Speaking about Maramon convention, it’s the biggest yearly Christian gathering happening in Asia. It happens every February at Thiruvalla, Kerala, India. The traditional venue has been the banks of Pamba and 2011 was the 16th version of it.
116 years ago, when it started off, the Marthoma Church(the Christian denomination responsible for the convention) didn’t have the strong financial background. The leaders then gathered together and saw a need of missionary workers and started the MC (Maramon convention) as a ground to attract more youth to gospel work.
116 years ago if the assets were the will-power, penury and zeal, today the Church has a very wealthy backing. It would not be appropriate to single out Marthoma denomination in terms of wealth. The Christian community as a whole has been very well refurbished thanks to the immigrant money flowing in from the Gulf and America.
So with changing times the MC has changed too. The convention is a 7 day long event happening in the second week of February. We, a group of four friends, decided to make to the MC for a day. It was not because of the piety. We wanted to experience what was happening there. For most of us it was the beginner’s pilgrimage.
The climate was hot and humid, which is quite unlikely. The climatic variation is being prominently experienced in Kerala. The irony is the Marthoma Church has been fighting a battle on environmental degradation. But the MC has drawn flak for the unscientific waste disposal on the river banks. The sandy river beds have given way to muddy grounds, thanks to the sand mafia.
By the time we reached there, the crowd was heavy. The either side of the grounds were lined 
with stalls- a place to attract in donations. The ground was filled with people. Unlike a gathering of faithful, the place resembled a carnival ground. It was tough to make out what happened at the front. So there were LCD TVs to help us out with that.
We went around brought a couple of CDs, books, heard some sermons and came back home. D
id it influence me? I leave it to the time to answer that question. But I am pained at once meaningful activities turning into pomp.
3 comments:
Kerala is beautiful but humidity becomes unbearable before monsoons...how come it was humid in march?
Great travelogue.
weather is the biggest dampener in India in all activities.
Used to love Maramon convention in yesteryears. It used to be great those days and there never used to be much vendors on the road side.. but now everything is for the body and not for the spirit :)
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