St.Mary's Church

             According to the popular belief, the Marth  Mariam Valiya Pally at Kothamangalam (St. Mary's  Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church) was founded in  the 4th century by a few Syriac Christian families  who migrated from Paravur and Angamali. Among  the later Christian inhabitants of the place  included a few Syrian Knanaites who eventually  intermingled with the local Christian community.  (Knanaites are those Syrian Orthodox Christians  who migrated to Malabar from the Syrian  province of Roman Empire in AD 345, under the  leadership 'Thomas of Cana'/'Knai Thoma' and  Mor Joseph Metropolitan).

There is also a view that this church was established in AD 1340 by four Syriac Christian merchants who bought the entire land at Kothamangalam from a local chief for commodity trading with the nearby state of Tamilnadu. According to this story, Kothamangalam became a major commercial centre from this period onwards.

The Marth Mariam church at Kothamangalam, commonly known as 'VALIYAPALLY' (Big church) is the oldest of all the churches in the region. The famous Marthoma Cheriapally (Small church) at Kothamangalam, founded by the 18 families that separated from the old church (Valiyapally) in 1455, is located at a very short distance from Valiyapally. Both these churches are situated in nearby hilltops.