Though religious tensions are running high across the world, there are a few days in the year that transcend the divide and unite people in celebration. For Christianity, those days are Christmas and Easter. But in the midst of the slew of Easter egg hunts and hot cross buns are communities whose traditions date back to before the day became yet another beacon of commercialisation. For the Nasrani or Syrian Christian community in India, ancient rites and rituals still play a part in how they celebrate this sacred day.
This sub-division of the Catholic rite, also known as the Mar Thoma or Syro-Malabar Christians, finds its Indian roots in Kerala and dates back to 52 AD with the arrival of St. Thomas the apostle on the Eastern shores and today’s community are all ostensibly descendants of Christians baptized by the Saint himself. They were originally a part of the Church of the East which represented the world’s largest Christian church in terms of geographical extent between the 9th and 14th centuries. When in the 16th century the Portuguese Padroado tried to introduce the Catholic Church, rifts formed between the Syrian Christians and resulted in the seven independent bodies of the Saint Thomas Christians that exist today. The term Syrian Christians itself was created by the Dutch to distinguish between followers of St. Thomas and those being converted to the Latin Liturgy or the Catholic Church as we know it today.
Their traditions are reminiscent of the Jewish Seder at Passover which marked the Israelites’ exodus from the 400 year tyranny of the Egyptian Pharaohs and today the Mar Thoma community is the only modern Christian sect to still preserve these traditions. Syro-Malabar Christians practice a 50-day Lent - a symbolic cleansing penance that many Christians adhere to before Easter - as opposed to the usual 40 days for most others. But as it draws to an end the community begins the celebration of the Holy Week on Palm Sunday with the distribution of the palms like in the other churches but we have a procession which ends with us knocking on the door of the church like Jesus entering the temple in the Bible. Lathika George, author of The Suriani Kitchen, has vivid memories of the Holy Week spent in Mumbai when she was younger. “The days before Easter, during the Holy Week, my Syrian Christian family (like many of our Goan and Mangalorean Christian neighbours) had been spent in prayer and fasting. Fasting for us - meant austere food like kanji (rice gruel) and beans - and vegetarian food.”
Maundy Thursday, marks the commemoration of the Last supper and the betrayal of Jesus. They have same ceremonial washing of the feet that is common the world over but also have procession of the body of Jesus which commemorates the moment they have received his body in the last supper which is unique to Syrian Christian churches. Although they forgo the all-night vigil in though some churches in Kerala have a special service at 3 a.m. to showcase the night at the garden of olives where Jesus suffered and was arrested. Another aspect that highlights the community’s similarities to the Judaic Christian traditions come in the form of food, “On Thursday night we had a ceremony at home with an unleavened bread called indri appam and pesaha paal (Passover milk). It was a solemn occasion that reminded me and my siblings of our unique heritage.” recalls Lathika. In the ceremony the bread is broken into 13 pieces to represent Christ and his twelve apostles, the head of the household then offers a piece soaked in pesaha paal to the mother of the family and the to the rest of the family from the eldest to the youngest.
Good Friday for the community is often a day-long affair, often including a march representing the 14 stations of the cross that could go on for miles culminating at the church in the passion reading mass and a day of prayer. As a mark of respect, they don’t play music or watch TV as it is considered a time of mourning. Though it sounds austere, it is not without its lighter moments, Rohit Thomas recounts the tradition of drinking choruka (a concoction made of bitter gourd juice and vinegar) in his church that he wasn’t too fond of but has become one of his fondest memories, “After the long service of almost 2 hours, we come out and they distribute neem juice or bitter gourd juice. Extremely bitter stuff that you forced to down and almost gag. So I figured that one way I could avoid it is if I volunteered to distribute it. So the following year I walked out just a few minutes early and asked if I could distribute the juice. Problem solved and I never had to drink the bitter stuff again. That is until my parents found out of course!”
Saturday is a specifically Syrian Christian affair, with a ‘Holy Saturday’ mass which does not exist in Western churches where they perform blessings of fire and water. The Easter Sunday mass is far more recognisable in terms of tradition and is more in line with the common idea of Easter, and of course, everyone’s favourite part of the day is when you finally get to eat!
After almost two months of fasting and virtuosity, Easter is they day everyone can let their hair down and celebrate the resurrection. Though of course the menu varies with geographical availability, since a vast majority of the Syrian Christian diaspora started in Kerala a staple at most tables is Meen Polichathu (fish cooked in the banana leaf, usually Pearl Spot/Karimeen) or Kappa (tapioca) and meen vevichathu (red Kerala style fish curry). Kozhukattai are another staple of the day, steamed rice flour dumplings stuffed with jaggery, coconut and spices, they’re usually made on Maundy Thursday and through the week and are an iconic part of the celebration to many people. Another favourite is Kerala-style Duck Roast, lightly fried meat in a rich masala, but mainly among the South Indian members of the community. Many of the Maharashtrian, and more specifically, Mumbai-based, Nasranis have altered their menus over time to align with the predominantly Catholic community in the city. Lathika recalls the amazing melange of food that awaited her every Easter which reflected both her traditional heritage as well as the amalgamation of cultures that typifies Mumbai, “Easter breakfast had Suriani appam (toddy pancakes) and ishtew alongside Easter eggs and hot cross buns from the Goan bakery. Lunch was a glorious mix of Suriani Roast Chicken and Fish Mollee, Goan Sorpotel, Hyderabadi Biryani, baked vegetables and other foods that my mother had added to our family favourites. Dessert was invariably a stodgy but delicious bread and jam pudding. This eclectic spread still reminds me of Easter in Bombay, when we celebrated our neighbours foods as much as our own.”
Though so culturally diverse, the overwhelmingly accepting spirit of Easter is what really stands out. That there is space for all traditions and beliefs. Where anyone can feel at home regardless of the annoying Aunt next to you.
Many thanks to Rohit Thomas, Lathika George, Father Thomas Myalil, Reverend Basil and the many others who shared their wonderful memories. Happy Easter!