St. Xavier's Church, Peyad

St Xavier's Church at Peyad is a Latin Rite Roman Catholic church of the Diocese of Neyyattinkara; before that diocese was formed in 1996 it came under the Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram. Its roots lie in the Kundamanbhagam Mission, founded by Fr John Damisien, the father of the Neyyattinkara mission, and further work by the Carmelite fathers Gregory and Pascasious, helped by missionaries from Belgium, led to a church being begun at Kundamanbhagam in 1904. On the advice of Dr Aloysius Maria Benziger, Bishop of Quilon, the missionaries later rebuilt St Francis Xavier's church here at Peyad.

The Belgian missionaries chose an engineer from Belgium and a local builder, Kunju Contractor, to complete it. The church combines Greek and Roman architectural styles, and its bell, brought from Belgium by Fr Pascasious, is one of 44 bells of the same make. In the mission's early days, the feast of St Sebastian drew believers to this remote area.