Endogamy Among Members of the Knanaya Christians of India

Thomas of Cana who led a migration of Syriac Christians
from the Middle East to India between 345 and 800 A.D.

Image courtesy: www.wikipedia.org/

The Knanaya, also known as the Tekkumbhagar or 'Southists', are an endogamous group in the St. Thomas Christian community of Kerala, India. 

Syrian merchant Thomas of Cana, in between 345 and 800 A.D., led a migration of a group of these Christians from the Middle East to India. They use a kind of Syriac (a variety of middle Aramaic) language, related to Palestinian Aramaic that Jesus Christ spoke in his time.  

There are about 300,000 Knanaya Christians in India and other countries including the USA. Majority of these people belong to the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Malankara Churches. 

Traditionally, they engage into endogamous marriage -- the custom of marrying only in one's own community, clan, caste, or ethnic group (tribe). They refuse to marry anyone coming from a different group. 

To learn more, please click on the following:

• Knanaya [Also known as 'Southists' or 'Tekkumbhagar,' are an endogamous group in the St. Thomas Christian community of Kerala]
• Knanaya Region
• What is the Knanaya community?
• Knanaya Catholics and Endogamy
• Knanaya Origin
• History [Of the Knanaya community]
• History of Knanaya [Video]
• Thomas of Cana
• Arrival of Thomas of Cana (Bishop Thomas of Cana?), History and References About Southist Community
• The Cultural Heritage of the Knanaya Christians
• Who destroys Indian Christian families? [by Dr. James Kottoor] (April 2015)
• An open letter to Indian bishops on Endogamy (July 2015)
• Stop Endogamous Marriages in India & USA: President, Knanaya Association of Norlth America (KANA) Appeals to Pope Francis (Sept. 25, 2015)
• Pope asked to stop endogamous marriages among Indian Catholics (September 2015)
• Knanaya Church 'no' to ending endogamy (Jan. 20, 2018)
• Knanaya Church says 'no' to ending endogamy (Janury 2018)
• Rome refuses to soften stand on Knanaya endogamy (Feb. 27, 2018)
• Knanaya Christian DNA Test 

Related Items:

• Endogamy in India (Aug. 31, 2013)
• 'Genetic ailments among Indians due to endogamy' (Sept. 25, 2009)

A Receipt for Magazine Subscription-cum-Donation Gives Out History, Too

A receipt for a monthly Catholic magazine subscription-cum-donation, dated March 22, 1933

My father, Dr. Peter D'Costa, B.H., was a voracious reader -- of newspapers, magazines, and books. I inherited this trait from him! 

When he was in Calcutta (now called 'Kolkata') of British India, he had subscribed to the illustrated Catholic monthly magazine, called India. 

On receiving the subscription amount, he was sent an official receipt that still gives out, after a long 85 years, quite a bit of history that is both instructive and illuminating.

The receipt mentions the following: 

• The date of the subscription receipt was "22/3/33" [March 22, 1933].
• The name of the magazine was "India," an English-language Catholic monthly, which later became extant.
• It was published from "Nova Goa" [New Goa], "Portuguese India" [a Portuguese colony in western India]. It is interesting to note that although Portuguese was the official language of the then Goa, this English-language monthly was intended for the English-language readers of both Goa and the British India.
• The editor of the monthly was "Rev. A. P. Lopes," a Roman Catholic priest.
• The annual subscription was "Rs. 1:8:0" [Indian 1 rupee and 8 annas]. 
• My father's name was "P.D'Costa, B.H." [Peter D'Costa, Bachelor of Homeopathy] and he lived at "68 Linton Street, Calcutta" (The Linton Street is still there in the Beniapukur area of Kolkata).
• The name of the pharmacy of my father was "St. Joseph's Homeo Pharmacy."
• Rs. 1:8:0 was not only a subscription to the 'India' magazine, it was also considered "a donation towards the Missions of India."
• The editor also mentioned "your name has been added to the list of donors, for whose welfare several Masses and prayers are offered every year."

Previously, in another write-up of mine, I also mentioned how a January 9, 1943 Calcutta house rent receipt also gives out an interesting history. You may click on the following to read it: Flirting With the Past: A House Rent Receipt Speaks History 

Bangladesh Shaken by North-East Indian Earthquake

The yellow star marks the epicentre of the earthquake that struck the area in the early morning of January 4, 2016

Map courtesy: accuWeather.com/

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake, hitting Imphal of Manipur State in India in the early morning of January 4, created panic and rush in different parts of Bangladesh as well. One youngman in Dhaka died of cardiac arrest and 29 others were rushed to hospitals. Strong tremors of the earthquake were also felt in West Bengal and Myanmar. 

The Meterological Department of India said that the earthquake occurred at a depth of 17 kilometres (about 10 miles) underground. 

For more details, please click on the following:

• 6.7 strong pre-dawn earthquake shakes Bangladesh, spreads panic (bdnews24.com)
• Earthquake panic rush leads to one death in Dhaka, many injured (bdnews24.com)
• At least 32 injured in earthquake panic rush in Sylhet (bdnews24.com)
• How strong was the earthquake in Bangladesh? (The Dhaka Tribune)
• Magnitude 6.8 earthquake hits near India-Myanmar-Bangladesh border (ABC, Australia)
• Earthquake hits India's Manipur state (BBC, U.K.)
• Powerful earthquake leaves at least 6 dead, 79 injured in India (accuWeather.com)
• Recent Earthquakes Near Dhaka, Bangladesh (earthquaketrack.com)
• Earthquake Risk in Bangladesh (American Museum of Natural History) 
• 'Dhaka is one of the riskiest cities for earthquakes in the world' (The Daily Star, Dhaka)
• Bangladesh: Dhaka ill-prepared for quakes (IRIN Asia)
• Live Earthquake Videos from Bangladesh and India (January 4, 2016)
• Video on 6.8 Earthquake in Imphal, India, felt in Dhaka, Bangladesh (January 4, 2016)
• Video on Earthquake India 2016: Earthquake Hits Imphal, Manipur and Bangladesh (January 4, 2016)

Hindu Temple in Kerala, India, Unearths Treasure Trove of $22 Billion

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Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala,
India, draws world attention with the discovery of hidden
treasures in its underground vaults
Photo courtesy: http://www.hindudevotionalblog.com/

The sixteenth-century Hindu temple in Thiruvananthapuram – formerly known as Trivandrum – of the State of Kerala, South India, in early July yielded a treasure trove of over US$ 22 billion, secretly stashed in its deep underground vaults, reports The Daily Telegraph. In the last 140 years, these vaults remained unopened. Indian antiquarians mentioned the find’s worth as “astronomical!”

Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, dedicated to the Hindu god of Vishnu, was originally built by the feudal lord, Maharaja, of Travancore. Since its inception, pilgrims and devotees have been offering votive gifts in the forms of money, gold and diamond ornaments, and precious gems and stones.

The present treasure trove comprises of ornaments of gold, diamonds and precious stones. In addition, there are also thousands of gold coins of the day, including coins issued by the British East India Company (1600-1858) that first came on trading purposes but later became ruler of parts of India.

After the independence of India in 1947, the Indian government gradually took over the rule of the feudal states and kingdoms, run by maharajas. So was the case of the kingdom of Travancore. The Indian government allowed members of the royal family of Travancore to manage the trust of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.

Because of long complaints of mismanagement, the Supreme Court of India recently ordered the State government of Kerala to manage the trust to ensure the security of the temple’s valuable assets. As part of the inventory of the valuables, a thorough search of the temple grounds came into effect and, thus, discovery of the secret treasures came to light.

Until this find, the Tirupathy temple in the State of Andhra Pradesh of South-East India was considered the richest Hindu temple in the country.

Muslim Invasions and Looting and Destruction of Hindu Temples in India

At different eras, Muslim invaders, usually from Persia and Afghanistan, invaded India which was famous for its richly temple treasures in the forms of Hindu devotees’ offerings.

Mahmud Shah of Gazni (971-1030) invaded India 17 times. In his 16^th invasion, he ordered his soldiers to attack and destroy the ancient Hindu temple of Somnath in Gujerat. Rajput Hindus put up a brave defense, but ultimately Muslims broke it and reached the temple gates. In front of the temple there was a huge pillar in the shape of a phallus, locally called Shiva Lingam, which was encrusted with precious gems and stones and revered as a symbol of reproductive power. Soldiers destroyed this lingam after pillaging its valuables. They also robbed the temple of unforeseen treasures – gold and diamond ornaments, jewels and precious stones worth about 20 million dinars and destroyed it.

Mughal ruler Aurangzeb was famous for destroying many Hindu temples in India. Before their destruction, of course, Muslim soldiers first looted the temples of their treasures.

Flirting With the Past: A House Rent Receipt Speaks History

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A two-room-house rent receipt,
 dated January 9, 1943 (Calcutta, India)

It was 1942-1943. Calcutta (presently called Kolkata) was then in the British-ruled India. The British and their allies were fighting the deadly Second World War with the Nazi Germany and her allies -- Italy, Turkey and Japan.

The above receipt gives a picture of the renting situation. My dad, Peter D'Costa, kept this receipt with him for decades. Now I find history in it. I do not know the conversion rate of the Indian rupees during the Second World War, but at present rate Rupees 30.00 is equal to US $0.68 only!

Please see another similar write-up of mine below:

• A Receipt for Magazine Subscription-cum-Donation Gives Out History, Too. 

(Updated on January 12, 2018)

The Photo Meditation of the Month (December, 2009): THE DISTRESSED

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An elderly couple -- husband and wife -- living a distressed life,
completely dependent on the mercy of others

Photo (at Bannerghata, near Bangalore, India: 
November, 1974) © Jerome D'Costa

The Distressed

We have the distressed in our midst. They are the most unfortunates, the fallen through the cracks, the broken ones, the helpless, the impoverished, the suffering, the anxious and the dispirited.

People can be reduced to the distressed state due to extreme poverty, chronic physical sickness or disability, too much hard labour, mental illness, neglect and abandonment, old age and the like.

One day these very people were our near and dear ones. They shared their laughter with us, they wept with us at the misfortune of someone close to us, and they empathized with us. But now they are far away from this environment.

Jesus Christ showed extraordinary concern for the distressed. He mingled with them, talked with them, comforted them, and even, at times, healed them. His words, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" (The Bible: Matthew 22:39), speaks a volume on this matter.

Today, those of us who are able, those who are physically and mentally strong, those who are capable of doing or achieving anything we set our mind to, have a neighbourly and moral duty to assist the distressed among us in any way possible. Today we may have everything, tomorrow we may not.

Tareq and Michaelle Salahi Breach the White House Security

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(L-R) Tareq Salahi, US Vice President Joe Biden and Michaelle
Salahi at the White House state dinner honouring Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Photo courtesy: Michaelle Salahi Facebook page

The world media are abuzz with the news of Tareq and Michaelle Salahi who breached the White House security posing as invited guests at the President Obama's White House state dinner on November 24. The dinner was in honour of the visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

This is the rare and deepest penetration of the security in the house of the President of the world's most powerful nation where the Prime Minister of another powerful nation was present. This could have been the most devastating disaster of the century if these two uninvited guests were real terrorists bent on doing harms.

This breach of security came to the attention of the news media and authorities when Michaelle Salahi in her Facebook posting boasted of being "Honored to be at the White House" with accompanying photos showing herself with the US Vice President Joe Biden, Washington D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, CBS news anchor Katie Couric, three US marines, and some other celebrities. Another photo depicts Tareq and Michaelle Salahi with Vice President Joe Biden.

The US Secret Service honchos are scratching their heads and trying to find out exactly how this couple breached layers of security measures in the White House. They are also going to lay charges against them.

Tareq and Michaelle Salahi are married couples who live in neighbouring state of Virginia. They are aspiring reality-TV stars and polo-playing socialites. From the Facebook postings it is clear that they are attracted to mingle with the famous and celebrities.

Narcissistic and Fame-Driven Life

If the whole situation is analyzed, the following come to light:

• The couple suffers from narcissism and compulsively runs after acceptance, recognition and fame.
  
• They get a kick from violating the norms and rules. They immaturely thought it was funny to hoodwink the Secret Service and security measures in the White House.
• To them, the end justifies the means.
• It was a serious lie to present themselves as invited guests. It was tantamount to stealing the invitation to the state dinner. Impersonation is a serious wrongdoing.
  
• It was a total disrespect to the dignity of the President of USA and the Prime Minister of India and it was the showing of the middle finger to these two countries.
  
• Their conscience is dulled, they do not know where to draw the line between the good and the evil.
  
• It also shows from what background and formation they come from.
• Can you imagine what apprehension, chaos and confusion it would create among the American and Indian guests and the hosts if the couple was caught at the gate or in the dinner venue as being uninvited?
• By their presence they lied to each of the invited guests and celebrities they mingled and took photographs with.
  
• They wanted to steal the limelight that other invited guests and celebrities enjoy.
• They are the true children of the instant-satisfaction and cheap thrill-seeking consumer society. That's why they are eager to be like the personalities of the Reality TV programmes with dehumanizing enactments that get praise, ranks and money.