St.George Forane Church

The history of Vellayamkudy Church is intertwined with the history of migration of farmers to High Ranges. It was after the Second World War that the migration to High Ranges took place. As an after-effect of Second World War there was a severe famine in India. To face this situation the Govt. of India launched a project called “Grow More Food”. To implement the project the government encouraged the people to migrate to the High Ranges from low ranges. Under this project the government allotted land for short term cultivation. Thus many people migrated to Kattappana, Vellayamkudy and its surrounding places from Pala, Meenachil, Kanjirapally and other nearby places.

At that time travelling facility was available only up to Elappara. From there farmers were reaching Vellayamkudy via Upputhara and Ayappankovil by foot. Tribal groups were already inhabiting here. Here lived a tribal group called ‘ Mannan’. Number of tribal families lived together as a group (Kudy) under one leader. The name of their leader of that time was ‘Vellayan’. Since this was the dwelling place of ‘ Vellayan’ it was called ‘Kudy of Vellayan’. As years passed by people called this place Vellayankudy. In course of time the name was transformed and now it is called Vellayamkudy.

It was not an easy task for the people to earn their livelihood. They fought against wild animals, diseases, eviction and many other unfavourable situations. Even then they worked hard and turned the land into a fruitful one. But they were not happy with earning their daily bread alone. There was an inner thirst for a place of worship to satisfy their spiritual need. So they built a shed made of grass roof. On 21 st September 1959 the Vicar of Nedumkandam offered first Holy Mass at Vellayamkudy. Rev. Fr. Joseph Pullan was the first Vicar of Vellayamkudy. Thereafter the growth and progress of Vellayamkudy was interconnected with the growth of St. George’s Church.