Rev. Dr. George Kurukkoor, a philologist and professor of the Sanskrit and Malayalam languages, take us to the early history of the Aramaic language in India. He also draws attention to the earlier times when Christians in Kerala were well proficient in the Syriac language; even medical documents in Malayalam were written in the Syriac script. A few signs were invented to represent sounds that were alien to the Syriac language. To my pleasant surprise, Dr. Kurukkoor talked about the role of Palackal Thoma Malpan (1780-1841), my collateral ancestor in preserving the Syriac tradition against the aggressive efforts by the Portuguese missionaries to suppress Syriac and substitute it with Latin as the liturgical language. According to Dr. Kurukkoor, The Syro Malabar Community in Kerala is the only non-Jewish community in the world that celebrates the Passover meal with a special ceremony on Holy Thursday. Overall, this interview helps the viewers to assess the importance of the Syriac tradition of the Syro Malabar Church in the overall perspective of the history of Kerala, and India.
Joseph J. Palackal
New York
11 May 2017

Topics:
1. Sub title: History of the Aramaic language in the larger context of the history of India (1:40)
2. The role of Palackal Malpan in preserving the Syriac tradition (8:10)
3. Medical prescriptions in Malayalam written in Syriac script (8:30)
4. presence of Syriac words in Tamil and Malayalam (21:05)
5. Attitude of the laity toward the Malayalam version of Qurbana in the 1960s (24:10)
6. The unique tradition of the celebration of Passover in Kerala (28:10)
7. The untold atrocities of Emperor Shah Jahan toward Christians (44:14)
8. More about Palackal Thoma Malpan, “The Malpan of Kerala” (45:55)
9. Nankachiveettil achan’s history of Christianity in Kerala (47:50)

Recorded at P.O.C, Palarivattom, Kerala. 19 July 2016

• AP 69A - Dr. George Kurukkoor speaks on the unique tradition of the Passover ceremony in Kerala .
• AP 69B - Dr. George Kurukkoor speaks on Palackal Thoma Malpan