St. George Orthodox Church, Chandanapally

St. George Orthodox Church, known as Chandanapally Valiyapally, is a parish of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Chandanapally village, Pathanamthitta district. The church of St George is among the largest in Kerala and is built in the Indo-Saracenic style. Relics of St George (Geevarghese Sahada), brought to Malankara from Antioch in 1916, were consecrated here on 8 May 2004.

The church's best-known ritual is Chembeduppu. Two hundred years ago, as the old church was going up, local Hindus brought rice from many places to feed the volunteer builders, cooking it by a stream; each year, during the feast on 7 and 8 May, rice cooked in a copper pot is carried to Kuthirappura by pilgrims of different faiths and later taken home. The Kalkurishu, a cross cut from a single stone with figures of saints and angels, is a focus of prayer and has its own feast on 14 September, when vellappachoru, rice cooked with coconut, is offered. Sabarimala pilgrims also stop and shelter here.