The expansion of Indian Hierarchy by erecting new dioceses and steady growth of vocation to priesthood had necessitated to construct a new building for Seminary. It was decided to build a new Seminary to serve as the Philosophy annex to Mangalapuzha. The new campus determined to be set up separately but sufficiently near to Theology seminary. The choice of place fell on ‘Thodalikunnu’, Veliyathunadu East, in KarumallorPanchyath, which is also on the bank of River Periyar a distant about a mile from Mangalapuzha. Cardinal EugineTisserant, the dean of Sacred College and Secretary to the Congregation for the Oriental Church, blessed the foundation stone of the new Seminary on 7th Dec. 1953. The foundation stone was laid in the presence of the Apostolic Internuncio on 5th May 1954 in the feast of the patronage of St. Joseph, and new place was called ‘Carmelgiri’.

The work was progressed under the able guidance of Victor Sanmiguel, the Procurator of the Seminary. He had no special engineer to help, except on one occasion for a short consultation. He utilized the great abilities of a local Mason called Sylvarathnam. The building suitable to accommodate 300 seminarians was not easy task. It was built in the pattern of Aristotle’s Recta ratio factibilium. Hundreds of workers employed eighteen months to build the structure in regularly shaped and dressed granite stones. The style is simple Gothic with large series of Gothic windows of equal proportions giving impression of a dignified and symmetric monastic structure. The main structure is three storeyed, the three wings together 620x45 ft. The new Philosophy seminary of the St. Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary was solemnly blessed by the Most Rev. M. H. Lucas, SVD, the Apostolic Internuncio to India, on 24th Nov. 1955. About the inaugural event Victor Sanmiguel wrote: “The 24th November 1955 the feast of Saint John of the Cross the mystical Doctor of Carmel is a memorable day in the history of Catholic Malabar. On that day Carmelgiri, the new philosophate was solemnly blessed and inaugurated by the Apostolic Internuncio, Mgr. Marin Lucas SVD assisted by fifteen Bishops and about 403 ex-alumni Priests and 486 seminarians”. There were about 28 members of staff including Fr. Aurelian the Rector and Fr. Zacharias, the Vice-Rector. In 1964 the Seminary was raised to the “Pontifical Status”