Chengannur, a beautiful town in 'God's own country', Kerala. Chenganoor, situates at the extreme east part of Alappuzha district. 117kms north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram on the Main Central Road (MC Road). Nammalwar of the 1st millennium CE, describes Chenkunrur or Chenganoor as a town where the smoke, emanating from the Vedic ritual yagna, fills the sky and as a place surrounded by rich lush vegetation
(of bananas and coconuts).
Chengannur is
India’s gateway to the Sabarimala
Ayyppa shrine, many miles away on the Sahyadris. And it is also the seat of one
of Kerala’s most ancient
Christian
Churches still towering
against the ravages of time. When one would look at the gawking structure with
awe and wonder, he may also feel sorry that one of our great citadels of
religious amity that could stand against the Canterbury Cathedral, the York
Cathedral, both in the United Kingdom, the Notre Dame of Paris, the Cologne
Cathedral or even the St Peters in Rome, has been languishing in the backyard
of India’s great past.
