{"id":38673,"date":"2015-09-12T05:45:20","date_gmt":"2015-09-12T05:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/?p=38673"},"modified":"2015-09-17T12:21:55","modified_gmt":"2015-09-17T12:21:55","slug":"resurrection-of-the-catholicate-anthem-vara-guna-gana-reprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/?p=38673","title":{"rendered":"Resurrection of the Catholicate Anthem\u00a0\u00a0\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d &#8211; Reprise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Poet_C_P_Chandy.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-35314\" src=\"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Poet_C_P_Chandy.jpg\" alt=\"Poet_C_P_Chandy\" width=\"193\" height=\"216\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GxLOBGWhVzM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Rebirth-of-the-golden-days.pdf\">The Rebirth of the Golden Days\u00a0by\u00a0Dr. Meledath Kurian Thomas<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Jrx25gNtNbs\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u0d35\u0d30\u0d17\u0d41\u0d23 \u0d35\u0d3e\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d27\u0d3f \u0d35\u0d3e\u0d34\u0d41\u0d15 \u0d28\u0d46\u0d1f\u0d41\u0d28\u0d3e\u0d7e \u0d35\u0d48\u0d26\u0d3f\u0d15 \u0d26\u0d3f\u0d35\u0d4d\u0d2f \u0d2a\u0d3f\u0d24\u0d3e\u0d35\u0d47&#8230;.<br \/>\n\u0d28\u0d3f\u0d24\u0d3e\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d24 \u0d35\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d26\u0d4d\u0d2f \u0d2a\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d36\u0d41\u0d26\u0d4d\u0d27 \u0d36\u0d41\u0d2d\u0d36\u0d4d\u0d30\u0d40 \u0d36\u0d4d\u0d30\u0d47\u0d37\u0d4d\u0d20 \u0d2a\u0d41\u0d30\u0d4b\u0d39\u0d3f\u0d24 \u0d2e\u0d4c\u0d32\u0d3f<br \/>\n\u0d27\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d2f \u0d2e\u0d39\u0d3e\u0d36\u0d2f \u0d2d\u0d41\u0d35\u0d28\u0d24\u0d4d\u0d2f\u0d3e\u0d17\u0d3f \u0d09\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d28\u0d24 \u0d38\u0d41\u0d2a\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d24 \u0d2f\u0d4b\u0d17\u0d40..<br \/>\n\u0d38\u0d41\u0d35\u0d3f\u0d2e\u0d32 \u0d15\u0d3e\u0d24\u0d4b\u0d32\u0d3f\u0d15\u0d4d\u0d15\u0d3e \u0d2a\u0d26 \u0d2a\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d36\u0d4b\u0d2d\u0d3f\u0d24 \u0d2c\u0d3e\u0d35\u0d3e&#8230;<br \/>\n\u0d24\u0d46\u0d1c\u0d4b \u0d2e\u0d2f\u0d1c\u0d2f \u0d36\u0d3e\u0d32\u0d40 &#8230;.<span class=\"text_exposed_show\"><br \/>\n\u0d35\u0d30\u0d17\u0d41\u0d23 \u0d35\u0d3e\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d27\u0d3f \u0d35\u0d3e\u0d34\u0d41\u0d15 \u0d28\u0d46\u0d1f\u0d41\u0d28\u0d3e\u0d7e \u0d35\u0d48\u0d26\u0d3f\u0d15 \u0d26\u0d3f\u0d35\u0d4d\u0d2f \u0d2a\u0d3f\u0d24\u0d3e\u0d35\u0d47&#8230;.<br \/>\n\u0d28\u0d46\u0d1f\u0d41\u0d28\u0d3e\u0d7e \u0d28\u0d46\u0d1f\u0d41\u0d28\u0d3e\u0d7e \u0d28\u0d46\u0d1f\u0d41\u0d28\u0d3e\u0d7e \u0d2d\u0d41\u0d35\u0d3f\u0d38\u0d41\u0d16\u0d2e\u0d4b\u0d1f\u0d41 \u0d28\u0d46\u0d1f\u0d41\u0d28\u0d3e\u0d7e<br \/>\n\u0d35\u0d3e\u0d34\u0d41\u0d15 \u0d26\u0d3f\u0d35\u0d4d\u0d2f \u0d2a\u0d3f\u0d24\u0d3e\u0d35\u0d47&#8230;..<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/varaguna1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-38769\" src=\"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/varaguna1-223x300.jpg\" alt=\"varaguna\" width=\"223\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/varaguna1-223x300.jpg 223w, http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/varaguna1-760x1024.jpg 760w, http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/varaguna1.jpg 846w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 223px) 100vw, 223px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Meledath Kurian Thomas<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>United Arab Emirates:\u00a0<\/strong>Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is going to witness an historic event, the resurrection of the Catholicate Anthem of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church which was abandoned for about quarter a century. On 14 September 2015,\u00a0<strong>AD 52 ANTHEM<\/strong>, a team of 14 youngsters from the UAE, will re-launch the Catholicate Anthem which begins as \u2018<em>Vara Guna Gana<\/em>\u2019 in connection with the anniversary of the establishment of the Catholicate in India.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The Catholicate anthem has an interesting story. From 1925 onwards it was a custom to chant a\u00a0<em>Catholica Mangala Ganam<\/em>, a sort of poetic citation, during the receptions and public meetings attended by the Catholicos of the East. But it was not with any uniformed format. Mostly, it was just a poetic composition by some local hands in any one of the Syriac or Malayalam tunes. Such compositions never survived beyond one or two functions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">In 1951, C. P. Chandy, later honoured as\u00a0<em>Sabha Kavi<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 the poet of the Church &#8211;\u00a0\u00a0wrote a\u00a0<em>Catholica Mangalapatra Ganam<\/em>\u00a0by the inspiration and assistance of Rev. Pathamuttom M. C. Kuriakose Remban. It was in the tune of the Syriac liturgical chant <em>\u201cThurod Sinai\u201d\u00a0<\/em>with seven stanzas beginning with \u201c<em>Catholica, Simhasana Vedi<\/em>&#8230;\u201c. It was first used in a great Catholicate public meeting held at Kottayam on 31 Kanni, 1951.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">In 1952 Rev. Pathamuttom M. C. Kuriakose Remban published this\u00a0<em>Catholica Mangalapatra Ganam<\/em>\u00a0in his book titled \u2018<em>Prasanga Yoga Mitram\u2019<\/em>. The uprising of the \u2018Catholicate Sprit\u2019 in 1950\u2019s among the Malankara Nazranis along with this book popularised this composition and it was used universally in honour of the Catholicate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Even though this composition was not in a format of an anthem, its popular tune and inspiration of its content made it so accepted that even the common people memorised it. Beyond the description of the greatness of the Catholicate in India, it also carried the personal description of the then Catholicos H. H. Baselios Geevarghese II, like his deep sound, physical characters and pastoral nature. Without considering the logic, it was used as the Catholicate Anthem, even after his demise in 1965 for further a decade.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">In October 1975, H. H. Baselios Marthoma Mathews I was enthroned as the Catholicos of the East. He instructed Sabha Kavi Shri. C. P. Chandy, with whom the former composed almost all of the liturgical texts in Malayalam, to write a brief but powerful Catholicate Anthem. In 1976, C. P. Chandy created the beautiful composition of\u00a0<em>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d<\/em>\u00a0in the tune of India\u2019s National Anthem. It was published in the official hand book for the Catholicate Day celebrations, which falls on the 36<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0day of the Great Lent annually, starting 1977. Its\u00a0punch, because of the simplicity of its tune with the spirit of patriotism,\u00a0made it a household fame within no time. It became a custom to chant this Catholicate Anthem whenever the Catholicate flag was hoisted and at the conclusion of public meetings attended by the Catholicos of East.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><em>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d<\/em>\u00a0was chanted for more than a decade. The\u00a0\u2018Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act\u2019,<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Act_of_Parliament\">Act<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Parliament_of_India\">Indian<\/a> Parliament\u00a0which prohibits desecration of or insult to the country&#8217;s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/National_symbol\">national symbols<\/a>, including <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Flag_of_India\">the National Flag<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Constitution_of_India\">The Constitution<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jana_Gana_Mana\">the National Anthem<\/a>.\u00a0On this context, the Holy Episcopal Synod of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was forced to think about an alternative. Instead of considering any modifications over the so popular \u201c<em>Vara Guna Gana\u201d<\/em>\u00a0to overcome the legal barrier, the Church adopted \u201c<em>Marthoma Simhasanathil&#8230;\u201d<\/em>\u00a0composed by Shri. Abraham Padinjarathalakkel in 1987 as the\u00a0\u201c<em>Catholica Mangala Ganam\u201d,<\/em>\u00a0initially written as an OVBS song. It became official since 1989.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Even though \u201c<em>Marthoma Simhasanathil&#8230;\u201d<\/em> is a beautiful poem composed elegantly, it had a lot of hindrances that never made it popular.\u00a0 Apart from its long duration, it is not at all composite to suits the standards of any anthem that raises the pride of the Catholicate. <em>Marthoma Simhasanathil&#8230; <\/em>can be well chanted only by a well trained choir. The chanting of Catholicate Anthem has now become namesake as it is cut short at times and use of varied melodies by different choirs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Team <strong>\u201cAD 52 Anthem<\/strong>\u201d have re-composed the legendary \u201c<em>Vara Guna Gana<\/em>&#8230;\u201d in a new style by retaining its old charm and vigour beyond all legal barriers. The team<strong> AD 52 ANTHEM<\/strong> under the leadership of Sam Thomas, a musician who hails from Delhi with a team of 8 Singers will re-launch \u201c<em>Vara Guna Gana<\/em>&#8230;\u201d on 14 September 2015. I am sure this new creation from these fervent youngsters will reach out to ignite the \u201cSpirit of Catholicate\u201d in the Malankara. Let it will bring back the golden days when <em>\u201cVara Guna Gana&#8230;\u201d<\/em> was chanted at every occasion. This initiative is a tribute to H. H. Catholicos Baselios Marthoma Mathews I, the great and Sabha Kavi C. P. Chandy of blessed memory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Response from a Reader<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<div>Dear Sir,<\/div>\n<h2>A part of the article titled \u2018Resurrection of the Catholicate Anthem\u00a0\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d \u2013 Reprise\u2019 by <strong>Dr. Meledath Kurian Thomas published in \u2018Malankara Orthodox TV reads as follows.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Quote-<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2>In October 1975, H. H. Baselios Marthoma Mathews I was enthroned as the Catholicos of the East. He instructed Sabha Kavi Shri. C. P. Chandy, with whom the former composed almost all of the liturgical texts in Malayalam, to write a brief but powerful Catholicate Anthem. In 1976, C. P. Chandy created the beautiful composition of\u00a0<em>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d<\/em>\u00a0in the tune of India\u2019s National Anthem.<\/h2>\n<h2>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0-Unquote<\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<div>I am writing this to point out a major factual error in the above statement.<\/div>\n<div>The \u2018Catholicate Anthem\u2019\u00a0or \u2018<span lang=\"ML\">\u0d15\u0d3e\u0d24\u0d4b\u0d32\u0d3f\u0d15\u0d4d\u0d15<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d2e\u0d02\u0d17\u0d33\u0d02<\/span>\u2019 as it was called then, and goes like<\/div>\n<div>\u201c<span lang=\"ML\">\u0d35\u0d30<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d17\u0d41\u0d23<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d17\u0d23<\/span><span lang=\"ML\"> \u0d28<\/span><span lang=\"ML\">\u0d3f\u0d27\u0d3f<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d35\u0d3e\u0d34\u0d41\u0d15<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d28\u0d46\u0d1f\u0d41\u0d28\u0d3e\u0d33\u0d4d<\/span><span lang=\"ML\">\u200d<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"ML\">\u0d35\u0d48\u0d26\u0d3f\u0d15<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d26\u0d3f\u0d35\u0d4d\u0d2f<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d2a\u0d3f\u0d24\u0d3e\u0d35\u0d47<\/span> \u2026<\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"ML\">\u0d28\u0d3f\u0d26\u0d3e\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d24<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d35\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d26\u0d4d\u0d2f<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d2a\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d36\u0d41\u0d26\u0d4d\u0d27<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d36\u0d41\u0d2d<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d36\u0d4d\u0d30\u0d40<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span lang=\"ML\">\u0d36\u0d4d\u0d30\u0d47\u0d37\u0d4d\u0d20<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d2a\u0d41\u0d30\u0d4b\u0d39\u0d3f\u0d24<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d2e\u0d4c\u0d32\u0d40<\/span> \u2026\u2026 etc.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 was neither written in 1976, nor on the instruction of, H. H. Baselios Marthoma Mathews I, \u00a0as Dr<strong>. Meledath Kurian Thomas states in his article. He may be right in his statement that it was <\/strong>published in the official hand book for the Catholicate Day celebrations, in 1977. \u00a0But the song itself was written at least twelve years before 1977, in 1965. I can state this with conviction for the reason that follows.\u00a0 It might be right to state that the church accepted it and gave it the official status of \u2018Catholicate Anthem\u2019 in 1977 at the time of H.H. Baselios Marthoma Mathews I, but I am not certain about those facts.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I used to attend annual conference of the Orthodox students Movement (the fore runner of the present MGOCSM) even as a high school student. I got first prize for \u2018Light Music\u2019 in 1962 (or 63?) at the competitions held at the annual conference conducted at Parumala Seminary and received prize from H.H. Baselios Geevarghese II. It was a memorable day of my life and makes me very happy and proud even at this age and time. \u00a0I again attended the annual conference as a \u2018Pre University class\u2019 student in 1965. The conference was held at Catholicate College Pathanamthitta. The period was after the era of the notorious court cases, and the church was remaining a united one. These conferences were attended by many bishops who were on the two warring factions before. I cherish the memories of those peaceful days and the experiences at the students\u2019 conferences of the united church, where as a young boy I could meet and speak to many of these bishops who were held in high esteem. I consider myself lucky and blessed to be able to meet and talk to great souls like H.H. Baselios Geevarghese II, H.H. Augen I and H G Pathrose Mar Ostatios.\u00a0\u00a0 At the conference held at Catholicate College also I won the first prize for light music (solo). The final day of the conferences were invariably attended by the Catholicose and the prize winners for the various competitions received prizes from the Bava. The conference at Catholicate College was attended by the \u2018Sabha Kavi\u2019 \u00a0C.P. Chandi also. Chandi sir wrote a song to be sung as the last and concluding item of the final day\u2019s programme, which would be attended by the Bava, H.H. Augen I. \u00a0Chandi sir wanted me to sing that new song he had written during those days at Catholicate College Pathanamthitta. He gave me the song to sing at the function. It was an easy one, as it was written to the exact tune of our National anthem which everyone was familiar with. And that song was nothing but the \u201c<span lang=\"ML\">\u0d35\u0d30<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d17\u0d41\u0d23<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d17\u0d23<\/span><span lang=\"ML\"> \u0d28<\/span><span lang=\"ML\">\u0d3f\u0d27\u0d3f<\/span><span lang=\"ML\">\u0d35\u0d3e\u0d34\u0d41\u0d15<\/span> <span lang=\"ML\">\u0d28\u0d46\u0d1f\u0d41\u0d28\u0d3e\u0d33\u0d4d<\/span><span lang=\"ML\">\u200d<\/span>\u2026.\u201d. \u00a0Though Chandi sir planned it as a solo one, someone made a reasonable suggestion that it would be better \u00a0if it were sung by a small group. So ultimately I along with three others sung the song for the first time in a public function held at Catholicate College Pathanamthitta for the annual students\u2019 conference in 1965. \u00a0Sorry, I do not remember the names of those who were my co- singers at the function.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Hope the above information would be of interest to you and to correct a factual error in the article.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">One obvious drawback of the song was its tune, which was that of the National Anthem. Probably that was one (or sole) reason why it was substituted with the present one written and composed by Mr. P.G. Abraham. \u00a0Incidentally that song was sung for the first time by a group (the choir of Palarivattom church) consisting of my sister also.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div>Best Regards.<\/p>\n<div class=\"yj6qo ajU\">\n<div id=\":lu\" class=\"ajR\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Hide expanded content\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ajT\" src=\"https:\/\/ssl.gstatic.com\/ui\/v1\/icons\/mail\/images\/cleardot.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>Mammen M.Oommen.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Reply from Dr. Kurian Thomas<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The response of Mammen M. Oommen to my article, <em>Resurrection of the Catholicate Anthem &#8211;<\/em><em> \u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d \u2013 Reprise<\/em>, worth an explanation. There is no factual error in my said article. But I do agree that it lack some information which I never knew.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Regarding the role of Baselius Marthoma Mathews I in the birth of <em>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d <\/em>as the Catholicate anthem, I stated in my article as &#8230; <em>In October 1975, H. H. Baselios Marthoma Mathews I was enthroned as the Catholicos of the East. He instructed Sabha Kavi Shri. C. P. Chandy, with whom the former composed almost all of the liturgical texts in Malayalam, to write a brief but powerful Catholicate Anthem<\/em>. I never claimed that Holy Father had any creative contribution in its creation as in the case of <em>1951<\/em> <em>Catholica Mangalaganam<\/em> composed by Sabha Kavi C. P. Chandy. There was a creative contribution of Fr. M. C. Kuriakose Remban in <em>1951<\/em> <em>Catholica Mangalaganam<\/em> as I mentioned. Hence, an earlier date of composition of <em>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d <\/em>made no factual error in my article.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">It is a fact that Holy Father instructed C. P. Chandy in 1976 to write a powerful Catholicate anthem. Perhaps the later draw Holy Father\u2019s attention to his earlier composition, as you said, <em>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d <\/em>instead of writing a fresh one. Probably realizing the strength of it, Baselios Marthoma Mathews I accepted it as the Catholicate anthem without any change.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The point is, until 1976, <em>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d<\/em> was just a song among many composed by C. P. Chandy. Perhaps it was never used again until 1976 after the Pathanamthitta Conference of 1965 you mentioned. <em>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d<\/em> becomes the Catholicate anthem only in 1977 after the initiative taken by Holy Father. Without his initiative, it would never be the Catholicate anthem. Even if it was written in 1965, the real <em>birth<\/em> of the Catholicate Anthem took place only in 1976. This itinerary justifies my argument.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">I omitted one piece of information in my above stated article. In fact, Sabha Kavi C. P. Chandy wrote a <em>Catholica Mangalaganam<\/em> for H. H. Baselius Augen I too. But it was seldom used and never accepted officially. It was in the tune <em>Eanono Nuhro<\/em>. I remember only a few lines of it. They are &#8230; <em>Karthavin thiru avatharatal, punyam petta palstheenil, palavattom nivasippan bhagyam, kittiya vandhya mahacharya<\/em>&#8230; That too was with such personal descriptions. The strength of <em>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d<\/em> lies in its non<em>-personal<\/em> nature. Acceptance of such a universal anthem instead of a personal <em>Mangalaganam<\/em> shows the vision of Baselios Marthoma Mathews I, the great.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Even though there are no factual errors in my article, thanks to Mammen M. Ommen since his response provides an opportunity to make it clearer. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Dr. Meledath Kurian Thomas<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Dear Sir,<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">This has reference to comments by Dr. Meledath Kurian Thomas to the observations I made regarding his article. Dr. Meledath Kurian Thomas insists that there are no \u2018factual errors\u2019 in his article. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My observations regarding the article were limited to the part of the article I quoted<b>REGARDING THE ORIGIN<\/b> of the song, <i>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d<\/i>, and were only the following.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sabha Kavi Shri. C. P. Chandy,\u00a0 <b>DID NOT CREATE THE SONG <\/b><b>IN 1976<\/b> as stated in the article, <b>BUT HE WROTE IT IN 1965<\/b>.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was <b>NOT WRITTEN ON THE INSTRUCTIONS H. H. BASELIOS MARTHOMA MATHEWS I<\/b>, as stated in the article, but Shri. C. P. Chandy wrote it to be sung as \u2018Catholica Mangalam\u2019 on the concluding day of the Students\u2019 conference in 1965, which was to be blessed by H. H. Baselius Augen I by his presence.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">If the idea conveyed in the above or in the words I wrote in my first message does not amount to FACTUAL ERRORS in the article, I suppose one could rephrase the sentence choosing some other words to describe the condition, but it will not change the meaning.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">I have not commented anything on the \u2018creative contributions\u2019 of Baselios Marthoma Mathews I, the absence of it, or on any such thing Dr. Meledath Kurian Thomas wrote about.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">In Para 4 it is stated that <i>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d<\/i>\u00a0was just a song until 1976 after the Pathanamthitta Conference of 1965 and it becomes the Catholicate anthem only in 1977. Dr. Meledath Kurian Thomas\u2019s own words states <i>\u201c<\/i><i>In 1976, C. P. Chandy created the beautiful composition of\u00a0<\/i><em>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d<\/em><em> .<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><em>So if 1976 (the year of creation of the song) do not refer to the year of writing the song, but its transformation to \u201cCatholicate Anthem\u201d, then it also conveys the meaning that the transformation of the song to an anthem was accomplished in 1976 by Shri C.P.Chandy.\u00a0 <\/em>Everyone knows that <em>that Shri C.P.Chandy could not have transformed \u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d\u00a0 or any of his other song to a \u201cCatholicate Anthem\u201d, and it could have been done only by or with the approval of the Head of the church (As <\/em>Dr. Meledath Kurian Thomas himself states). To cut a long story short, anyone who passed his basic high school English who reads the sentence <i>\u201c<\/i><i>In 1976,(the poet)C. P. Chandy created the beautiful composition of\u00a0<\/i><em>\u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d <\/em>\u00a0understands its meaning <em>as\u00a0 \u201cC.P.Chandy, (who was a poet) WROTE the song\u00a0 \u201cVara Guna Gana\u201d in 1976\u201d , whatever <\/em>Dr. Meledath Kurian Thomas may say now.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">When I wrote my earlier note I have not seen the videos attached with it. The title of the video gives the credit of \u2018Project Guidance\u2019 to Dr. M. Kurien Thomas along with another name. The narration in Malayalam of the promo video goes like this:\u00a0 \u201c\u2026\u20261976 <b><span lang=\"ML\">\u0d32\u0d4d\u200d \u0d05\u0d26\u0d4d\u0d26\u0d47\u0d39\u0d24\u0d4d\u0d24\u0d3f\u0d28\u0d4d\u200d\u0d31\u0d46 \u0d15\u0d3e\u0d35\u0d4d\u0d2f \u0d2d\u0d3e\u0d35\u0d28\u0d2f\u0d3f\u0d32\u0d42\u0d1f\u0d46 \u0d38\u0d2d\u0d2f\u0d41\u0d1f\u0d46 \u0d2a\u0d3e\u0d30\u0d2e\u0d4d\u0d2a\u0d30\u0d4d\u0d2f\u0d35\u0d41\u0d02 \u0d05\u0d24\u0d3f\u0d28\u0d46 \u0d28\u0d2f\u0d3f\u0d15\u0d4d\u0d15\u0d41\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d28 \u0d2a\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d36\u0d41\u0d26\u0d4d\u0d27 \u0d2a\u0d3f\u0d24\u0d3e\u0d35\u0d3f\u0d28\u0d4d\u200d\u0d31\u0d46 \u0d05\u0d24\u0d3f\u0d27\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d2f\u0d35\u0d41\u0d02\u00a0 \u0d2a\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d36\u0d41\u0d26\u0d4d\u0d27\u0d2e\u0d3e\u0d2f \u0d38\u0d4d\u0d25\u0d3e\u0d28\u0d35\u0d41\u0d02 \u0d2a\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d36\u0d41\u0d26\u0d4d\u0d27 \u0d15\u0d3e\u0d24\u0d4b\u0d32\u0d3f\u0d15\u0d4d\u0d15\u0d3e \u0d38\u0d4d\u0d25\u0d3e\u0d2a\u0d28\u0d24\u0d4d\u0d24\u0d46\u0d2f\u0d41\u0d02 \u00a0\u0d2a\u0d35\u0d3f\u0d24\u0d4d\u0d30 \u0d38\u0d41\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d26\u0d30\u0d2e\u0d3e\u0d2f\u0d3f \u0d1a\u0d3f\u0d24\u0d4d\u0d30\u0d40\u0d15\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d1a\u0d4d\u0d1a\u0d41 \u0d15\u0d4a\u0d23\u0d4d\u0d1f\u0d4d \u0d12\u0d30\u0d41 \u0d2e\u0d02\u0d17\u0d33 \u0d17\u0d3e\u0d28\u0d02 \u0d30\u0d1a\u0d3f\u0d15\u0d4d\u0d15\u0d41\u0d15\u0d2f\u0d41\u0d23\u0d4d\u0d1f\u0d3e\u0d2f\u0d3f. &#8230;&#8230;.\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><span lang=\"ML\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><b><span lang=\"ML\">\u0d12\u0d30\u0d41 \u0d05\u0d30\u0d4d\u200d\u0d24\u0d4d\u0d25 \u0d36\u0d19\u0d4d\u0d15\u0d15\u0d4d\u0d15\u0d41\u0d02 \u0d07\u0d1f\u0d2e\u0d3f\u0d32\u0d4d\u0d32\u0d3e\u0d24\u0d46 \u201c<\/span><\/b><b>1976 <\/b><b><span lang=\"ML\">\u0d32\u0d4d\u200d&#8230;.<i>\u0d30\u0d1a\u0d3f\u0d15\u0d4d\u0d15\u0d41\u0d15\u0d2f\u0d41\u0d23\u0d4d\u0d1f\u0d3e\u0d2f\u0d3f \u201c\u00a0 <\/i>\u0d0e\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d28\u0d41\u0d24\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d28\u0d46\u0d2f\u0d3e\u0d23\u0d4d<i> <\/i>\u0d2a\u0d31\u0d1e\u0d4d\u0d1e\u0d3f\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d15\u0d4d\u0d15\u0d41\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d28\u0d24\u0d4d. \u0d12\u0d30\u0d41 \u0d2a\u0d15\u0d4d\u0d37\u0d47 \u0d0e\u0d28\u0d3f\u0d15\u0d4d\u0d15\u0d41 \u0d2e\u0d32\u0d2f\u0d3e\u0d33\u0d35\u0d41\u0d02 \u0d35\u0d36\u0d2e\u0d3f\u0d32\u0d4d\u0d32\u0d46\u0d19\u0d4d\u0d15\u0d3f\u0d32\u0d46 \u0d05\u0d24\u0d3f\u0d28\u0d4d\u200d\u0d31\u0d46 \u00a0\u0d05\u0d30\u0d4d\u200d\u0d24\u0d4d\u0d25\u0d02 \u0d2e\u0d31\u0d4d\u0d31\u0d4a\u0d30\u0d41 \u0d24\u0d30\u0d24\u0d4d\u0d24\u0d3f\u0d32\u0d4d\u200d \u0d2e\u0d28\u0d38\u0d4d\u0d38\u0d3f\u0d32\u0d3e\u0d15\u0d4d\u0d15\u0d47\u0d23\u0d4d\u0d1f\u0d24\u0d41\u0d33\u0d4d\u0d33\u0d42.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><b><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">After the said conference in 1965, I have not kept a track of the song and it was not necessary for me. Church related matters and research on such subjects is not my field of work. And I do not pose any threat to anyone who is involved or specialized in such subjects.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">If Dr. Meledath Kurian Thomas had gracefully accepted the mistake he made in his article (and in his guidance to the project) at least when someone points it out, and if he had confined his comments only to the last sentence in the first para, which reads<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u201c\u2026 I do agree that it lack some information which I never knew.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">And also to the second para<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u201cIt is a fact \u2026\u2026\u2026etc \u2026. without any change.\u201d , \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0then I would not have written this note. He chose to insist in vain that there are no mistakes in whatever he wrote and tried to justify it with arguments which are unconvincing to anyone who understands simple English (or Malayalam).<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">I have been reading various articles written by Dr Kurien Thomas. Coming from someone who is supposed to be an expert, I have been trusting his various statements and findings on the church history and related matters as authentic, without an iota of doubt. After my personal experience and noticing his reluctance in admitting his mistakes, I have realized that such things coming from him should only be taken with a pinch of salt. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">When I wrote my fist note I was not aware that it would be appearing on the pages of \u2018Malankara Orthodox.tv\u2019 as a comment. But now I do hope that this note will be finding a place along with the article, and will not be suppressed. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Best Regards.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"yj6qo ajU\">\n<div id=\":nb\" class=\"ajR\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Hide expanded content\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ajT\" src=\"https:\/\/ssl.gstatic.com\/ui\/v1\/icons\/mail\/images\/cleardot.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Mammen M.Oommen<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">( <a href=\"mailto:m_m_oommen@yahoo.com\" target=\"_blank\">m_m_oommen@yahoo.com<\/a> )<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Rebirth of the Golden Days\u00a0by\u00a0Dr. Meledath Kurian Thomas \u0d35\u0d30\u0d17\u0d41\u0d23 \u0d35\u0d3e\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d27\u0d3f \u0d35\u0d3e\u0d34\u0d41\u0d15 \u0d28\u0d46\u0d1f\u0d41\u0d28\u0d3e\u0d7e \u0d35\u0d48\u0d26\u0d3f\u0d15 \u0d26\u0d3f\u0d35\u0d4d\u0d2f \u0d2a\u0d3f\u0d24\u0d3e\u0d35\u0d47&#8230;. \u0d28\u0d3f\u0d24\u0d3e\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d24 \u0d35\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d26\u0d4d\u0d2f \u0d2a\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d36\u0d41\u0d26\u0d4d\u0d27 \u0d36\u0d41\u0d2d\u0d36\u0d4d\u0d30\u0d40 \u0d36\u0d4d\u0d30\u0d47\u0d37\u0d4d\u0d20 \u0d2a\u0d41\u0d30\u0d4b\u0d39\u0d3f\u0d24 \u0d2e\u0d4c\u0d32\u0d3f \u0d27\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d2f \u0d2e\u0d39\u0d3e\u0d36\u0d2f \u0d2d\u0d41\u0d35\u0d28\u0d24\u0d4d\u0d2f\u0d3e\u0d17\u0d3f \u0d09\u0d28\u0d4d\u0d28\u0d24 \u0d38\u0d41\u0d2a\u0d30\u0d3f\u0d24 \u0d2f\u0d4b\u0d17\u0d40.. \u0d38\u0d41\u0d35\u0d3f\u0d2e\u0d32 &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35314,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38673"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38801,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38673\/revisions\/38801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}