St. George's Forane Church, Edappally

St. George's Forane Church in Edappally, Kochi, is a Syro-Malabar Catholic pilgrimage church described as Asia's largest shrine to Saint George, with around five million visitors a year, non-Christians among them. It is thought to date from 593, which would place it among Kerala's oldest churches, after the seven traditionally founded by Thomas the Apostle. The first church, built by families from Paravur and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, survives as a one-room storehouse, and a second was added beside it in 1080; both are preserved.

The third church, its foundation stone blessed by Pope John Paul II and laid in 2001, is octagonal, 141 feet high and one of India's largest, mixing European and Kerala styles. Its teak altar is covered in Italian gold foil and framed by Vietnamese marble carvings of the Resurrection, and the building holds 10,000 people. Pilgrims bring gold, chickens and eggs, and the courtyard well's water is believed to heal. The feast of St George on 23 April brings a nine-day festival.