Malayattoor Church

Malayattoor's Syro-Malabar shrine of St Thomas, near Angamaly in Ernakulam district, is designated by the Vatican as an international shrine and draws pilgrims from India and abroad. The hilltop church lies about 15 km from the town of Kalady, and the villages of Malayattoor and Kodanad face each other across the Periyar river nearby.

Tradition holds that St Thomas came this way in AD 62. Oral accounts say that, facing hostile local people, he fled to the hilltop and prayed there, leaving a footprint on a rock (a replica now takes its place), and that blood flowed from a rock he touched while praying; he is also said to have marked a cross on the rock and kissed it. The main festival falls on the first Sunday after Easter.