page_title: Knanaya
section_title: Institutions
hierarchical_section_title: Knanaya / Institutions
caption_attribution_description: English: Caritas Hospital Aerial View
context_page_description: The Knānāya, also known as the Southists or Tekkumbhagar, are an endogamous ethnic group found among the Saint Thomas Christian community of Kerala, India. They are differentiated from another part of the community, known in this context as the Northists. There are about 300,000 Knanaya in India and elsewhere.
  The origins of the division of the Saint Thomas Christians into Northist and Southist groups is traced back to the arrival of the Syrian merchant Thomas of Cana who led a migration of Syriac Christians from Mesopotamia to India in the 4th or 9th century. The Knanaya claim descent from Thomas of Cana and those who came with him. The communities arrival was recorded on the Thomas of Cana copper plates which existed in Kerala until the 17th century after which point they were taken to Portugal by the Franciscan Order. The ethnic division between the Knanaya and other St. Thomas Christians was observed during the Portuguese colonization of India in the 16th century and was noted throughout the European colonial era.
  Today, the majority of Knanaya are members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church.
context_section_description: Though a minority community, the Knanaya have established several institutions throughout the state of Kerala such as schools, colleges, and hospitals listed in the following figures: 
  Colleges - 4
  Higher Secondary Schools - 10
  High Schools - 20
  Upper Primary Schools - 18
  Lower Primary Schools - 55
  Nursery Schools - 80
  School of Nursing - 2
  College of Pharmacy - 1
  Multi-Health Workers School - 1
  Industrial Trade Schools - 1
  Poly-technique schools - 1
  Industrial Schools - 39
  Hospitals - 6
  Homes for the Aged - 6
  Homes for the Mentally Retarded - 7
  Homes for Disabled - 4
  Hostels - 18
  Orphanages - 6
  Publishers - 2
caption: Caritas, a 635 bed hospital established and operated by the Knanaya community
exif: {}