The Rev. Charley Alookaran, pastor of St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Athens, makes the long journey back to his native state Kerala, India, every year.

But this year it was more than an annual vacation to visit relatives. He became the tour guide on a religious pilgrimage of India for 11 of his St. Paul’s parishioners.

Alookaran, 48, has been pastor of St. Paul’s for nearly four years and is known affectionately as “Father Charley” to his flock.

While most of India is Hindu, 2.6 percent is Christian, and most of those Catholic, according to Alookaran. While 2.6 percent doesn’t sound like a large number, given India’s 1.1-billion population, it adds up to about 26 million Christians in the nation. Most Catholics in India live along the lower western states and in Calcutta.

The Apostle Thomas introduced Christianity to India in A.D. 52 and brought the gospel to its people until his death from being wounded with a lance in A.D. 72. St. Thomas is entombed in the Basilica of San Thome in the small chapel he built there.

When Alookaran learned that a group of his parishioners were interested in visiting the religious shrines of India, he put together a tour book for them and served as their guide.

Alookaran left on the 43-hour flight to India Jan. 2. The 11 St. Paul’s members followed Jan. 7.

“I never got caught up on my rest until I got back,” said St. Paul’s member Greg Beam, who made the trip with his wife, Connie.

“Because of the time sequences, you lose what day you’re in,” said John O’Neill, who made the trip with his wife, Nancy.

The length of the trip is accounted for by long layovers. The group flew from Nashville to J.F.K. International Airport to Dubai and from there to Kochi in the southwestern tip of India. Beam said the group flew United Arab Emirates Air and all seats on the airplane are equipped with TV monitors for watching movies all the way.

“This was really a pilgrimage, not a vacation,” said Beam. “Much of it was not easy, but was truly rewarding. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Alookaran’s family in India consists of his 84-year-old mother, two brothers and two sisters.

“I had three brothers and three sisters,” said Alookaran. “One of my brothers is also a priest in Brooklyn and I have another sister who is a nun. One sister has died.”

Welcoming feast