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KnanayaKnanaya Christians ("kanaanite Christians" or "Canaanite Christians") are Jewish Christians from Kerala, South India. Their heritage and culture is Malayalee and South Indian, origin and descent Jewish, and their religion Christianity. They belong to the Nasrani community of Syriac Christian tradition from Kerala. History The Knanaya Christians are descendants of 72 Jewish families who migrated from Aramaic-speaking regions around Israel and Syria to the Malabar coast in AD 345, under the leadership of a prominent merchant Knai Thomman. They consisted of 400 people men, women and children, from various Syriac-Jewish clans. They sailed in three ships headed by a leading ship with the flag of King David. The Syriac-Jews were granted permission to engage in trade and settle down in Kodungallur by the then ruler of Malabar, Cheraman Perumal. The event has been recorded on copper plates given to the community. Before the arrival of the Knanaya people, the early Nasrani people in the Malabar coast included some local converts and largely converted Jewish people who had settled in Kerala during the Babylonian exile and after. They came mostly from the Northern kingdoms of Israel. According to tradition, Knanaya Christians are also known as Southists (Thekkumbhagar in Malayalam) as they hailed from the southern province of Israel known in the Old Testament as the Kingdom of Judah. The rivalry between the northern kingdoms and the Kingdom of Judah since Old Testament times led to the difference among the Nasranis as Northists and Southists. This led the Knanaya people to become an endogamous people within the Nasrani community. Contemporary Knanaya customs and traditions Many of the Jewish customs are still preserved by the Knanaya people. The symbol of the Knanaya people is the Nasrani Menorah, which is modeled on the Jewish menorah. On the night of passover the Knanaya people have Pesah-appam (unleavened passover bread) along with Pesah pal (passover coconut milk). This tradition of Pesah appam is observed by the entire Nasrani people till this day. The bridal canopy is part of the Knanaya wedding ceremony, while the dead are buried facing the east. The Knanaya people and Nasranis as a whole maintained close relationship with the Jews of Kerala, (known today as Cochin Jews) until the Portuguese inquisition of the Jews and Nasranis in the early 1500s. Knanaya community at present Knanaya Christians today belong to two groups, the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church and the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. The Knanaya Catholics and its Jewish identity has been acknowledged by the Vatican, by instituting a diocese only for the Jewish Christians of Kerala. This diocese is called as the Diocese of Kottayam and is in the district of Kottayam in Kerala. The Knanaya people maintain many of the Jewish traditions to this day. The approximate population of Knanaya Christians as of 2001: (divided by different denominations) - Knanaya Jacobite Syrian Orthodox christians: 75,000
- Knanaya Syrian Malabar Catholic christians: 120,000
In all over 200,000 Knanaya Christian Jews continue in the ancient Hebrew-Christian tradition. External links
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