St. Thomas Grotto

This is the sacred shrine of St. Thomas the apostle . Everyone can visit this place. The pilgrimage site is situated on the top of the hill. In order to reach the top of the hill it's somewhat difficult. Many people cannot make it because the way is filled with rocks. But it's part of sacrifice and prayers. There are many facilities like food, water, toilets, medicine and ambulance service if needed. There are huge parking areas.

St. Thomas Grotto. People who are ascending the hill start their pilgrimage from here. Well maintained premises with adequate parking space. This place is usually crowded during the lent season. Restaurants and small shops are situated nearby. Toilet facilities also are available but not that clean.

holy place,

Malayattoor Church is a famous Christian pilgrim centre located 47 km from Kochi in the Ernakulam district of Kerala. Situated on top of the Malayattoor Hill, at a height of 609 m, pilgrims flock here in large numbers to seek blessings of apostle St Thomas who formed the bedrock of the Church in the sub-continent.

Grotto dedicated to St Thomas...very peaceful naturally beautiful and serenic view...lot of parking place.... starting point of climbing the Malayatoor hill...blessed ambience...

A calm and peaceful place set on a hill-top.

The climb, on feet, is refreshing, especially early in the morning when the crowd is on the lower side.

People are recommended to bring in their hiking boots as the route is all rocky and paths are pretty hard to find. Walking wearing slippers etc. is not recommended.

Pilgrims at times attempt the walk barefoot especially as this is considered a Holy Land.

The area was formerly a forest ages ago and the trees are home to quite a number of monkeys. The monkeys are quite well behaved, especially compared to few pilgrims who find it hard to comprehend things like "Holy", "Silence" and "Manners".

The view from top is beautiful, though photography is not recommended as it disrupts the decorum.

St. Thomas grotto based on St. Thomas apostle, a highly devotional place, beautiful and plastic free zone.. Must visit and highly recommended.. pray your heart out.. unfulfilled wishes get fulfilled.. place to strengthen the faith in Christianity and to learn the sufferings of St. Thomas

Amazing view and silence

Good view to early morning

This is the Entrance you have to walk all the way up in between the rocks to reach the Church 14 points

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Spiritual place for Christian's.People commonly visit the place at good Friday
As the memorable day of Jesus.

A very calm and holy place to be in!

I was here in 1998, as I remember my grandmother took me here and yes it is on of the most memorable moments , as she is no more as the current Kerala floods took here away. GOD BLESS HER. It is said to be that St Thomas arrived here in his times for the preaching, there is a small church on top on the hill called Ana kuthiya mala, means the the church poked by the elephant trunk. There is a imprint of St Thomas feet on the rocks on top. It feels very peaceful and we it motivates to pray and tell all the sins and needs. These are one of the last fragments of memory of my grandmother. It is said to be if you pray here and it will surely happen as it the most powerful churches. It is difficult to climb up on a rainy day but if my granny did you could too. ALL THE BEST.

The grotto is located beside the St. Thomas Statue in the foothills of Malayatoor. Well build and maintained place. Filled with lush greenery. Perfect place to meditate. Huge parking space available.

Malayatoor church was once very beautiful a 10-15 years back it was filled with trees and big Rocks.... The 2 km uphill was very difficult to climb.... Now the natural beauty of the place is being distroyrd..

I feel like it's commercialized... It's in the month of April most people visiting the place on Good Friday, Easter and the Next Sunday after Easter.

The pilgrim centre belongs to St. Thomas,one of the famous Catholic pilgrim centre in South India. the hill is in malayattore forest division part of western ghats,and nearest to periyar river
Main feast of the church first Sunday after Easter . In Lenten season and holy week malayattore crowded with devotees from various part of the country.
Very peasfull and blessed pilgrim centre

Situated in mayatoor near KITTS ( Kerala institute of travel and tourism studies) Nice place to visit .You can see the murals on walls of church done by fine arts students of shankaracharya university.

Malayatoor pilgrimage must be taken during lent ....St Thomas place where he used to pray 2000 years old structures and his footsteps can be found there

Malayattoor is a village situated on the banks of the river Periyar and it is about 21 Km from Cochin International Airport. St. Thomas International Shrine is situated atop Malayattoor Hill, a place that is believed to have been visited by Apostle St. Thomas, disciple of Jesus Christ. The shrine as well as the path leading to it is surrounded by reserve forest and wild life sanctury. To reach the top of the hill, one has to climb a path strewn with large as well as small boulders. The path involves steep climbs at some places that some people especially the old and weak find hard to traverse. Persons having cardiovascular problems are advised to be cautious while climbing the hill. The hill top can be reached by climbing for about 40-45 minutes by a healthy person. There are 14 stations marking the Way of the Cross depicting the journey of Jesus to Mount Calvary and His subsequent crucifixion. Pilgrims visiting the shrine usually recite the prayers of 'Way of the Cross' in remembrance of the sufferings undergone by Jesus Christ and His death on the cross. Atop the hill there is an old church, an ancient chapel that was damaged by elephants long ago, an open air auditorium often used to conduct Holy Mass during the festival time and a pilgrim centre. The annual feast of St. Thomas is held on the Sunday following Easter. There are simultaneous celebration in the main parish church (to which the shrine is attached) situated on the banks of river Periyar about 3 Km from the foot of the Malayattoor hill. During the 50 days of lent preceding Easter, hundreds of thousands of faithful from all over Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other places visit the the shrine. During the lent season individuals as well as groups of people from far off places hundreds of kilometres away, walk their way to the shrine. Some pilgrims carry crosses while climbing the hill. The crosses are sometimes too heavy so that it takes more than 50 men to carry one such cross.
The view from the top of the hill is panoramic. One can see the Western Ghat ranges on the east and the Periyar river on the other side winding its way to the Arabian Sea through the plains of Kalady and Aluva towns.

Ideal place to do a duathlon or even a triathlon. Riding (bicycling) from Ernakulam is ~ 40Kms. Swimming must be relatively safe in the lake of Manappattuchira. The hiking of the hills (which is ~2km) is like running ~5k or even ~6k on a flat surface. The average gradient is 20% with a total ascent of 400meters and & the view from the top is awesome. Avoid when there is local festivals and you are mostly on your own in the spiritual town.