This story is part five of our series, 'The Spirituality Industry: A Deep Reporting Project', in which we will look at various religious cults in the country, where they get their funds from, their secrets and why they are attractive among certain age groups, communities, etc. Read the other four parts here.
Around 2009, a farmer and his family, all ardent followers of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, left to join a newly formed, much smaller church. They moved out of their joint household in Kerala’s Kannur district, cut all ties with their relatives, and even pulled their children out of school.
“They stopped talking to us,” an elderly relative said. “They were not interested in maintaining any relationship.”
Soon, the whispers became unease and spread to neighbours.
In the next couple of years, the Emperor Emmanuel Church that the family joined started a prayer group in the same village.
Many from the village and from across Kerala began shifting their allegiance to the new church. That’s what set off the first alarm bells among Catholic authorities.
A Catholic follower recalled how a priest warned his church about a ‘cult’. “We were told that this cult thinks the world will end in 2012 and is building a Noah’s Ark. Only those who enter it will be saved,” he said.
At the heart of the Emperor Emmanuel Church are the teachings of Joseph Ponnara, a retired drawing teacher from Idukki whom they consider their prophet. He passed away in 2017 and his followers run the church now.
Preparing for Christ’s believed Second Coming is a central tenet of the Emperor Emmanuel Church, earning them the scorn of Catholic authorities and accusations of being a ‘doomsday cult’.
But nearly two decades since its founding, the Emperor Emmanuel Church continues to thrive. Ponnara established the church in the mid-2000s. Its followers have grown from a handful to an estimated 50,000 in Kerala and over a lakh across India.
Ponnara and the early founding members came from the Syro-Malabar tradition, positioning their movement as a challenge from within.
Their rejection of clerical authority was one of the early points of conflict. The Syro-Malabar establishment responded strongly in the late 2000s, issuing pastoral letters, public warnings, and eventually a book accusing Emperor Emmanuel members of “straying from the faith”.
To Catholic orthodoxy, the Emperor Emmanuel Church remains a breakaway group that distorts scripture, exploits apocalyptic beliefs, and causes deep rifts in families.
To its followers, it is a community of faith that rejects religious hierarchy and seeks to prepare believers for the Second Coming of Christ.
Between these opposing views lies a story about belief, dissent, and the reshaping of religious life in Kerala — one that continues to divide families, churches, and neighbourhoods.
According to reports, there are over 45,000 Christian denominations worldwide.
Broadly, Christianity is classified into five main branches: the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Assyrian Church of the East. Most other denominations or movements emerged as a splinter from one of these traditions.
Within the Catholic Church, there are two primary streams — the Latin Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches.
In Kerala, most Catholics belong to either the Syro-Malabar Church, which follows the Eastern Catholic tradition. The Emperor Emmanuel Church grew from within this ecosystem.
Muriyad is a quiet village 25 km from Thrissur town. Another 3 km away is the Church of Light Emperor Emmanuel Zion. Believers affectionately call it Zion Centre.
From the Muriyad bus stop to the gates of Zion Centre, the Emperor Emmanuel Church’s hold is unmistakable. On local buses, by roadside shops, and along narrow lanes, it’s common to see people wearing rosaries and wristbands inscribed with praises of Christ.
Isolated and small clusters of believers’ homes line the road to Zion Centre. Many bear signboards that read yesu bhavanam (house of Jesus). Near Zion Centre, some believers live in gated communities. The Emperor Emmanuel Church records show 10,000 of their members have settled in Muriyad — most of them with their families.
There are also Anganwadis, schools, and small institutions on the way. Non-members live here too.
Members say the settlements grew organically. One member would purchase a large parcel of land and then divide it into plots and sell to others. These settlements are deeply tied to the shared spiritual life of their occupants.
In the initial years, as membership increased across the state, many suddenly sold their land and property and shifted to Muriyad. The Catholic Church alleged that members had been forced by the Emperor Emmanuel Church to do so. Though settlers deny that they were forced, one point stood out in conversations with them: The Emperor Emmanuel Church had generously hinted that when Christ ‘returned’, salvation would only be found at Muriyad, prompting members to shift.
Many are also retirees who relocated to spend the rest of their lives immersed in worship. While there are early claims of children being pulled out of school, TNM found that families living here today send their children to regular schools in the area.
Entry to the Zion Centre is restricted and closely monitored. Once inside, the compound unfolds like a small world of its own.
A modest administrative block leads to guest rooms and then to a sprawling auditorium. During TNM’s visit, hundreds of believers were attending a four-day gathering called sadvartha (good news). They were listening to Bible teachings delivered in loud, impassioned voices. Many had travelled from across India and were staying inside the compound.
Beyond the main auditorium, several halls hosted sermons in seven Indian languages. Most of them were packed to capacity. Amidst these buildings stands a cemetery. At its head is the tomb of Joseph Ponnara. Behind that lie rows of graves of believers.
At the other end of the campus stands their church — a glass building shaped like a ship. This is what the Catholic Church has poked fun at, accusing the Emperor Emmanuel Church of building a functional ship to take refuge in during the ‘apocalypse’.
While members agree that the building is indeed supposed to resemble Noah’s Ark, they claim they aren’t foolish enough to think this is their actual escape route.
“We just wanted a place to worship. Yes, it’s shaped like a ship, but it has nothing to do with what people say,” Freejo Davis, a member, told TNM.
When asked about their early claim that the world would end in 2012, Freejo objected.
“Even the Son — Jesus Christ — doesn’t know the day the world will end. It’s written in the Bible,” he said. “How will we? No one here has ever given a date. But the signs — as written in Matthew 24 — are already around us. And that’s what we reflect on.”
While the Emperor Emmanuel Church largely follows Catholic doctrine, there are notable theological departures.
Mainstream Christianity does not believe in contemporary prophetic figures, only in those mentioned in the Bible. But Emperor Emmanuel Church members regard Ponnara as a prophet who provided guidance and interpretation of scripture until he passed away in May 2017.
Another departure is their rejection of clerical authority, particularly the Vatican.
“We don’t follow a hierarchy here. All are equal before God,” members commonly say. “There are no priests, no bishops, only believers preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus.”
Leslie Pereira, 50, moved from Bengaluru to Muriyad in 2012 after attending one of the Emperor Emmanuel Church’s sadvartha.
“I was going through personal struggles and was looking for peace. That’s when I came across Joseph sir’s teachings. When I attended sadvartha, I found a happiness I couldn’t find elsewhere,” Leslie recalled.
He soon relocated his entire family. “We made this decision. No one took our money. No one forced us. The house and land are in my name. This was our choice,” he emphasised.
Now, Leslie is fully involved in spiritual activities and says he has no plans to return to his former life. “Salvation is here. Initially, I worked remotely. Now my time is fully devoted to the church.”
He is not alone. TNM met a family that returned from the UAE in 2015 to settle in Muriyad. They described their life in the community as peaceful and fulfilling. “This faith is enough for us,” one family member said.
Meethu Maria, 34, works in the IT sector and has also been a follower of Ponnara since she was 14. She now lives in Muriyad with her husband, Nikhil George, also an engineer. Both work remotely for companies in Bengaluru under hybrid work arrangements.
“We go to the office when required, but most of the time we work from here,” Meethu said. The couple married in 2020 and moved permanently to Muriyad in 2023.
“If I had even the slightest doubt in my faith, I wouldn’t have bought land and built a home here,” Nikhil said. “We didn’t give up on anything. We still have our jobs, and we live with joy and purpose.”
Meethu’s connection with the Emperor Emmanuel Church goes back to her school days. “I first attended Joseph sir’s sessions when I was in Class 9. His interpretation of the Bible opened up a new way of understanding the Scripture for me,” she said, adding, “My parents come here every second Saturday and that’s become part of our life.”
In the 2000s, Ponnara was popular for his Bible studies and sermons. What drew people in was his different interpretation of scripture — a new idea of the Bible that many found compelling. The opening of the Zion Centre in Muriyad toward the end of the 2000s marked a turning point.
Thomas Joseph, a retired English professor and a trustee of Emperor Emmanuel Church, said that Zion Centre had been popular with Catholic priests too. “Many Catholic priests who are now well-known for their own retreats had once come to Muriyad, attended Joseph sir’s sessions, and even wrote glowing testimonies,” Thomas said.
“Why did Jesus speak in parables?” Thomas asked, sitting in the Zion office with a Bible in his hands.
Conventional Christian belief suggests Christ spoke in parables — short, allegorical stories — to make his teaching more accessible. I pointed this out.
For example, the Parable of the Sower is considered a metaphor. Christ compares his message to seeds thrown on fertile soil, rocks and thorns. The faithful who internalise his message and live accordingly are compared to fertile soil.
Thomas opened the Bible to the Gospel of Matthew 13:10-14 and read:
The disciples came to him [Jesus] and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables.”
Similar verses appear in other portions of the Bible. But Thomas explained how the Emperor Emmanuel Church interprets Matthew 13 differently.
“Only those who receive spiritual insight can truly comprehend the meaning of the parables and the teachings of Jesus. The Emperor Emmanuel Church teaches that this insight is granted specifically to those who attend their retreats and become part of their fellowship,” he said.
Naturally, the conversation turned to the believed Second Coming of Christ.
“Jesus isn’t coming just for the judgement, as the Catholic tradition suggests,” he said. “We’ve already seen many of the signs of his return, which means He is already here, on earth.”
In the belief system of the Emperor Emmanuel Church, those who witness events such as tsunamis, floods, pandemics, and other global crises within a single lifetime are considered the generation foretold in the Bible — the one that will witness the Second Coming of Christ.
Freejo claimed that Ponnara predicted all these events because he was a prophet.
Perhaps no other religious group after the Indian Pentecostal Church has unsettled or challenged the Catholic Church in Kerala as significantly as the Emperor Emmanuel Church.
Some decades ago, as their popularity grew, Pentecostals began door-to-door evangelising. The Catholic Church was the most resistant. Special retreats were organised, announcements were made during sermons, and priests even conducted sessions on how to stay away from Pentecostal missionaries.
Even today, the Catholic Church largely distances itself when Pentecostals are targeted by Hindutva elements for proselytising.
According to Arya, a former member, and others who left in the mid-2000s, the group’s teachings at the time began to increasingly stress the world’s end.
“Ponnara never said the world would end on a specific date,” Arya told TNM. “But everything he preached implied it. The leadership didn’t discourage that belief. We were made to feel the end was imminent, that salvation was possible only at the Zion Centre.”
James (name changed), from north Kerala, echoed this sentiment. “Nobody told us to sell land and move, but the sermons were so pointed that we believed the end would come by 2012 or soon after,” he said. “We thought salvation was only possible at Zion.”
Arya added, “A group of us children even stopped going to school. We thought nothing else mattered except worship and faith. Our parents, who were also firm believers, agreed. Many of us gave up our studies completely.”
Adults, too, quit jobs and relocated. “We lived off savings. Some sold properties to settle near Zion,” said Alex (name changed), a former trustee.
It was during this period that Nisha Sebastian, one of Ponnara’s close aides, became increasingly influential. “Everything changed when she began taking control,” Alex said. “Until then, things were fine. But there were rumours that she was pregnant. Some whispered that her child would be the Christ. Though Ponnara never said so, many believed it.”
Some members questioned her authority; others left after she gave birth. “That became a breaking point,” Arya recalled. “Had it been a boy, maybe people would have stayed. But since it was a girl, many began to leave.”
The Catholic Church mocked them: “They waited for the Second Coming of Christ, but it turned out to be a girl.”
A representative of the Emperor Emmanuel Church dismissed these allegations. “Many children are born in Zion,” Umesh told TNM. “These are just people’s claims. We don’t make such assertions.”
It is unclear what authority Nisha now holds, if any. Members and trustees appeared reluctant to speak further about her.
By 2012-2013, around 80 people had left.
“Going back to school after years was the hardest,” Arya said. “My mother managed to rejoin her government job, but many others lost everything. Their savings, education, even family ties.”
Joseph said his children couldn’t restart their education. “They dropped out early and never caught up. Their future was lost. I had sold everything when I left. I had nothing.”
Rani, a resident of Alappuzha, said her husband Roy (name changed) left her after becoming deeply involved with the Emperor Emmanuel Church around 2010.
“He resigned from a well-paying job, moved to Thrissur, and insisted I join him. I wasn’t willing to leave the Catholic Church. Eventually, he asked for a divorce. The Emperor Emmanuel Church didn’t directly tell people to abandon families, but it was often insinuated — those who don’t join or support were obstacles to salvation,” Rani said.
Raju (name changed) said his wife left him and he hasn’t seen his four-year-old daughter since. “I attended a few of their sadvartha sessions. The messages were never explicit, but they led you to believe the world would end soon, so nothing else mattered. They even said things like ‘parents have a fetish for sending kids to school’, downplaying education and promoting total devotion.”
Several ex-members also alleged that false police cases were filed against them after they left.
“They won’t bother you if you leave quietly. But if you speak up, they’ll target you with cases,” Arya alleged.
Ajil Mathew, a health sector professional and YouTuber, claimed he was falsely implicated in multiple cases after questioning the Church. One was a fabricated drug case that led to the suspension of an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) for planting evidence.
TNM confirmed the ASI’s suspension.
Ajil said that it was after Ponnara’s death in 2017 that internal conflicts began.
“There were even claims that Ponnara was resurrected and whispers that former trustees had killed him. When I asked questions about these claims, I was stripped of all roles in the Church and harassed. They even tried to convince my wife to divorce me,” he told TNM.
Arya, Ajil, and others alleged that the Emperor Emmanuel Church is showing signs of becoming a cult. They cited high-profile historical examples to explain their concerns.
They recalled the infamous Jonestown case in the US, for example.
In 1955 Indianapolis, ‘Reverend’ Jim Jones founded the Peoples Temple Full Gospel Church. In 1977, Jones founded the Jonestown settlement in South America’s Guyana with 10,000 followers. While his early teachings encouraged racial integration in a deeply segregated US, Jonestown became the site of several murders and mass suicides.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) public records say, “Jonestown sounded more like a slave camp than a religious centre. There was talk of beatings, forced labour and imprisonments, the use of drugs to control behaviour, suspicious deaths, and even rehearsals for a mass suicide.”
In 1978, US Congressman Leo Ryan went to Jonestown to investigate the allegations. He was shot dead alongside many of Jones’ followers who wanted to flee. 900 bodies were later discovered — all killed in a mass suicide believed to have been ordered by Jones.
Emperor Emmanuel’s former members also spoke of Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret.
Mambro and Jouret were leaders of the apocalyptic Order of the Solar Temple, a group founded in Europe in 1984 that combined New Age, Christian, and astrological beliefs. In 1994, 51 members died in Switzerland and Quebec through murder or suicide. Subsequent deaths occurred in 1995 in France and 1997 in Canada, with the final members reportedly believing their souls would continue on a new planet.
While the Emperor Emmanuel Church has not been implicated in any violence, these historical examples informed how some former members interpreted the internal structure, leadership style, and the risks of concentrated authority.
Arya was in school when her family began attending Ponnara’s Bible classes in the late 2000s.
“Initially, the Catholic Church welcomed Ponnara. His sessions were even held within Church-sponsored retreats,” she recalled. “His insights were novel and gave a new perspective. People were drawn to him. As a person, too, he seemed genuine. He had no interest in material things. He would often give away his possessions to those who came to him.”
In those early years, followers gathered in homes for prayer meetings and Bible study. “We held classes on our terrace. People came in large numbers. We followed him without question,” Arya said.
By the late 2000s, the movement had found a more permanent space in Muriyad. “It was just a small house where we could gather, pray, and listen to Bible teachings. My father was among the founding members and a trustee,” she added.
But as Ponnara’s teachings began openly challenging Catholic doctrine, tensions with the Church escalated. “We were served notices and formally ousted. There were campaigns against us. We were angry,” said a former trustee who later left the group.
One former member recalled a public shaming: “During a sermon at the Catholic church I attended, the names of our family and others who joined Ponnara’s meetings were read out. They announced that we were expelled.”
The Catholic Church has consistently resisted the Emperor Emmanuel Church since the late 2000s, using sermons and pastoral letters read during Mass across its churches. In 2009, it even published a book titled Vazhi Thettunna Viswasam (Straying Faith) specifically to warn people against Emperor Emmanuel.
The Irinjalakuda diocese, located near Muriyad, issued a statement condemning the movement and so did dioceses and bishops across Kerala.
In January 2023, the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) said in a statement, “This is a doomsday cult that has exploited apocalyptic fears for personal and financial gain. The group’s founder, Joseph Ponnara — formerly Roy Joseph, a schoolteacher — had no formal theological training and used “misinterpretations of selected Bible passages” to attract followers.”
“They claimed the world would end in 2012 and urged people to reserve one of 1,44,000 seats in heaven by paying money and settling in Muriyad. Some paid up to Rs 1 lakh per seat. Members were forbidden from marrying, children dropped out of school, and many gave up jobs to join the ministries.”
The KCBC also accused the group of turning violent toward dissenters. “Those who left were subjected to attacks, threats, and false allegations, including an attempt to frame a former member in a drug case,” the statement alleged.
Calling the Emperor Emmanuel Church a “serious threat to society”, the KCBC emphasised that the group “has no connection to any official Christian Church” and warned that it cannot be addressed solely as a religious concern. “The government must step in and act rationally, treating this as a law-and-order issue.”
Representatives of the Emperor Emmanuel Church, however, rejected all these claims, accusing the Catholic Church of spreading “malicious allegations”.
“All our children are studying in schools,” Umesh said. “I live in Ernakulam. Those who moved to Muriyad did so by their own choice. The spiritual foundation of our Church is being prepared for the Second Coming of Jesus.”
Thomas Joseph claimed that the people who left them to rejoin the Catholic Church had spread all kinds of rumours.
He further claimed that many Christian groups were considered a ‘cult’ in the beginning.
Francis (name changed), a current member of the Emperor Emmanuel Church, told TNM that unquestioning faith led some believers to extreme decisions such as halting their children’s education and selling off all their property.
“I still live in the house where I was born, with my wife and children. Joseph sir’s revelations from the Bible are addictive and, to me, they represent the ultimate truth. I believe in that. But I never stopped my children’s education. My daughter completed her courses and is now working. I’ve been with the church since 2008. The Bible also teaches us to have wisdom,” he said.
He added that those who sold their property and moved to Muriyad were deeply committed and clear about their choices. “If you do something out of initial excitement and then later regret it, that’s not the church’s fault. The people who made those decisions knew what they were doing,” he said.
Francis also insisted that Joseph Ponnara never issued instructions or direct orders to the believers. “If someone said they were moving to Muriyad, he would simply acknowledge it. If someone mentioned stopping their children’s education, he would accept that too. He was a prophet. He didn’t interfere in material decisions,” Francis said.
Members claim that the Church’s donations to schools in Muriyad are “proof” that they are not against education.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Church opened a special gated colony for patients. Members moved out temporarily to make space. The act was praised by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the time.
Even a few former members of the Emperor Emmanuel Church say certain allegations by the Catholic Church — such as people being lured through drugs or the existence of financial fraud — were unfounded.
““The story about building a ship like Noah’s Ark was also an exaggerated allegation. That structure, which resembled a ship, was never meant for that purpose,” one former member said.
This story is part of the TNM series on the business of spirituality. You can contribute here for more such stories.