Aruvithura Church is a Syro-Malabar Catholic church located at Aruvithura , Erattupetta municipality in the Kerala State of India. The first edifice of the church at Irapeli (now Aruvuthura) was made of granite stones in the manner of Hindu temples. As it is traditionally believed that St. Thomas, the apostle of India who preached the Christian faith in the important and popular villages of Malabar. It is believed that St. Thomas visited Irapeli and converted a prominent families into christianity and laid a cross on the banks of the Meenachil River. Local traditions also support this belief. This is the first church in the Palai diocese and was built in the 1st century. St. Thomas founded seven and a half churches there. (He laid a cross at Irapoli making the church of Irapeli the half ch