Apostle Thomas was martyred in Mylapore near Madras. (Tradition calls this place Kalloor - the place of rock) in Tamilnadu State, India. The traditional date of martyrdom is 19th of December, 72 AD. His followers took his body and buried him in the tombs of the Chiefs. A merchant from Edessa in Syria who visited that region exhumed his body and took it to Syria where it was entombed in about AD 200. We could see these tombs in Mylapore and in Edessa

The Church in St. Thomas Mount, Mylapore, Chennai
The tomb is found inside this church.

There are several references to Thomas' acts in India, which corroborates the general validity of the story, though the Acts of Thomas is Gnostic embellished apocryphal book.

• St. Gregory of Naziaanzen (AD 329-390) refers to Thomas along with other Apostles work in Contra Aranos et de Seipso Oratio
• Ambrose of Milan (AD 333-397) wrote thus: "Even to those Kingdoms which were shout out by rugged mountains became accessible to them as India to Thomas, Persia to Mathew...." Ambrose De Moribus. Brach.
• Jerome (AD 342-420) wrote thus: "Jesus dwelt in all places; with Thomas in India, with Peter in Rome, with Paul in Illyricum, with Titus in Crete with Andrew in Achaia, with each apostolic man in each and all countries." epistles of Jerome
• Gregory, the Bishop of Tours (AD 538-593) in his In Gloria Martyrdom writes: "Thomas, the Apostle, according to the history of passion, is declared to have suffered in India. After a long time his body was taken into a city which they called Edessa in Syria and there buried. Therefore, in that Indian place where he firs rested there is a monastery and a church of wonderful size, and carefully adorned and arrayed."
• Mar Solomon in 13th C wrote in his Book of the Bee as follows: Thomas was from Jerusalem of the tribe of Juda. He taught the Persians, Medes and the Indians; and because he baptized the daughter of the King of the Indians he stabbed him with a spear and died. Habban the merchant brought his body and laid it in Edessa, the blessed city of our Lord. Others say that he was buried in Mahluph (Mylapore) a city in the land of Indians.

• Local Traditions

• Local traditions among the Christians include the Rambaan Paattu or Thomma Parvom - a song about the Acts of Thomas written around 1600 by Rambaan Thomas. Rambaan Thomas of Malyakal Family descends from the first Bishop whom St. Thomas is said to have ordained. The poem is the oral tradition handed down through generations. It is said to have been originally written by the Rambaan Thomas, the Bishop Bishop.

• Margom Kali and Mappila Paattu are series of songs of the Acts of Thomas and the history of the Malabar Church. They are sung in consonance with dance forms that are typical of the syrian Christians. Some of them are dance dramas performed in the open as part of the festivals of the church. These have no specific origin, but grew up in the course of hisotry.

• Veeadian Paattu is sung by a local Hindu group (called Veeradians) in accompaniment of Villu - a local instrument - during Christian festivals. This form of art also dates back to unknown period handed down through generations and modified in that process.