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St Peter's church in Manumbuchavadi (Maharnonbu Chavadi or M. Chavadi), a suburb of Thanjavur, is one of the oldest churches in Tamil Nadu built during the reign of the Maratha Bhonsle dynasty of Tanjore (Thanjavur). Rev. F.C Schwartz, an Anglo-Saxon missionary was instrumental in getting a suitable land in M.Chavadi for the proposed church. The Christ Church (Schwartz Church), adjacent to the famous Sivaganga park in Thanjavur, was constructed on a land granted by Maharajah Serfoji in honor of Fr. Schwartz. It initially catered to the needs of Europeans, English soldiers in the garrison and others. It is believed the Christ church of Trichinopoly established by Fr. Schwartz and others is the second oldest Anglican Church constructed east of the Suez.
As the then Christian community in Thanjavur was growing up Fr. Schwartz wanted to have a separate church built for them outside the fort area (built by the Vijayanagara Nayak dynasty in 1560) where the services would be held in Tamil. So, he again sought the help of Raja Serfoji of the Bhonsle clan The ruler, a person of charitable disposition with a strong secular attitude, granted a vast tract of land for the Christian community in M. Chavadi to live comfortably and peacefully as they were very much shaken-up during the raid by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Tipu did not like the East India Company officials and their dishonest trading practices and land-grabbing spree.
On the land donated by the ruler in M.chavadi there was a garden house and Serfoji helped Fr. Schwarz buy it owned by an European with help from British Resident McPherson and Gen. Hector Monroe. Subsequently, Schwartz expanded the house to make it suitable for prayer, a sort of Chapel and set a garden around it. Nearby, he had built homes for teachers, missionaries and also a house for him. This later came to be called mission street in M. Chavadi. When Fr. Schwartz died on 13 Feb. 1798, he was buried in the grave yard behind the chapel. His assistant Fr. J .C. Kohlhoff who died in March 1744 was also buried there.
In 1827, missionary Peter (last name?) who came to this place from Vepery, Madras, made some drastic changes in the place of worship that would encompass the graves of Fr. Schwartz and others like Fr. Kohlhoff who served with him. SPCK donated 2000 sovereign gold for this project, but Peter died before completion of the work. Subsequently, other evangelists completed the work left behind by him. The church was consecrated on 31 January 1845 by Spencer Bishop Paul and it was named St. Peter's after Rev. Peter from Madras.
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In the later period Fr. William Herbert Blake (1849 - 1923 ) of SPG, Tanjore took charge of the house of worship. Realizing the necessity for a spacious building to accommodate a big mass at a time, he made a final decision to expand the church. The work began in 1899 and in the following year, as planned before, he was unable to consecrate the church. However, he chose St Luke's day of 18 October 1900 for consecration and at that time, a big cross was brought from Nagapattinam and installed in the church.
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Yet another interesting feature of this church which other churches in Tamil Nadu or elsewhere do not have is the installation of two prayer bells that will be rung twice, each producing different sounds. Using old brass and bronze scraps dumped in one corner of the dinning area, he had the bells cast from the reprocessed scrapes. In 2000 the church celebrated its completion of 100 years since its inception.
The credit goes to Fr. William H. Blake for the construction of this church with a large payer hall without any pillars. To support the big walls, he had several retaining walls built all around the church. The church has a simple but impressive façade with a large and tall recessed arched entrance and a small octagonal tower on either side of the structure, rising from the top of ground floor capped by a gently pointed dome quite similar to those in the Hindu temple. In the altar on the wall behind there are three arched recessed spaces. The aisle in the prayer hall is a spacious one for the devotees to walk comfortably.
From the arched shape of windows and entrance it is obvious it is built in simple Gothic style with native design elements. There are no embellishments or impressive decorations either inside or outside the church. Perhaps it might be due to financial constraints on the part of the builders. On the parapet on the top floor terrace all around one can see small pillar like projections with a small semi-dome at top. At that point of time Indo Saracenic style of architecture was beginning to gain popularity in many cities in the construction of public buildings by the Raj and palaces by the Indian rulers. It was popularized by the famous British architect Robert Chisholm (a blend of European, Hindu and Islamic architectural features). So the style of design followed here is a sort of mini Indo-Saracenic design. What is unique about this church is its proper planning prior to expansion work. The expansion work was done with no pillars in the prayer hall. and the thick arches inside the church rest on the large pillars on either side of the side walls. For further support to the outer walls retaining walls are built. They more or less do the function of a buttress, an element in neo gothic style. Despite is age the church still looks strong.
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Fr. Schwartz was laid to rest in the grave yard of St.Peter's Church in Maharnonbuchavadi, Thanjavur. As a matter of fact behind the place where initially he had a house of worship. There is a simple tomb and the tombstone has a short memoir and an elegy in English written by Serfoji II.
Memorial Mission st. M Chavadi Thanjavur. sriramv.wordpress.com |
King Serfoji's eulogy on Fr. Swartz M. Chavadi Thanjavur. sriramv.wordpress.com |
Above image: A memorial for Fr. William Blake (died: 15 June 1823), who successfully completed St. Peter's church. It is the same grave yard of St. Peter's church where other workers like Casper Kolholoff ( missionary and SPCK, born at high Leigh Cashire, England). death: 30 Aug. 1849 were laid to rest..............
Picture credit:
http://ashokism.blogspot.com/2017/10/stpeters-csi-church-at-at-thanjavur.html
https://sriramv.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/img_2278.jpg
Ref:
Thanjaiel kattidakalaikku Sandraka Thigazhum Thooya Pathuru Aalayam dated 26December 2021.dinamai.com
www.faceook.com/CsIStPeterChurchThanjavur/photos/pcb.1457506844370379/1457505524370511/?type=3