Syriac Christianity and Hindu-Christian Dialogue

The tradition of the Suriyani/Nasrani, or Mar Toma Margam ("way of St. Thomas"), continues to be little known, despite the increasing presence of Malayali Christians around the globe. The Churches of Kerala, today a spectrum of confessions, trace their common history back to the first century C.E., and witness to a longstanding and variegated interaction with the wider environment and ethos of the subcontinent. Their liturgical language of Syriac is a form of the Aramaic spoken by Jesus, a shibboleth marking the distinctiveness of the Nasrani as Middle Eastern in origin and orientation, even while Hindu in custom and conviction. The panel features papers probing the unique vistas and vantage points of the Nasrani.