Johann Ernst Hanxleden (1681–1732), also known as Arnos Pathiri, was a German Jesuit priest and missionary, best known for his contributions as a Malayalam and Sanskrit poet, grammarian, lexicographer, and philologist. He lived in India for most of his life and became a scholar of Sanskrit and Malayalam languages before authoring Puthen Pana, a poem on the life of Jesus Christ, Malayalam–Portuguese Dictionary, the first dictionary in Malayalam as well as two linguistic treatises, Malayalavyaakaranam and Sidharoopam.
Arnos Pathiri lived in St. Francis Xavier Forane Church, Velur ,Thrissur and is said to have written Puthen Pana, a poem which deals with the life of Jesus Christ. He also established Pazhayangadi Church, which is a church under St. Francis Xavier Forane Church, Velur. He is also very prominent in Pazhuvil,Thrissur.
One theory suggests that Arnos Pathiri escaped from St. Francis Xavier Forane Church, VelurThrissur due to some locals who were trying to kill him. A woman worker in a toddy shop overheard and reported this to Arnos, leading him to escape from the church and go to St. Antony%27s_Church, Pazhuvil, Thrissur where he eventually died. It also the first church in India named after St. Antony. It was founded in 883 AD. Tomb of Arnos Pathiri at St. Antony%27s_Church, Pazhuvil, Thrissur
Early life
Johann Ernst Hanxleden was born at Ostercappeln, near Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany in 1681. While studying philosophy at his home town of Osnabrück, he met Wilhelm Weber, a Jesuit priest to whom he volunteered for service in India as a part of the then Jesuit mission in Malabar. On 30 October 1699 he set out on a long journey to India, along with Wilhelm Weber and another Jesuit priest, Wilhelm Meyr, travelling through present day Italy, the Ottoman Empire, Syria, Armenia, and Persia to reach Surat (of present-day Gujarat), India on 13 December 1700.