Kasaragod: Thirty-seven years after the death of  Rev Alex Anthrayose Cor-Episcopos, who helped establish at least 12 Orthodox parishes in the hill panchayats of north Malabar, his mortal remains were shifted from Kasaragod to Kottayam and reinterred beside his wife's tomb.

The mortal remains of Alex Anthrayose Cor-Episcopos, formerly known as Fr Chandy P K, were exhumed from St Mary’s Orthodox Church, Narkilakkad, in Kasaragod's West Eleri panchayat on February 14, and reinterred the following day at St Paul’s Church, Kollad, in Kottayam, fulfilling his family's wish.

The shifting of remains is permitted under church practice, though rarely undertaken, said his son, Shibu Kuriakose (58), a civil engineer based in Sharjah. “We felt it was important to honour our mother’s wish that they should rest together,” he said. The legal formalities for the transfer took nearly a year to complete.

Alex Anthrayose passed away on February 19, 1989, at the age of 53. He is remembered in the region as a priest who combined pastoral work with education and social engagement. In addition to his ministry, he served as a teacher, headmaster and for a period as postmaster in Kottamala.

Born on July 3, 1935, in Kottayam district to Korah Mattan and Sosamma, he was the fourth of eight children. Known in his childhood as “Kuttachan”, he studied at St Mary’s High School in Kottayam's Manarcad, before moving to Malabar, where his father had taken up work as a plantation caretaker.

A classroom interaction with a priest while he was in Standard 8 shaped his decision to enter the priesthood. While serving as a deacon, he qualified as a primary school teacher and began working in the hill regions of north Malabar. He joined the government-aided upper primary school at Kottamala in West Eleri panchayat. The school was then managed by Fr Philip Pallichira.

Even during Alex Anthrayose's early years in ministry, he was involved in establishing St Mary’s Church at Kottamala, where a priest from Kottayam initially served as vicar.

On December 26, 1960, he married Thankamma, a teacher at the same school and the niece of Philip Pallichira. He later became headmaster and manager of the school. The couple had three children -- Usha Susan (63), now in Kayamkulam, Pusha Susan (60), now in Pathanamthitta's Adoor, and Shibu Kuriakose (58).

Ordained a priest on April 30, 1961, Alex Anthrayose (then Fr Chandy) initially did not have a parish. So residents pooled resources and built St Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Church at Narkilakkad, about 4 km from Kottamala, where he began to celebrate Mass regularly.

For nearly 17 years, he served as a priest without drawing a church salary. According to his son, the income he received as headmaster went towards social and spiritual activities in the region.

In 1984, he handed over Kottamala UP School to the Orthodox Church; it was subsequently renamed MGM UP School. The same year, he was elevated as Cor-Episcopos, an honorary ecclesiastical rank conferred on senior priests in recognition of distinguished service.

Over the years, he played a role in nurturing Orthodox communities across north Malabar. He helped build churches at Aravanchal (Peringome Vayakkara Grama Panchayat), Kozhichal and Pakkanjikkad (Cherupuzha panchayat, Ettukudukka (Kankol-Alappadamba), all east of Payyannur in Kannur district; and in Kasaragod's Panathur (Panathady panchayat), Birikkulam (Kinanur-Karinthalam), Malom (Balal); and also in Mangaluru and Manipal, where his son studied civil engineering.

After his death on February 19, 1989, he was interred at Narkilakkad church. His wife Thankamma later expressed a wish to be buried beside him. As there was no burial space in the churchyard, she gave up her adjoining land near the church to make space for a grave next to his. However, in 2018, Shibu moved to Kottayam's Kanjikuzhy and brought his mother with him due to her failing health. She passed away in 2021 at the age of 84 and was buried at St Paul’s Church at Kollad.

The three siblings then began considering whether their father’s remains should be moved. Every year, on his death anniversary, they would go to Narkilakkad church to attend the memorial mass. “As we are getting older, it is becoming difficult for us to travel to Kasaragod,” Shibu said.

Shibu said the three siblings often recalled a passage from Genesis in which Joseph, nearing his death in Egypt, made his brothers swear that when they moved back to the "promised land", they would carry his bones with them. Four generations on, Moses honoured that oath. “We felt something similar,” Shibu said. “Appa should not remain alone. He should rest where Amma rests.”

The proposal initially met with some hesitation from members of the Narkilakkad parish, where Alex Anthrayose Cor-Episcopo remains a revered figure, closely intertwined with the church’s history and the community’s own past. After discussions and with the consent of church authorities, the family initiated the formal process.

The transfer required permissions from the district administrations of Kasaragod and Kottayam, consent from the churches concerned, and supervision by revenue and medical officials. The procedures took nearly a year.

With the reinterment at Kollad on February 15, the family observed their father’s 37th death anniversary in Kottayam on February 19, this time together beside both their parents, where they now rest side by side.