About St. Sebastian's Church, Chittattukara in Chittattukara, Chittattukara

The parish church is dedicated to St Sebastian and build in AD 1773. The parish community strongly believes that in 1943, the people had a miraculous escape from a wide spread epidemic of cholera and other diseases mainly due to the intervention of the patron saint. The parish community that had a narrow escape from death celebrated a special feast of the saint in July 1943. After that the feast of the saint was celebrated on the 20th of every month. That practice is still kept.

The world famous Church at Palayur is almost as old as Christianity. It was one of the seven churches established by St Thomas, the Apostle of India, in 52 AD. The Christians who belonged to the original Palayur church had been called “Palayur Nasranikal.” The forefathers of Chittattukara were also part of the Palayur Nasranikal. It was those early Christians of Palayur and such other places who came to be called “Thoma Makkal” in the “Rampan Pattukal.”

Chittattukra village is part of Palayur which had the special blessing to become the cradle of the Christian Church in Kerala. It is situated about four miles to the east of Palayur. The beautiful village is called Chittattukara or Chittattur. It is believed that in olden days the village was surrounded on all sides by dense forests. The names of the neighbouring places—Thaikkad, Parakkad, Pandarakkad, and Nambazhikad—had a word meaning forest in them and this fact is a sure indication that the place had been once full of forests. It is to be assumed that the Chittattukara was given to the place because it was a land surrounded by forests. Anyway it is an enchanting village which is an ideal place to live. That might have been the reason why it was inhabited mostly by Brahmins in the past. That fact might have encouraged ancient Christians to believe that Chittattukara was also blessed with the footfalls of St Thomas. So, the Christian tradition and legacy of the place has been apostolic.