Holy Family Church, Mannila

Holy Family Church stands at Mannila in Kottayam district, Kerala, about 10 km from Changanacherry, and belongs to the Archdiocese of Changanacherry. It began in 1927, when Fr Karingida Thomma, vicar of Kurumpanadam, took a group by forest road to the small hill of Mannilakunnu and put up a cross with members of the Marthoma Dasa Sangham, a youth body that held prayers in places without churches.

A shed followed, housing a model of the Holy Family given by Palakunnel Ninan Saviour, and Wednesday prayers drew people from as far off as Kuttanadu. An official church replaced the shed in 1940, and in 1972 Archbishop Mar Antony Padiyara declared Mannila independent. The present building, on the site of the old one, was begun in 1991 and blessed on 5 November 1995.