Mar Koorilose was the first metropolitan of the Thozhiyoor church. As a boy he impressed the visiting Bishop Mar Ivanios of Jerusalem by correcting a deacon’s liturgical mistake at Mulanthuruthy Church. Ivanios later ordained both Kurien and his brother Geevarghese as deacons, then priests, before returning to Jerusalem in 1751. 

He later became a monk under Mar Baselios and Mar Gregorios, and was a leader in the local opposition to Malankara Metropolitan Mar Dionysius I. He was consecrated as Bishop by Gregorios, fomenting the tensions with Dionysius that ultimately resulted in the formation of the independent Thozhyur church. He died on 10 July 1802.