Prasant Palakkappilly

Prasant Payyappilly Palakkappilly
ܦܪܫܢܬ ܦܝܦܝܠܝ ܦܠܟܦܝܠܝ
പയ്യപ്പിള്ളി പാലയ്ക്കാപ്പിള്ളി പ്രശാന്ത്

Born (1964-09-29) 29 September 1964
Perumanoor, Thevara, Kochi
Nationality Indian
Other names Johnson Payyappilly Palakkappilly
Ethnicity Nasrani
Education Ph. D in Social Work
Alma mater Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Religion Syrian Christian
Relatives Mar Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly

Prasant Payyappilly Palakkappilly (born 29 September 1964) is a Syro-Malabar priest, social activist and environmentalist from the Indian state of Kerala.[1][2][3] He is currently serving as the Principal of Sacred Heart College, Thevara.[1][2][4][5][6]

Fr. Palakkappilly with actor Mammootty at Sacred Heart College, Thevara in 2013.
Fr. Palakkappilly with Kanjirappally bishop Mar Mathew Arackal and other priests at the tomb of Mar Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly.
Fr. Palakkappilly with bishop Mar Gregory Karotemprel

Family

Palakkappilly was born on 29 September 1964[7] at Perumanoor in Payyappilly Palakkappilly Nasrani family[8] which is an ancient Saint Thomas Christian family in India tracing its origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the first century.[9][10][11] Servant of God Mar Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly was his paternal uncle.

Early life

Fr. Palakkappilly did his schooling at Sacred Heart High School, Thevara. Later he decided to join C. M. I., a Syro-Malabar congregation for men. He did Philosophy and Theology studies from Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore and was ordained a priest on 28 December 1994.[7] He took Master's degree in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences in 1997 and Ph. D in Social Work from Rajagiri College of Social Sciences in 2007.

Activities

Fr. Palakkappilly served as the head of Rajagiri College of Social Sciences from 2007 to 2010.[12] During his tenure in Rajagiri, he turned around 22 acres of land to lush greenery and named the whole project, Environmental Lesson.[2] He was also instrumental in starting several environmental initiatives like setting up of micro forests and other forestation efforts, water conservation projects and introduction of waste management systems. As a result, in 2009, Rajagiri College won the Haritha Award by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board for the best environmental initiatives in the state.[2]

In 2010, Fr. Palakkappilly was appointed as the Principal of Sacred Heart College, Thevara. He started a new trend in the college by cultivating paddy in a small piece of land, and now it has practising organic farming on four acres of land.[2][13][14][15] In 2014, under his leaderhip, the college became one among the first five autonomous colleges in Kerala.[16] Fr. Palakkappilly is also part of numerous human rights, child rights and environmental organisations in Kerala.[17]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Green fingers sow seeds for an organic Onam, The Hindu
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Priest with a Green Habit, The New Indian Express
  3. "Clipping of Deepika Kochi". epapr.in.
  4. "Mathrubhumi: ReadMore -'‘Sacred Hearts’ met at Delhi after many years'". mathrubhuminews.in.
  5. http://www.shcollege.ac.in/Webpermission/profileview.aspx
  6. "'All Sections of Society Must Get Equal Access to Higher Education'". The New Indian Express.
  7. 1 2 "Syro Malabar Church". syromalabarchurch.in.
  8. "Congratulations Rev. Dr. Prasant Payyappilly Palakkappilly". payyappilly.org.
  9. The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5 by Erwin Fahlbusch. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing - 2008. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-8028-2417-2.
  10. The Jews of India: A Story of Three Communities by Orpa Slapak. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. 2003. p. 27. ISBN 965-278-179-7.
  11. History, Payyappilly Palakkappilly Nasrani family
  12. Michael Reisch, ed. (2014). Routledge International Handbook of Social Justice. Routledge. ISBN 1317934008.
  13. Staff Reporter. "A sapling for a greener tomorrow". The Hindu.
  14. "Schools in Kochi promote green campus". The Times of India.
  15. "A lesson in farming for them". deccanchronicle.com.
  16. "Grant Autonomy to Colleges to Improve Higher Education: CM". The New Indian Express.
  17. "Principal's Principle". Metro Manorama Kochi. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
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