Cathedral Church of the Redemption, New Delhi - a colonial structure


Cathedral Church of the Redemption, New Delhi,wikipedia.org/

Cathedral Church of the Redemption in New Delhi, also known as the Viceroy Church, is considered among the most beautiful and magnificent churches in India. Located east of Parliament House and Rashtrapati Bhavan  (then British Viceroy used it). The Cathedral Church of the Redemption is a fine domed Classical church in red sandstone and is part of the Delhi diocese of the Church of North India .

In 1900s there arose a necessity to have a place of worship for the British officers and others.

Rev.T. R. Dixon, the Chaplain took steps  and the  Cathedral came up in eight years and was opened to public worship on Sunday, 18 January 1931. Earlier, the foundation stone was laid by Viceroy Irwin on 23 February 1927 at the centre of the proposed church. The church consecrated on 15 February 1931 by the Bishop of Lahore, Rev Storrs Fox, assisted by the Chaplain of Delhi, Rev. P. Dass.

Cathedral Church of the Redemption,New Delhi,wikipedia.org/
Sir Edwin Lutyens' plans for the new capital at New Delhi included a piece of land to build  an Anglican place of worship. The English architect Henry Alexander Nesbitt Medd who had worked closely with Lutyens and his partner in the New Delhi project, Sir Herbert Baker was the architect
 

Henry Medd planned the cathedral in such a manner that during the extreme summers the interior remains remains cool and comfortable. The church has beautifully curved high arches and delicate domes, which won the heart of the then Viceroy Lord Irwin was so much impressed by the delicate domes and high arches, he  gifted an organ and a silver Cross to the Church. It pays homage to Palladio's "II Redentore" in Venice. The name, unusual for an Anglican church, echoes its Venetian model. Medd's other contribution was  the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart in New Delhi.

This church is stepped in history and
Its first service was held on 3 December 1922 at 8 am. and the earliest recorded wedding solemnized, was that of Adelbert Vere and Mina Monica (a widow), by Chaplain T.H. Dixon on 20 October 1926.The church since its inception on 18 January 1936, has maintained a clear records and minutes of its meetings,beside, it still has a 1733 Cambridge Press published Bible, bound in red leather.

The Cathedral Church of the Redemption serves the community through its activities in education


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 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_Church_of_the_Redemption