Ancient Churches , Stone Crosses of Kerala- Saint Thomas Cross, Nazraney Sthambams and other Persian Crosses : Kerala has many churches of antiquity. According to tradition Saint Thomas, the apostle established Seven Churches or communities in Kerala. These are Palayoor, Cranganore, Paravur, Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Chayal and Kollam. In 1578, there were about Sixty Churches for Saint Thomas Christians in Malabar. The number of Churches increased during the course of time, and by the year 1644 there were about 94 of them