Good Friday
Good Friday commemorates the crucification of Jesus Christ on the cross, on Mount Calvary in Jerusalem, nearly 2,000 years ago.
It is a day of reflection and reverence, fasting, prayers and church services.
Hundreds of people walk, bearing wooden crosses, commemorating the final moments of Christ as part of the ‘Way of the Cross' processions, re-enacting the travel through 14 stations during Christ's Journey to Mount Calvary from Pilate's Palace.
Worshippers move to each station singing hymns as the story of betrayal, arrest, trial and crucifixion of Christ is narrated by the priest.
The Christian Church of Kerala, in the early years, developed an apostolic culture and a lifestyle which though distinct, were closely intertwined with the Indian culture.
Thomas the Apostle sailed to the Malabar region in 52 AD and introduced Christianity to the area.
Many churches bear his name, their rituals and theology derived from Eastern Orthodox traditions in the liturgical language Syriac, a formation of Aramaic, the dialect which Jesus and Thomas spoke.
Thomas’s name remains ubiquitous in Kerala, appearing on everything from baptism registers and the neon signs of jewelry stores, bakeries, grocery shops, etc.
Kerala Christians boast of a history and culture as old as Christianity.
Christians account for 23 percent of Kerala's 32 million population. A large percentage of Christians live in the central Kerala districts of Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam and Trissur.
The region’s rich Christian heritage comes to life with reverence and festivity during the holy week.
Malayattoor hills in Ernakulam district, atop which the famed St Thomas church is located, witness a heavy rush of believers, climbing the hills bearing huge wooden crosses on their shoulders and rosary in their hands.
The hill is believed to have been visited by the Apostle St Thomas in AD 52.
The crucifix is carried through the streets in a procession and when the Good Friday mass 'dukha Velli' reaches its last lap, the priest pours out a spoon of 'choruka' which is a decoction of bitter gourd juice mixed with vinegar into the mouth of devotees.
This symbolises the act of Christ crying out while on the cross, on hearing which some onlookers dipped a piece of cloth in cheap wine and lifted it to his mouth to make him drink just before he died.
The Jacobite and Orthodox denominations have fairly longer church services on Good Friday. In most churches, the service begins early in the morning and would be over only in the late afternoon.
So at the end of the Good Friday mass in Kerala, those attending are served 'kanji' on plantain leaves- the steaming hot gruel made of rice along with mango pickle and a serving of pulses. Traditionally, jackfruit leaves were used as spoons.
A few days before the Good Friday, women would be busy making the mango pickle at their homes as a service to the congregation.
In some churches, flavoured rice flakes are distributed as offerings.
A wooden bell / maramani is rung in the church remembering the crucification of Christ.
Good Friday is observed as a day of prayer and penitence in traditional Christian families in the state who avoid all worldly comforts to mark the day by remembering the sufferings of Christ.
The fasting goes hand in hand with complete abstinence.
The day after Good Friday is the day of silence / Sabbath leading to Easter which is the celebration of the resurrection, the very pinnacle of Christian celebrations.
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