About us
About Kurisumala Ashram
A monastery of the Syro-Malankara Church, incorporated into the Cistercian Order of Strict Observance, on a hill near Vagamon.
Syrian, Indian and Cistercian
Kurisumala Ashram was established on November 3, 1957, by Zecharias Mar Athanasios, bishop of Tiruvalla in Kerala, as an autonomous monastery of eparchial rank of the Syro-Malankara Church. In 1998 it was incorporated into the Order of the Cistercians of Strict Observance with the status of an abbey.
The community lives by three charisms: the Syrian liturgy, the Indian monastic lifestyle and Benedictine-Cistercian spirituality. Prayer, study and manual labour fill the day, and hospitality is offered to everyone who comes.
The Ashram was founded by Fr. Francis Acharya and Fr. Bede Griffiths. Their story, and the story of the hill they made green, is told in the pages below.
Watch
The Ashram on film
A video about the Ashram
Kurisumala: a short documentary
By Santhosh George Kulangara
Our Founders
Fr. Francis Acharya and Fr. Bede Griffiths, two monks who sought God in India.
IIOrigin and Growth
From a thatched hut on a rain-swept hill to an autonomous Cistercian abbey.
IIIMilestones
The dates that shaped the Ashram, from 1955 to the present.
IVSpiritual Objectives
What the monastic charism is, and how it lives at Kurisumala.
VFields of Activity
The dairy farm, the guest houses, the bread and the books.