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| St. Mary Armenian Church, George Town, Chennai. andrewwhitehead.net |
Very much close to the once popular Gokhale Hall (now in ruins) built by Theosophist and educationist late Annie Besant in 1915 on the same congested and traffic ridden chaotic Armenian street in George Town, Chennai, lies one of the oldest churches in Asia with a belfry of six bells (a rare feature among the churches) - - Armenian Church. Also known as the Armenian Church of Virgin Mary, it is quite disturbing this historic landmark monument is not well taken care of and needs to be preserved for the next generation of people. The church is not a functional now. The problem is funds and the Armenian Apostolic Church of Kolkata is helping it out as much as it can. Armenian churches in West Bengal face the same problem nd the Armenian community has declined to a trickle.
I understand now the service is held once a year on the day of Christmas and the priest has to come all the way from Kolkata. Way back the services used to be 6 times a year by a group of Armenian priests from Calcutta. First built in 1772 by the early settlers from Armenia and Persia, the church was active in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 1600s the Armenians began arriving in Madras, many engaged in trade and some joined the English company. The presence of Armenians in Madras can be traced a bit earlier - all the way back to 1512. “There are records of Armenians informing the Portuguese of the grave of St Thomas that was found in Madras,” says Niveditha Louis, a history enthusiast. Obviously this church is a testimony to the legacy of Armenians who once formed a small, but active business community in this city.
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| 1905 Armenian church, Chennai .wikiwand.com |
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| St. Mary Armenian Church, Chennai, TN. upload.wikimedia.org |
Above image: Since some of the Armenians had a close rapport with the East India company, Madras, the company granted them land near the High Court to build a church to fulfill their spiritual needs. Besides EIC allowed them to have a priest for a grant of £50 a year...............
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| Armenian church, Chennai. Verandah. chennaitourism.travel/ |
Built in orthodox tradition, the church is not a big one and could accommodate about 130 people at a time and a choir in its gallery. The church came up on the graves of about 350 Armenians (most of them date back to 1740) and the exact date of the church is a subject of debate. According to one Michel Stephen, a former caretaker, the stepped wooden altar inlaid with rare and fine oval paintings depicting various episodes from the life of Christ. According to Judy Johnson , care taker ' the altar inside the church is also special for having a portrait of Virgin Mary taking Jesus to heaven. You don’t find this anywhere else in the country. A visitor to the service one Michael said, ''The first draft constitution for Armenia was also put together here around 1780s.'', ''Armenia, a land-locked nation in West Asia was the first country to make Christianity their official religion in 301 AD. The Armenians celebrate Christmas on 6th January and not on 25th December as other Christians do.''
Under the guidance of INTACH - the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, this church underwent renovation in 2007. The cost of Rs. 1.5 crore was borne through a grant from the the Armenian Church Trust in Kolkata. The church has a fine dome and a spacious verandah. Under the Armenian Church Committee in Calcutta, the church is being maintained and funded by Armenian Apostolic Church. The going is tough for them.
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| The Armenian Church, Chennai carved stone book. thehindu.com |
Above image: The church grave yard has 350 graves and one grave has a unique gravestone, a stone carved book, a tribute to ''Azdarar'', first Armenian Newspaper / periodical . It is the grave of Rev Harutiun Shmavonian (born Shiraz-1750, died Madras-1824) who started the first printing press and in October 1794 brought out the first Armenian Newspaper / periodical called Azdarar (intellectual). ''The stone epitaphs also bear testament to the lives of Armenian merchants, being embedded with grapes, quills, grain, ships, etc and the last burial here was in 1850, after which our burial ground was moved to a spot close to the Chennai Central Railway Station.” according to caretaker Johnson ................
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| Armenian church, Chennai.ghummakkad.wordpress.com/. |
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| Verandah, Armenian church, Chennai.ghummakkad.wordpress.com/. |
Above image; Old image. Long corridor/ verandah, Armenian church St. Mary, George Town, Chennai.
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| .Belfry Armenian church, Chennai. agefotostock.com |
Above image: A rare feature of the Armenian church is the Belfry with 6 different bells of different sizes (from 21-26 inches), each weighing around 150 kg. Two bells, dated 1837, were cast in London's Whitechapel Bell Foundry (then known as Mears & Stain bank, with inscriptions reading "Thomas Mears, Founder, London") which made the bells for Big Ben and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, USA. One with Armenian inscription dates to 1754, was recast in 1808 and has Tamil inscription; another dates to 1778. From the inscriptions on two bells we infer that they were donated to the Church in memory of 19-year-old Eliazar Shawmier, buried in the garden. It is said the six large bells are rung every Sunday at 9:30 am by the caretaker to remind us that the old heritage church is being taken care of regularly, not withstanding the fact that there are no Church services, prayers, etc. Another implication is every Sunday morning the once popular church chimes as if not to forget the link the early Armenian settlers had with this place and their glorious days..................................
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| St. Mary Armenian church, Chennai. timesofindia.indiatimes.com |
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| Giant bible, Armenian church, Chennai ghummakkad.wordpress.com/. |
https://www.thehindu.com/children/tucked-away-treasures/article35918731.ece
https://ghummakkad.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/an-armenian-street-lost-in-the-noisy-old-town-in-chennai
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Church,_Chennai
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3303979.stm
