St Joseph Church Mannanam

St. Joseph's Monastery is a well known Christian pilgrim center of Kerala located at Mannanam in the Kottayam district. This charming monastery is built by the famous blessed Father Chavara Kuriakose Elias popularly known as Chavara Achan. He is one of the prominent saintly figures in the history of the Syrian Catholic Church in Kerala. The mortal remains of this priest are preserved in this church. People from far and wide visit this pilgrim center every Saturday to pay homage to this saintly priest.

The three -storeyed building on the southern side of the church was the seminary building started by the first fathers in 1833. In 1904 it was assigned to St. Ephrem's High School, which had been started in 1897. Today it is St. Aloysius Boarding House. To the south of this building there is another three -storied building with a spacious auditorium constructed in the 1990s. This is at present the St Ephrem's Higher Secondary School, which is now open to both boys and girls. Close to this towards the west, there is another two -storied building, housing St. Joseph Press started by St  Kuriakose Elias Chavara in 1844. The building as we see today was constructed by Fr. Francis Sales Puthiaparambil. Many devotional, doctrinal and other books have been and continue to be published from this press. It is from this press that Nazrani Deepika was printed and published for about 15 years.

The St. Joseph's Monastery has a serene and peaceful ambience ideal to meditate. The altar of this church is made attractive with gold filigree work. The feast of Blessed Chavara is an important event of this monastery which is celebrated every year on 3rd January. Devotees celebrate this event with great solemnity and devotion.

Getting there
Nearest railway station: Kottayam Railway Station, about 10 km
Nearest airport: Cochin International Airport, about 81 km
Google map coordinates: JGWC+F2 Mannanam, Kerala