ST.STEPHENS FORANE CHURCH
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Uzhavoor Church is one of the ancient and historically famous churches in the Archeparchy of Kottayam. Established in 1631, this church is named after St. Stephen. A church was needed in this region due to the great distance to its mother church in Kaduthuruthy.
The tradition regarding the establishment of the Uzhavoor Church goes as follows: While Father Ittoop Kummanath was considering building a church in the Uzhavoor region, he had a dream one night. The dream was that a cow had given birth on a hill in Uzhavoor, and that the church should be built on that spot. The next day, when he came to Uzhavoor to inspect, he found a cow that had given birth near the cross in the upper plot of the present-day church grounds. That land belonged to Chittedathu Kaimal of Uzhavoor. Being generous and religiously tolerant, he donated the land for the construction of the church. The traditional landlord rights (Janmi) are still accorded to that family today.
In the storeroom (Nalukettu) of the Uzhavoor Church, palm-leaf manuscripts (Thaliyola) worthy of historical research are preserved in a cane chest. Among these leaves, one can find 'Karshoni' writings, which are the Malayalam language written in Syriac script. An 'Icon' painted on wood, a silver waistbelt, an old pocket knife (Pichathi), an iron stylus (Narayam), a sword, and several ancient coins are also preserved there. Rebuilding of the church began in 1896. On December 26, 1901, the church was consecrated under the leadership of Mar Mathew Makil (Vicar Apostolic of Changanacherry), Mar Louis Pazheparambil (Vicar Apostolic of Ernakulam), and Dr. Bernard (Archbishop of Verapoly)..
