St. Antony's Forane Church which is known as 'Chinna Roma' or 'Little Rome' is an ornamental land mark of Ollur as well as a source of spiritual sustenance to its parishioners. Eluvathingal Kattukkaran ancestral family is situated mainly around this church and also scattered in different parts of Kerala, India, and abroad. It’s a fact that our ancestral family has lots to remember and to be proud of. Many stories of nobility and pomp lie hidden in the vaults of our family history. Lessons of Christian virtue and strong spirituality were handed over to our future generations by our fore fathers. Let us see how well the family has fared so far.

When the leaves of history are turned over, we come to notice that one person from Elpathingal Namboodri family of Alapatt Desam near Pazhuvil, a country side in Thrissur Dt accepted Christianity and modified his family name to 'Eluvathingal'. He shifted his residence from Pazhuvil to Kattoor in Thrissur district. There were four brothers in the family. (1) Anthony, (2) Pyloth, (3) Varappan and (4) Aippu. Anthony, the eldest was a farmer and the second one was in textile business. The younger two were Pazhur Lord's army men. They suffered martyrdom in a fight between Pazhur and Enammavu Lords at a place called Padiyam. It was in the year 1675, that Pyloth, the second brother of the family came to Ollur and settled down here with his wife and only son Varu, for improving his textile business. We have to remember this year 1675 with great reverence because it was then the first shoot of our ancestral family put forth its roots in the fertile soil of Ollur. From 1675 onwards, Pyloth's family name became known as Eluvathingal Kattukkaran as he came from Kattoor. At that time they stayed in the house opposite to our present Sacred Heart Statue. [Mr. Kurian S/o. Ouseph Aippu Master lives in that house now.]

When Pyloth our founding father expired in 1708, Ollur Church did not exist and so, his body was buried in Pazhuvil church. Varu was 30 years old at the time of his father's death. Varu's sons were (1) Pyloth, (2) Porinchu, (3) Anthony and (4) Kuria. In 1749 Varu died and was buried in Ollur Church. Varu's son Pyloth's successors are known as “Marathakara Kattukaran”. Porinchu's successors are known as “Mukkysthan Kattukaran”. Anthony's successors are known as “Ollur kattukaran”. Kuria had only two daughters. Members of Ollur Kattukaran family are residing in Ollur, Thrissur, Mattom, and Manalur. Anthony's sons were (1) Anthappan, (2) Pyloth, and (3) Aippu. During the period of Tippu's war, in order to escape from the calamities of war, Anthony sold all his assets for coins and migrated along with his family and his brother's sons to Nedumparamban's house at Venduruthi. They stayed there for one year. By then, Anthony's elder son Anthappan was 12 years old. It is to be remembered that during this period of war, Ollur church was set on fire. When the war ended, he returned to Ollur. Soon after that, he expired in 1790.

Anthappan's sons were (1) Anthony, (2) Kuria, (3) Varu, (4) Pyloth, (5) Aippu and (6) Kunjaram. Anthappan's younger brother Aippu (Anthony's third son) was a priest, known by name, ‘Ignatius'. He spent most of his life time at Ollur church and passed away in 1866 and was buried honorably in Ollur church.

In1928, according to the opinion of Rev. Mother Christina, we started the annual prayer gathering and kudumbayogam. Those days, other than the residents of Ollur, people from outside Ollur, irrespective of caste and creed used to attend St. Raphael's feast. So it was decided to conduct the annual kudumbayogam every year, the next Sunday after the feast in the church.

In order to build a monument in front of the house of our founding father Pyloth, some land was donated by the family of Kuria Devassy and with the contributions of all families, it was decided to install a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on that monument. An imported statue was purchased from Mangalore and on 28-10-1928 the consecration of the statue was done by Rev. Fr. Malliackal Koonan Ouseph. All family members extended their co-operation to make the event a success. In the month of June 1940, a heavy storm blew over the whole of Kerala and destroyed the wooden shelter of the statue. But the wooden structure was soon replaced by a concrete one and the statue was re-consecrated. Mr. Kuria Devassy financed this. All our fore fathers who were involved in this attempt should be remembered with gratitude.

Our Kudumbayogam which was started in 1928 had been conducted all these years successfully without any lapse. On the Sunday which comes after the Church festival, the celebration starts with Holy Mass at the parish church in the morning. Afterwards all family members assemble in front of the statue of ‘Sacred Heart of Jesus' for the yearly consecration ceremony. The Silver Jubilee of the consecration was performed by Rev. Dr. George Alappat, the then Bishop of Thrissur on 26th October1952. The Golden Jubilee was celebrated by Rev. Dr. Clement Thottungal, the Bishop of Sagar on 30th October 1977. The Platinum Jubilee was celebrated by Ernakulam Auxiliary Bishop Rev. Sebastin Edyantharath on 27th October 2002. It was then, for the first time the family genealogy was published in the form of a book and distributed. It was a work done by elaborate research and editing.

In 2003 October 17th, ten cents of land situated behind our founding fathers residence was purchased in the name of the trustee Mr. Xavi Kattukaran. In 2007 along with the consecration renewal, Rev. Fr. Eugine Kattukaran blessed the stone and laid it as the foundation stone of our family hall, with 60 feet length and 30 feet width. In 2008 October 28, after the consecration ceremony, Sagar Bishop Rev. Pastor Neelankavil inaugurated the hall and named it “Kingship Square Hall”. Efforts taken by Mr. Xavi Kattukaran to complete this project should be remembered with gratitude. Certainly, the generous donations of all our family members were there. In 2011, the family directory, containing the addresses, contact numbers and e-mail addresses of all the members, was published and distributed.

From our prestigious family, Rev. Fr. Eugene OCD, Rev. Fr. Joshy CMI] & Rev. Fr. Dr. Paul are serving the church. We remember Rev. Mother Christina CMC [Achai D/o Varu] and Rev. Mother Stella Mariya CMC [Rosa D/o Aippu Anthony] who served as Superior General of the Carmelite Congregation. We are proud of the many nuns from our family who are in different convents.

In the industrial sector of Kerala, many of our forefathers had stamped their individual mark by starting modern industries like (1) Packing Case (Devassy Kuria, Ollur), (2) Umbrella Industry (Porinchu Mathew Varappan, Ernakulam), (3) Film Theatre (Varu Varunny Ouseph, Thrissur), (4) Match Box (Varunny Ouseph Devassy, Thrissur).

Many of our family members had served and still serve as employees of State and Central Government Offices. Many others are doing useful services to society in various capacities as Doctors, Engineers, Teachers , Principals, Ph.D holders, Scientists , Social workers, Traders and Industrialists. Upholding our family name and fame, many of our members are residing abroad in countries like England, America, Canada, and Gulf.

Our desire to form a Family Website had been fruitful in connection with the 87th annual celebration inaugurated by Rev. Fr. Dr. Paul Kattukaran in 2014. This will enable us to locate postal & e-mail addresses, contact numbers and other personal details of all our members anywhere in the world, to be in touch with each other.

Fixing false ceiling, renovation of Kingship square hall (2014) and extending this hall to be used for dining purposes also (2015) are the results of good team work by the executive members for the period 2013- 2015. By the grace of God the work was completed well enough.

Thanking all our members for their generous co-operation extended so far and paying homage to our forefathers, this detailed family history is submitted for publishing in the family website.

For Website Committee
Gen.Secretary (2013-15)
Aippu Jose (Kodakara)