St. Mary's Cathedral, Manarcad

St. Mary's Cathedral at Manarcad, about 9 km from Kottayam, draws pilgrims every year for the eight-day Lent of the Virgin Mary. Tradition says the founders were guided by a vision, on the eighth day of prayer, to build where they found a cow and calf lying in the forest. The local chieftain Edathil Thampuran opposed the plan, but the Thekkumkur king granted the land; the church was pulled down three times and rebuilt each time, finally completed with the help of the Kallakkadampil family. Vattezhuthu inscriptions in the haikala date from about AD 910–920, royal swords said to be the king's gift are kept here, and the present building was finished in 1954.

Its design resembles Orvieto Cathedral, and it holds a fragment of Mary's girdle, the Holy Soonoro. The Ettunombu Perunnal, 1–8 September, ends the fast with the Nadathurakkal, the unveiling of an image of Christ and Mary, attended by huge crowds.