St.
Thomas was the disciple of Jesus who had come to grow the roots of Christianity in India. After reforming in Kerala, he
had come to Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Here comes the controversial aspect. In the
catechism classes that I had attended, I was taught that St. Thomas was stabbed
with a spear while he was praying at Mylapore. After joining for engineering in
Chennai, I had thought of going to Mylapore and to visit the place since I’m
very God fearing and religious. (I’m not joking..:-) He..hi..he..)
So,
I had asked the people and had gone to Mylapore. I was shocked to learn that
there was just a temple at Mylapore and not even a popular church. Upon asking
a few people, I came to know that Mylapore has got no connection with St.Thomas
and it was just a myth which I was made to believe without proof just like many
other things which I was made to believe in my childhood.
Thereafter,
I had thought of using my interactive skills to find the places associated with
St. Thomas and to visit them all. As everyone knows, Santhome cathedral, the
biggest church in Chennai which is located along the side of Marina beach holds
the tomb of St.Thomas. It’s one of the three churches which were built over a
disciple’s tomb. Other churches are the St.Peter’s basilica in Rome where St.
Peter was cremated and St. James Basilica in Spain where St. James was
cremated. A big wooden pole is seen at the entrance of the church from the
beach side. It is believed that it’s the leftover of the wood that was used in
the construction of the church and it’s believed that St. Thomas had planted it
there. The believers of St. Thomas believe that it was this pole that had
protected the church when the severe Tsunami waves had struck the Chennai shore
a few years ago.
After
visiting the tomb that is located below the church, I had thought of going to
the place where St. Thomas had died. I came to know that it was at Chinnamalai (Little Mount) that St.
Thomas was stabbed. It’s believed that he had descended the Chinnamalai in pain and had ascended another mount called as the
St.Thomas mount where he was martyred. He would have been that strong, just as
the people of that generation that he was able to descend a mount and to ascend
yet another one and to die on the top of it.
If
you take a Foreshore estate bus from the road opposite to the Santhome church,
you can get down at Mylapore. From there if you could take a 42B bus, you could
reach the bottom of Chinnamalai. You
can see a cave in which St.Thomas had been praying while he was stabbed. You
can enter the cave if you bend your body ninety degrees. Its entrance is that
small and is located at a negligible corner of the enclosure with the St.
Mary’s grotto. You can also find a magical spring, a blood shedding cross and
the foot marks of St. Thomas which are double the size of an average human
foot.
If
you ascend the mount and take another bus to Guindy, you can easily catch a bus
to St. Thomas mount. If you take a sub urban train, you will have to walk
around 4 kilometers. St. Thomas mount is the place which is regarded as the
place where St. Thomas had died. It’s also the coolest place in Chennai, due to the winds that graze each and every object as its top. You can have a
great sight view of the Chennai Airport’s runway too.
Anyhow,
I had successfully completed the ordeal of being to all the places associated
with St. Thomas in Chennai. I am happy that I was able to prove that all that I
had learned was not right just as I was taught that Mylapore was the place in
which St. Thomas had died. But to support the people who had taught me so, I
should say that it’s said just as that because the area was ruled by the
Mylapore ruling dynasty.
