Marathakavalli David (1950-2011) was the first woman Priest in Kerala hailing from the South Kerala Diocese (headquartered in Trivandrum) of the Church of South India who was ordained in 1989. Marathakavalli trod her path in difficult streams as the Ordination of women was still being debated in her Church Society. When the issue of Ordination of women came up in the Church of South India Synod in 1970, it was vehemently opposed leading a decade of debate and protracted legal recourse initiated by the opponents but eventually the persistence of the Church of South India Synod led to a majority vote in 1982 favouring the ordination of women in the Church of South India. While Elizabeth Paul became the first ordained woman Priest in India in 1987, Marathakavalli David became the first woman