 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (January 2024) |
Malabar rites is a conventional term for certain customs or practices of the natives of South India, especially Madurai, Mysore and the Carnatic, which the Jesuit missionaries in the early seventeenth century allowed their Indian neophytes to retain after conversion.
These rites were controversial among Catholics, with some figures criticizing them as idolatrous or superstitious, and others defending the character of the missionaries who established them. They were eventually prohibited by Rome.