Before its worldwide expansion, the Church was mapped in seven dioceses alone: Kollam, Thumpamon, Niranam, Kottayam, Kandanad, Angamaly, and Kochi — as drawn in the 1906 edition.
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The original seven dioceses, as they stood in 1906.
At the Veliyanad Synod (held at St. Stephen’s Knanaya Syrian Church) in 1877, Patriarch H.H. Ignatius Peter III of Antioch proposed reorganizing the Malankara Church into seven dioceses, each under its own metropolitan. Though the proposal initially faced considerable opposition—including from Malankara Metropolitan Mar Dionysius V—and the synod concluded without agreement, the seven-diocese structure was ultimately adopted and became the Church's enduring administrative framework.
The 1906 edition preserves this formative chapter in the Church's history.
Each of the seven original dioceses, keyed by color.
By the time of the modern directory, seven dioceses had grown to thirty-two, spanning six continents. This map is where that story begins.