Editing Palm Sunday (section)

===India===

In most of the Catholic churches in India the palms are blessed by the priest on Palm Sunday and then distributed among the people after the holy mass. There is a tradition of folding palm [[fronds]] into palm crosses, which are kept at the altar till the next [[Ash Wednesday]].

[[File:Marigolds in the sanctuary.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Flowers (in this instance [[Tagetes|marigolds]]) strewn about the sanctuary in an [[Oriental Orthodox]] church in [[Mumbai]], India, on Palm Sunday]]
In the [[South India]]n state of [[Kerala]] (and in [[Indian Orthodox]], [[Church of South India]] (CSI), [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church]], and [[Syriac Orthodox Church]] (Jacobite) congregations elsewhere in India and throughout the world), flowers are strewn about the sanctuary on Palm Sunday during the reading of the Gospel, at the words uttered by the crowd welcoming Jesus, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who is come and is to come in the name of the Lord God". These words are read to the congregation thrice. The congregation then repeats, "Hosanna!", and the flowers are scattered, a common custom in Indian celebrations. This symbolizes Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
[[File:Palm sunday in Malankara ( 861 X 1080 ).jpg|thumb|upright=1|Palm Sunday in [[Malankara Orthodox Church|Malankara Church]] ([[Oriental Orthodox]]) of [[Kerala]] – People holding tender leaves of coconut palms (kuruthola) and flowers are thrown upwards during Gospel reading]]

Indian Orthodoxy traces its roots to the arrival in India of Saint [[Thomas the Apostle]] (traditionally dated to AD 52) and his evangelism among both the Brahmans of the [[Malabar Coast]] and the ancient Jewish community there. Its rites and ceremonies are Jewish, Indian and Levantine Christian, in origin. In [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]]'s palm leaves are blessed during Palm Sunday ceremony and a [[Procession]] takes place holding the palms.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/article1705828.ece |title=National / Kerala : Traditional services mark Palm Sunday |newspaper=The Hindu|date=2011-04-18 |access-date=2012-06-10}}</ref>