Medak Cathedral

Last updated

Medak Cathedral
Medak-church.png
Medak Cathedral
18°03′13″N78°16′02″E / 18.0537°N 78.2671°E / 18.0537; 78.2671
Country India
Denomination Church of South India (A Uniting church comprising Wesleyan Methodist, Congregational, Lutheran, Calvinist and Anglican missionary societies – SPG, WMMS, LMS, Basel Mission, CMS, and the Church of England)
Churchmanship Anglican
Website
History
Dedication St Peter
Specifications
Capacity5000
Administration
Diocese Diocese of Medak
Clergy
Bishop(s) The Right Reverend A. C. Solomon Raj
Priest(s) Rev. K. Andrews Prem Sukumar

Medak Cathedral at Medak in Telangana, India, is one of the largest churches in India and has been the cathedral church of the Diocese of Medak of the Church of South India since 1947. [1] Originally built by Charles Walker Posnett British Wesleyan Methodists, it was consecrated on 25 December 1924.

Contents

History

The Church of South India Cathedral at Medak. It is one of the largest churches in Asia Medak Cathedral (1).jpg
The Church of South India Cathedral at Medak. It is one of the largest churches in Asia
View of the altar in Medak Cathedral Medakcathedralaltarview.png
View of the altar in Medak Cathedral

Medak Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop in Medak for the Church of South India (comprising Wesleyan Methodist, Congregational and Anglican missionary societies - SPG, WMMS, LMS, CMS, and the Church of England). The cathedral is the largest of all churches in Telangana. The cathedral also sees over the Diocese of Medak, which is the single largest diocese in Asia and the second largest diocese in the world. It was consecrated on 25 December 1924. Built by the British Wesleyan Methodists, the cathedral is now under the jurisdiction of the Church of South India.

The cathedral's construction was spearheaded by Reverend Charles Walker Posnett, being funded by his family (devoted methodists that had gathered a large wealth owning tanneries in Runcorn), and the local government. Rev. Posnett arrived in Secunderabad in 1895 as a minister for the British soldiers at Trimullghery. Unsatisfied with the army work, he launched forth into villages. In the following year of 1896, Rev. Charles Walker Posnett visited a village called Medak and built a bungalow there by staying in dock bungalow. There was no railway route to Medak in those days. The journey of 60 miles (97 km) from Hyderabad had to be done on horseback and Rev. Posnett could do it in a day. There were then hardly two hundred Christians in the whole of Medak area. When he came to Medak, there was a small tiled house as the place of worship. As the number of Christians increased, he felt the need for expanding the church building. Rev.Posnett soon raised a moderate structure on that very spot just enough for the Christian community within the Mission Compound in the traditional shape of a church. He thought it was not a worthy place for divine worship. He started building the present Cathedral in 1914 on a sprawling 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land in Ghusnabad area. The foundations for the new church were laid in the beginning of the year 1914. During the early part of the 20th century, Medak district was reeling under famine and Rev. Posnett in order to provide succour to the suffering masses gave the masses employment in the construction of the church instead of running a free kitchen. The construction work on the cathedral went on for 10 years. The cathedral was consecrated in 1924 by Rev. Posnett expressing his grateful thanks to God for mitigating the sufferings of the people. When several Christian groups became re-united as the Church of South India, the church became the cathedral church of the diocese of Medak in October 1947.

Architecture

The cathedral is 100 ft (30 m) wide and 200 ft (61 m) long, and conforms to the Gothic Revival style. It can accommodate about 5,000 people at a time. The mosaic tiles were imported from Britain and are of six different colours. Italian masons from Bombay were engaged for laying the decorative flooring. Massive pillars built with fine-hewn and well dressed grey stone support the gallery and the whole edifice. The roof of the church is made sound-proof by means of hollow sponge material, and has an impressive style of vaulting. The surface of the vaulting has the shape of squares. The bell-tower is 175 ft (53 m) high. (It is said that when the nizam of Hyderabad discovered that the church would be higher than the Charminar, he made a vain bid to have its height reduced. [2] )

Stained glass

The biggest attraction of the cathedral are its stained glass windows depicting different scenes from Christ's life – Ascension behind the altar, Nativity in the west transept, and Crucifixion in the east transept. The windows were designed by Sir. O. Salisbury of England. The stained glass windows were installed at different periods. The chancel window depicting the ascension was installed in 1927, two years after the cathedral was built. The stained glass was arranged by the native of the village Mr. Peram Alexander . The nativity window was installed in 1947 and the crucifixion window was installed in 1958(After Taking Damage,Restored in 1979). [3]

Architects and engineers

The church, along with the seminary, was designed and the construction overseen by John Bradshaw Gass of the firm Bradshaw Gass and Hope, Architects Engineers and Quantity Surveyors (of Bolton, London and Edinburgh at that time). JB Gass was, in fact, a Unitarian by persuasion, but had strong links with Congregationalists and Methodists through his own social involvement as a man of faith (added by M Head, former Senior Partner, retired, of Bradhsaw Gass and Hope LLP, Bolton Street, Lancashire).[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laon Cathedral</span> Church in Hauts-de-France, France

Laon Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church located in Laon, Aisne, Hauts-de-France, France. Built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it is one of the most important and stylistically unified examples of early Gothic architecture. The church served as the cathedral of the Diocese of Laon until 1802, and has been recognized as a monument historique since 1840.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linköping Cathedral</span> Church in Linköping, Sweden

Linköping Cathedral is an active Lutheran church in the Swedish city of Linköping, the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Linköping in the Church of Sweden. One of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Europe, it is situated opposite Linköping Castle, on a site that has been in use as a church since the 11th century.

St Joseph's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Hyderabad, India. It is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad and one of the most beautiful churches of Hyderabad and Secunderabad cities of Telangana, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dornakal</span> Census Town in Telangana, India

Dornakal is one of the largest town in Mahabubabad district of Telangana, India. The town is important as a Railway Junction where a branch line emanates to Manuguru and Bhadrachalam Road and is also on the Vijayawada - Warangal - Secunderabad mainline it connects South India.

Marampudi Joji was the third Archbishop of Hyderabad. He was born in Bhimavaram and died at the Bishop's House, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. He knew Latin, Telugu, and English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Sugandhar</span>

B. P. Sugandhar was the fifth successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop - in - Medak of the Church of South India whose bishopric lasted for more than a decade and half from 1993 through 2009 coinciding with the archbishoprics of Samineni Arulappa and Marampudi Joji of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diocese of Medak of the Church of South India</span>

The Diocese of Medak is one of the prominent Dioceses in the Church of South India, a Protestant Uniting Church with its headquarters in Medak comprising nearly 200 Presbyters ministering to Telugu, Lambadi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindustani, English and other linguistic groups numbering nearly 1/3rds of a million spread over 105 pastorates and administered through 3 District Church Councils (DCC), namely, the Town DCC, the Medak DCC and the Godavari DCC geographically located in the erstwhile civil districts of Adilabad, Nizamabad, Medak, Rangareddy, Hyderabad and Mahboobnagar in Telangana.

Archbishop Samineni Arulappa, also known as S Arulappa, was an Indian Catholic clergyman who served as the Archbishop of Hyderabad from December 1971 through January 2000. The youngest priest to be consecrated to such a high office, he was also the longest-serving Catholic archbishop in India. He was also the first archbishop who had the honour of being consecrated by Pope Paul VI in Rome.

Boggulkunta is a commercial area in Hyderabad, the capital city of Telangana, India. It lies between the commercial areas of Abids and Koti.

The Diocese of Karimnagar is a diocese of Church of South India in Telangana state of India.The diocese is one among the 22 dioceses of Church of South India.

Bishop T. B. D. Prakasa Rao was the fourth CSI-Bishop - in - Krishna-Godavari of the Protestant Church of South India who occupied the Cathedra placed at CSI-St. Paul's Cathedral, Vijayawada. The Bishopric of Prakasa Rao lasted for two decades from 1981 through 2001, one of the longest in the history of the Church of South India Society. Prakasa Rao led the bishopric of Krishna-Godavari that comprised the Christian missions established by the London Missionary Society (LMS) and the Church Missionary Society (CMS) which merged its South India Christian missions in India into the Church of South India Society which was inaugurated in 1947 at the CSI-St. George's Cathedral, Madras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All Saints' Church, Dunedin</span> Church in New Zealand

All Saints' Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church located in Dunedin, New Zealand. Established in 1865, the church is part of the Dunedin North parish in the Diocese of Dunedin.

Telugu Christians or Telugu Kraistava are a religious community who form the third-largest religious minority in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. According to the Census of India, there are over a million Christians in Andhra Pradesh, constituting 1.51% of the state's population, although a decrease from the 1971 census figure which was 2%, as a result of low birth rates and emigration. Most Telugu Christians are Protestant, belonging to major Indian Protestant denominations such as the predominant Anglican Church of South India, Pentecostals such as Assemblies of God in India, India Pentecostal Church of God, The Pentecostal Mission, the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches, the Salvation Army and several others. There also is a significant number of Roman Catholics and Evangelicals. Although the Franciscans of the Roman Catholic Church brought Christianity to the Deccan area in 1535, it was only after 1759 AD, when the Northern Circars came under the rule of the East India Company, that the region opened up to greater Christian influence. The first Protestant missionaries in Andhra Pradesh were Rev. Cran and Rev. Des Granges who were sent out by the London Missionary Society. They set up their station at Visakhapatnam in 1805 AD. Regions with significant populations of Telugu Christians include the erstwhile Northern Circars, the coastal belt and the cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Telugu Christians have one of the highest literacy and work participation figures and most even male-to-female ratio figures among the various religious communities in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Trinity Church, Bolarum</span> Protestant church located in Bolarum, Secunderabad, India

CSI-Holy Trinity Church is a church under the auspices of the Protestant Church of South India, a uniting Church. It is located in the Bolarum locality of Secunderabad Cantonment.

The Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation is a state government agency which promotes tourism in Telangana, a state in the Southern region of India. The retired Director General of Police Pervaram Ramulu is the appointed First chairman of Telangana State Tourism. Tourist attractions in Telangana include historical places, monuments, forts, water falls, forests and temples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Telangana</span> Cultural history of an Indian state

The Culture of Telangana in India has a cultural history of about 5,000 years. The region emerged as the foremost centre of culture in Indian subcontinent during the rule of Kakatiyas, the Qutb Shahis and Asaf Jahi dynasties—. The rulers patronage and interest for culinary, arts and culture transformed Telangana into a multi-cultural region where two different cultures coexist together, thus making Telangana the representative of the Deccan Plateau and its heritage with Warangal and Hyderabad being its epicenter. Hyderabadi cuisine and Kakatiya architecture both from Telangana, are on the list of UNESCO creative city of gastronomy and UNESCO World Heritage Site. The regions major cultural events celebrated are "Kakatiya Festival" and Deccan Festival along with religious festivals Bonalu, Bathukamma, Dasara, Ugadi, Sankranthi, Milad un Nabi and Ramadan.

Bishop G. B. Devasahayam(born 23 August 1925; died 20 August 1996) was the second elected CSI-Bishop - in - Karimnagar Diocese of the Church of South India who occupied the Cathedra from 1982 through 1987 placed in the CSI-Wesley Cathedral in Karimnagar Town in Telangana, India

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ Church (Hyderabad)</span> Church in Hyderabad, India

CSI-Christ Church (Hyderabad) is one of the earliest Churches in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The church is situated in Ramkote locality of the twin cities Hyderabad and Secunderabad and 24 km away from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Shamshabad. For Church administrative purposes, it falls under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Medak and caters to a diverse Tamil-speaking congregation of about 500 members. The church was consecrated and dedicated in 1869, and is the oldest Tamil Church in Hyderabad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. C. Solomon Raj</span>

A. C. Solomon Raj is the seventh successor of Frank Whittaker and eighth Bishop in Medak of the Protestant Church of South India Society and shepherds the Diocese from the Cathedra of the Bishop housed in the CSI-Medak Cathedral in Medak Town, Telangana, India. On 12 October 2016, the Church of South India Synod headquartered in Chennai, appointed Solomon Raj to assume the ecclesiastical Office of the Bishopric of Medak and was consecrated the next day on 13 October 2016 at the CSI-St. George's Cathedral, Chennai, ending four years of sede vacante in the Diocese of Medak which was without a bishop during the intervening period of 2012–2016.

CSI-Garrison Wesley Church located in Trimulgherry is among the oldest churches in Secunderabad under the auspices of the Protestant Church of South India (CSI) within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Medak. Situated in Lal Bazar civilian area of the Secunderabad Cantonment, the CSI-Garrison Wesley Church is in near vicinity of the Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (MCEME), and the church has continued to attract not only its regular worshipers but also the new visitors from the nearby military stations of the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force through its regular Sunday Mass as well as its annual Good Friday, Easter and Christmas programmes.

References

  1. "Medak Church, the second largest church in world". Telangana Tourism. Hyderabad.
  2. Cover Story Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Deccan Chronicle newspaper, 16 January 1999 edition