Nasranis are an ethnic community in
Kerala. They follow the early Hebrew-Syriac Christian tradition and are known in different names such as Syrian-Malabar Christians, St Thomas Christians, Syrian Christians and Mar Thoma Nasranis.
The term Syrian-Malabar Nasrani means the people of Christian-Jewish tradition who follow Jesus of Nazareth and from the Malabar Coast in South India.
After the Portuguese invasion of Kerala in the early 1500s, much of the Jewish tradition has been forgotten and today their tradition is Syrian-Malabar, while culture and faith are South Indian and St Thomas Christian respectively.
The symbol of the Nasranis is Nasrani Menorah, otherwise known as the Mar Thoma Cross. It is based on the Jewish menorah, the ancient symbol of the Jewish people. Their language is Malayalam.
