Saint Thomas the Apostle

Today we took a trip to visit some of the local sites which are tied to the Apostle Thomas, the Apostle who doubted Jesus' resurrection and later believed after Jesus appeared to them and had him place his hands in his wounds.  St. Thomas spread the word in several parts of India, and reportedly died in Madras (now called Chennai).

There are three sites tied to the Apostle which we visited, 2 mounts (large hills) and the Basilica.

The first place we went was the Large Mount, where he was martyred.   The story is that he was preaching and converting so many to Christianity that it enraged the local religious leaders so they sought to harm him, and he fled to this mount where he often prayed.   It is believed that he was knelt praying on the mount when he was killed with a spear after they caught up with him.  There is a large metal cross where the site is marked.

This is at the entrance to the site, a statue of St. Thomas.

 Walking up the road (no cars were allowed past a certain point).  This is a dirt path alongside the road, but just to give you an idea of the scenery around the mount.

 Picture walking in through the gate to the holy site.  The white building is a church and memorial/shrine.  The tall cross is the metal marker where he was thought to be killed.  The smaller one I think is just a shrine.  The covered area on the left is a stage for outdoor worship.

 The shrine area, I didn't take any pictures inside, it asked not to.  It was an alter with an area for worship and prayer, in a pretty small room.

 View from the mount.

 You have to take your shoes off in all of the sites, the woman is putting her shoes back on.

 One of the shrines.

 The marker for the spot of his death.

 There was a huge tree next to the church/shrine, very interesting looking.  Not sure if those are roots or what that grow down.

 There is another cross right next to the others.  In the foreground you see a statue of Pope John Paul II.

 The statue marks wheres the Pope addressed the masses on his trip to Madras.

 Backside of the middle shrine, in between the 2 crosses.

 A statue of Mother Teresa.

 Ancient baptismal font, outside the chapel.

 An old inscription on the chapel.

 A shrine to one of the keepers of the site.  I don't know much about it, but reading the inscription it says the man died defending the Christian ownership of the site recently.

 Entrance to the church.

 This is the center of the memorial for the man who died protecting the site.

 An old piece above the door.

 In the entrance of the church.  Thomas proclaiming his faith after Jesus showed him his wounds.

 Showing Thomas' death.

 Old old inlay in the floor.  There were two of them in the entrance to the church.

 Holy relic.

 Alter.

 One of the more interesting things was a painting Thomas brought to Madras, painted by the Apostle Luke of Mary and Jesus.  This is on the right side of the alter.

 Shrine to St. Thomas, in a small room to the right of the alter.

 Pic from the back of the church, looking to the alter.  On the walls were paintings of the Saints, which were very old and neat in the background of each showed how they died.  One of them had the Saint in a boiling pot of water (St James?  Can't remember).

 Pic looking down on the city again.  After looking at the chapel and shrines, we walked down the mount on a path.  On the path there are the stages of the cross.  I missed the first one, it was up by the chapel.  I saw it, but I didn't take a picture of it.  It was Jesus' resurrection.

 Stage of the cross.

 A pic of the same stage.

 As you walk down the path, you keep coming across these.

 There was a herd of sheep in the background, this guy had a nice spot.

 A pic of the path down the mount.  Beggars on the path to the right.

 Showing the residential area right on the other side of the wall on the path.  You see huts and little houses all down the path, plus multi-family houses.

 Sign on a light hanging over the path.

 Just another pic of the area along the path.

 Couple of pretty birds in a cage.

 Statue right at the beginning of the path (going up), which was our end point.

 Entrance.  Our driver picked us up here from our walk down.

 Street directly in front of the entrance, was just waiting for the driver and give you an idea of the area.

Just started firing off pics of the traffic.  You see how there is also people coming head on at you.

 Just a truck type of auto, but you see these things with people crammed in them to where you just see bodies and can't see through the other side.  This one is not bad.

 Tri-fecta, little boy was rocking some shades.  He saw me and posed for me, but it was hard since we were driving.

 The elusive quad.  The whole family on the bike.

 I don't even know how to explain it, there are like 5 or 6 lanes, but there had to be like 10 lanes being forced, along with bikes/scooters everywhere between.

 Tried to get a pic of this rickshaw.  I want to say I saw 7-8 people in it, with 3 upfront where its only made for the driver really.   When I rode in it, only 2 people, maybe 3 fit in it.

 Pic of the front steps going to the small mount, our second destination.  The goats are just hanging out all over.

 Goats in the middle of the street.

 There is a chapel.  There was a service going on, with the service being broadcasted on speakers throughout the site... loudly.  I didn't go in since there was a service going on.

 Behind the church is a holy site, St. Thomas' cave.  You walk into the building, and this is the shrine there.  To the left of the shrine, below the golden statue, is the entrance going down into the cave.

 Entry to the cave.  It was very hard to fit into.  The woman in front of me is very short, I had to get down and practically crawl through it.

Inside the cave it's very cramped, you can't stand up except by the alter.  It's a pretty small room, all rock.  It is said this is where St. Thomas would come to escape persecution and pray when people sought him.  He was in good with one of the Kings, but when the King was not able to protect him he had to hide, is what our driver was telling us, and this is where he came (along with the first mount).  There is a hand print in the stone where it is said St. Thomas carved it himself of his hand where he would place it in worship.  I didn't see it, I was having a hard time crouching over, and a procession of priests came in to worship so I went back out to let them have room.

 After coming back up to the room.

 Probably can't read this, sorry.  Just in case, it tells some of the history of the site.

 Some of the priests on the site.

 This is where St. Thomas would preach to the masses.  Where the trees are it drops down, and he would speak out to them here.  The monument in the middle is made over some rock, where he would stand.  The building to the left is where an alter is where he would worship, and also which contains a spring and water.  It's said he asked the Lord for water, and water came up out of the ground.  There is still water in there today.

 A picture from the rock, what St. Thomas would have seen looking out... minus the houses.

 The rock under the monument where he would stand.

 This is the alter, and you can see the cross which he carved.  It's called the bleeding cross, and said to have bleed at times.  It looks red, but is also stained from everyone touching it.

 A pic above the alter, showing what Thomas used the site for.

 To the right of the alter, the rock slopes down.  There is water in the far left corner, said to the be the holy spring.

 Another pic looking out from the monument.

 Looking up at the spot from down below where the worshippers would have been.

 There are the stages of the cross down where the people would have been.

 Not sure what this was, but looked old.  It's in the area where the people would have been also.

 Looking up at the monument.

 Driving to the Basilica.  The boy on the bike ahead saw I had a camera and kept smiling and waving.

 View of the spire from driving up to it on the road.  The church was first built in the 1700s, and later in the 1800s redone by the British.

 Pulling into the parking lot next to it.

 Picture looking up to the alter.

 Rear of the church.

 The alter.

 On the steps up to the alter area, there is a window looking down.  Directly below is St. Thomas' tomb.

 A pic from the rear of the church.  It's a big church.

 Stained glass above the alter.

 Walking to the rear of the church, there is a pole.  Our driver said this is where the Tsunami stopped.  There is an inscription giving thanks for not destroying the Basilica.

 To the right you can see housing, little metal buildings.  When the Tsunami hit, many died around here, including a lot of children who were playing out on the beach.

 These would all have been under water when the Tsunami hit.

 The rear of the church, walking to the entrance where you can go down to the tomb.  They would not allow cameras past this point.  It was very nice, with pictures of the pope visiting the tomb and history of it.  There is a statue of St. Thomas laying down in a final resting place, with glass underneath showing the earth where his remains are.  There are only 3 churches built on top of Apostles, one in Rome (Peter), one in Spain (I think James?) and Thomas.