Puthen Pana

Puthen Pana is a Malayalam poem written by the German Jesuit missionary priest Johann Ernst Hanxleden, famously known as Arnos Pathiri, in Kerala. The poem, composed between 1721 and 1732, narrates the life of Jesus Christ in a poetic format and is one of the earliest and most well-known Christian-themed works in Malayalam literature.^[1] Arnos Pathiri lived in St. Francis Xavier Forane Church, Velur ,Thrissur and is said to have written Puthen Pana.

The poem is recited by Kerala Christians during important religious occasions like Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. One theory suggests that Arnos Pathiri escaped from St. Francis Xavier Forane Church, Velur, Thrissur after a toddy shop worker overheard a local plan to kill him and warned him, prompting his move to St. Antony's_Church, Pazhuvil, Thrissur, where he later died and was buried. St. Antony's_Church, Pazhuvil, Thrissur —believed to be the first church in India named after St. Antony and traditionally dated to 883 AD—houses the tomb of Arnos Pathiri.