Manjanikkara Dayara

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Manjanikkara Dayara is a monastery of the Syrian Orthodox Church. It is situated at the top of the hillock in Manjanikkara, near Omallur, Pathanamthitta District in South Kerala. This monastery was established by Mor Yulius Elias Qoro, Patriarchal delegate to Malankara.

On February 11, 1932, at the invitation of Qashisho Kuriakos Elavinamannil, the Patriarch Ignatius Elias III arrived at the Manjinikkara Mor Stephanos church from Kallissery. The inability to bring about reconciliation in the church had weighed down heavily on the Patriarch; moreover, the hardships of the long travel had taken its toll on His Holiness. On arriving at Manjinikkara, the Patriarch said, "This place offers us much comfort; we desire to remain here permanently."

On February 12, His Holiness requested the priests who came to visit him not to leave for a couple of days. In the evening, the Patriarch recited many prayers of the qandilo (unction) and contemplated on the departed. On February 13, Mor Clemis Yuhanon Abbachi offered the Holy Qurbono; His Holiness gave the sermon during the liturgy. After the noon prayers and lunch, as was his routine, the Patriarch spent time recording events in his journal; he asked for a dictionary to get clarification for the meaning of a word. Following that, he paced about complaining of pain in his head. Soon he fainted and was placed on a cot by the monks where he slipped away into eternal rest at 2:30 pm. Many eye witnesses recount the deep gloom that cast its spell in the area that evening and the wails of the monks who accompanied the Patriarch.

Different opinions arose regarding the final resting place for the Patriarch—a situation that the church in Malankara never had to confront before. The decision was in favor of interring the mortal remains in a plot of land to the north of the Mor Stephanos church, the title deed of which was transferred to the Patriarchate. On February 14, the funeral services for His Holiness were held there. The Mor Ignatios Dayro church was built by the Patriarchal delegate Mor Yulius Elias Qoro over the tomb of the late Patriarch. The memory of the holy Patriarch is revered throughout the Syriac Orthodox Church and especially in Malankara where thousands of pilgrims reach the tomb by foot on the annual feast day, February 13, from various parts of the Kerala state. Mor Elias III is the only Patriarch of Antioch whose remains are interred in Malankara and his tomb stands as a towering symbol of the sacrifices made by the Syriac fathers to nurture the church in Malankara.

On October 20, 1987, Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas through encyclical E265/87 permitted the Church in Malankara to remember his name in the fifth diptych.

The remains of late Mor Yulius Elias Qoro and Mor Yulius Yacoub, former Patriarchal delegates to Malankara are also interred in this church. Every year thousands of pilgrims come on foot to this pilgrim centre.

The Manjanikkara Dayro is the seat of the Patriarchal Delegate to Malankara and the metropolitan of the Simhasana churches (churches administered directly by the Patriarchate).