![]() There hangs a tale of spices - pepper, cardamom, cinnamon - that made Kerala a hot spot in the ancient world. This story helps explain how Christianity came to India not once but twice. Of course, we had no way of knowing then that the Latin rite had come to Kerala via the 16th-century Portuguese or that the Syriac rite had arrived far earlier, in the centuries following Christ's birth. When we attended our parish church, we risked a caning for sneaking into the downhill cemetery and peeking into the "well," where unearthed bones and skulls from old graves were dumped with little ceremony. At the plantation church, we squatted on the mud floor smoothed by cow-dung paste and tormented ants in their tiny pits scratched into the earth. As children, none of this mattered to us. The traditional-minded in our parish disapproved because the plantation church followed the Latin rite, not the Syriac rite, although both are Catholic. ![]() ![]() We got to know Father Lawrence because attending his ramshackle chapel near our family farm was much easier than enduring the one-hour walk to our parish church. This article is a selection from Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly India Issue, which explores India's vibrant history, picturesque locales, and delicious cuisine.
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