Valiya Pally was established in 1906 at Vayalathala, a village on the banks of the holy river Pampa. It is the only parish in the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church consecrated in the name of St. Severus of Antioch.

The parish falls under the Vayalathala District of the Nilackal Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. It is the mother parish of the Vayalathala Bethseen and Vayalathala St. Mary's parishes.

All the spiritual organisations of the Malankara Orthodox Church, and movements such as the Ecology Commission, Shusrushaka Sangham, Lahari Virudha Sangham, Dashamshadayaka Sangham and INAMS, are active in the parish. See our organisations.

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was founded by St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, who came to India in A.D. 52. At least from the fourth century, the Indian Church entered into a close relationship with the Persian or East Syrian Church. From the Persians, the Indians inherited the East Syrian language and liturgies, and gradually came to be known as Syrian Christians. In the sixteenth century Roman Catholic missionaries came to Kerala. They tried to unite the Syrian Christians to the Roman Catholic Church and this led to a split in the community. Those who accepted Roman Catholicism are the present Syro-Malabar Catholics. Later, Western Protestant missionaries came to Kerala and worked among the Syrian Christians. This also created certain divisions in the community. In the seventeenth century, the Church came into relationship with the Antiochene Church, which again caused splits. As a result of this relationship, the Church received West Syrian liturgies and practices. The Church entered into a new phase of its history with the establishment of the Catholicate in 1912.

At present, the Church uses the West Syrian liturgy. The faith of the Church is that which was established by the three Ecumenical Councils of Nicea (A.D. 325), Constantinople (A.D. 381) and Ephesus (A.D. 431).

The Church is in communion with the other Oriental Orthodox Churches, namely the Syriac, Alexandrian, Armenian, Eritrean and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches. The Church is in good ecumenical relationship with the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches.

The Church now has about 2.5 million members spread all over the world, though the majority live in the state of Kerala in South West India. The Supreme Head of the Church and the present Catholicos is H.H. Baselios Marthoma Mathews III. His Holiness's residence and the headquarters of the Church are at Devalokam, Kottayam, Kerala. The Church as a whole is divided into 30 dioceses, each served by a bishop, administratively and spiritually.

Nilackal Diocese

The Diocese of Nilackal came into being on August 15, 2010, under the order issued by H.H. Baselios Mar Thoma Didymos I, the Catholicos and Malankara Metropolitan. H.G. Dr. Joshua Mar Nicodemos is the first Metropolitan of the Diocese. The name Nilackal is associated with the Christian community founded by St. Thomas, the Apostle of India, in the first century itself.

Comprising the revenue districts of Pathanamthitta and Kottayam, the diocese consists of 39 parishes ranging from 13 to 200 families each. The parishes are divided into five ecclesiastical districts: Ayroor, Vayalathala, Ranni, Nilackal and Kanakappalam.