This new year we made our first trip on 2/1/11, to St. Thomas Church, Malayatoor. You can see the details and historical importance here. The decision was spontaneous and this is our 4th visit.
It was a cool and windy day; we reached Malayatoor in the afternoon around 3 PM. It is off season now and we had expected it to be a quite climb. But when we reached there were 3 buses waiting for the return of young people who had started their uphill climb to visit the famous St Thomas shrine. They were youth from all over India who had come under some missionary organization. Well, we started off with a slow pace as I was recovering from a recent flu. The initial climb was slow and my heart was bursting with palpitation because of the sudden exertion. I had to take some extra halts occasionally to give few minutes break to my pounding heart and my only prayer at the time was to be able to reach the Church and complete the mission.
We watched the people as they went up and others who were coming done, their face puffy and most of them panting. Some were singing and praying. I too had a small pamphlet that I had purchased from below to pray at each cross. My climb was unusually slow, however we were determined to reach the top. It is quite relieving when you come to the 1st cross. Its almost half way now. There are 14 crosses in total which signifies events from the crucification of Jesus to burial.
We could increase our pace by the time we reached 4th cross, now the heart was somewhat stabilized and we could climb without feeling much strain. Now I began to enjoy the climb. The atmosphere was getting cooler and cooler towards the top. Apart from stamping of our foot, the sounds heard were mostly the song of the wind which I call the ‘Symphony of the hills’. Wind was tough, at times blowing off the candles and teasing us while we tried to lit them. Sometimes it was a delicate affair and gentle, accompanying the low hustles of falling leaves. Then it came back little more proud and fierce blowing sound through the bamboo trunk. It was not exactly the tone of flute as poets would say, definitely it appeared musical. The notes resemble the opening of a rusty door and at times the sound made by a pebble shaking in an empty wooden carton. The person who discovered flute from Bamboo has to be a genius.
The climb continued, the crosses are now closely placed.
We took the final steps and hurray we have reached the hill top. Obviously life in India was difficult for St. Thomas. We visited the old and the new churches, the golden cross and the foot impression of St. Thomas when he prayed in the hills. We prayed there breathlessly, remembering all that we wanted to ask him in the forth coming days, asking forgiveness for our mistakes made in the last year and immensely thanking Lord for all that he has done to us and all that he will be doing.
I watched in awe from the hilltop the green valley below, the winding river Periyar and the distant hills. Sun was setting gorgeously over the valleys in splashy orange, thinning in air like a candy. Now the downhill journey began. We were indeed the last people to leave the church, we rushed down without a single halt. It was twilight and we were entertained by the humming of Cicadas and hooting of owls. Thankfully there were fluorescent lights on the way to guide us. We were anxiously awaited by security staff downhill where he served us coffee and biscuits. As soon as the last person comes down they will switch off the lights so that the wild animals can have whole hill for their own. We are the intruders here. We started for home soon thanking Lord for helping us complete the journey safe and sound.
Shall post pictures soon...
No comments:
Post a Comment