An Apostle in India

India has always been considered a spiritual place- 1,000 religions are practiced here and it's the birthplace of Buddhism. But since Hinduism predominates, most people do not think of India as a Christian country. Amazingly, the Church's history in India actually stretches all the way back to the time of Christ.
The Apostles were instructed to go out and spread the word to the whole world, so they did. I don't know how they handed out assignments, but St. Thomas got Parthia and India. India was on everybody's radar at the time because of its spices, which were sold throughout the Middle East. Thomas finally arrived on the west coast in 52 A.D. and the people of Kerala (who are Syrian Christians) strongly maintain that their forefathers were converts of this apostle. Catholicism is so strong here that the state has produced 1,000s of priests and nuns. Wherever he landed, he traveled throughout North and South India and ended up in Chennai, or as it was called, Madras. He was killed in 72 A.D. by some Hindu fundamentalists who were upset about all the converts to Christianity. I visited the site where he was killed on top of a hill where a church is now located. Then I headed to his tomb which is under the Basilica of St. Thomas in the picture. His tomb has been officially opended four times. The church has been built and rebuilt over the centuries. This last one was finished in 1896 and restored in 2004. It holds the distinction of being one of only three churches built over the tomb of an Apostle, the most famous one being St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. This may be as close as I'll ever get to experiencing what it must be like to visit the Holy Lands since they keep shooting at each other. I bought a book and a DVD so anyone who is interested can see the story of Thomas for themselves when I get home.