About St Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Ahmedabad in 13, Christian Society, Nr. CNI Church, Behrampura, Ahmedabad

The Orthodox Church in India-The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, was founded by St.Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, in AD 52. It is one the most ancient Churches in the world, and is an independent National Church of India as regards Faith, Doctrine and Administration. After the formation of Gujarat State, after bifurcation of the then bilingual State of Bombay there was an influx of people to Ahmedabad from various parts of India,including Kerala. They comprised of members of Christian communities like the Orthodox, Marthomites, Catholics, CSI etc. The Christian community felt the need of having Services in Malayalam, which united them to form Ahmedabad Kerala Christian Congregation, in 1960. The first Orthodox Qurbana in Ahmedabad,was celebrated by Fr.K.K.Punnoose (Presently H.G.Stephanos Mar Theodosius Metropolitan) in October 1960. As the membership of both Orthodox Marthoma sections increased, the need for having separate Parishes became essential.

The Orthodox Church in Ahmedabad was established in May 1963 in the name of St. Mary. The then Metropolitan of the Outside Kerala Diocese H.G. Dr. Mathews Mar Athanasios approved it as an independent Parish. Thus, it became the very first Parish formed in the State of Gujarat. The Service was conducted at the Christ Church, Ratiawadi on rental basis. In 1973 we obtained our own land in the Christian Society, Behrampura. Its important to mention here about the owner of this property who in her dreams saw a bright light and a voice telling her to dedicate this place for building a Church. In July 1973 the Parsonage was purchased. The Construction of the Church on the first floor of the same property was completed and the consecration ceremony was held on 25th and 26th October 1975 by H.G. Dr. Stephanos Mar Theodosius. At that time there were 160 subscribing members in the Parish

Renovation of the Church was conducted in 1987. With the number of Members in the Parish increasing, the need for a larger Church was felt. In the year 2001, an Earthquake struck Gujarat on 26th January. Retrofitting of the Church Building was needed due to this. After the Reconstruction of the Church Building the Consecration of the Church was done on 13th and 14th January 2004 by H.H. Baselius Mathews II. The Consecration Ceremony was graced by the presence of H.G. Dr. Stephanos Mar Theodosius, H.G. Thomas Mar Athanasios and H.G. Geevarghese Mar Coorilos. The Church was part of the Diocese of Bombay till the formation of the Diocese of Ahmedabad in the Year 2009. The Parish was declared as a Cathedral in the month of March 2011 by H.G. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Yulios – Metropolitan of the Diocese of Ahmedabad. There are 360 Subscribing Members in the Parish as of today