Our Parish
Steeped in the history, the our Lady of Purification Church, Thankey, has comes to symbolize the transformation of a humble coastal village into a place of great significance on the map of Catholic faith in India, where Christianity is believed to have arrived in 57 AD on a trading ship along the St.Thomas the Apostle. The place name Thankey is derived, by some accountants, from the Tamil language word thanghi, meaning a stopover or a night halt on what must have been in times of yore an arduous journey between the southern and northern district of what became Kerala, on Indians south-west cost. It is widely believed that Christian community existed in the region inclusive of Thankey in the first century AD. The amorphous community acquired certain contours and definite social shape under the guidance of the Jesuits who in 1579 established the Sant Andre mission Arthunkal about 5 km south of Thankey falling almost in a straight line with it on the west coast. Vasco da Gama
