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| Medak cathedral, telengana..thehindu.com |
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| Medak cathedral, 5000 seated world's 2nd largest, travelrs.org/ |
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| Cathedral in Medak,.blogger.com/blog |
The Medak cathedral was built during the Raj when India was under the direct control of the British Crown. It has been the cathedral church of the Diocese of Medak of the Church of South India since 1947. The diocese is not only the single largest diocese in Asia, but also the second in the world after the Vatican comprising Congregational and Anglican missionary societies and also the church of England. The amazing church would not have come up but for the strong initiative and pain taken by the Rev. Charles Walker Posnett who was driven by the motto ''My best for my Lord''. Arrived in Secunderabad in 1895 as the first minister to conduct services for the large contingent of British soldiers at Trimullghery, he was not quite happy and his work was mainly focused on the army soldiers. He wanted to move out and serve the needy people in the villages. Devoid of any modem development such as the railroad, etc, he traveled roughly 60 long miles under the tropical sun on horseback covering rugged terrains and finally settled down at Medak village, then a hamlet with a with a small community o Christians. Over a period of time as the Christian community became larger, necessity arose to have a large church to meet the people's spiritual needs. The present church was not good enough for the community. Being a visionary, focused more on the future development the Rev, Posnett began building the present Cathedral in 1914 on a vast land of 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) in Ghusnabad area.
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| Jesus in staind glass. Medak cathedral,Telengana.dreamstime.com |
It took ten years to build the church and the Rev Posnett in order to tide over the worst famine that hit Medak and other areas offered food for work to the local population and relied then of their pangs of hunger. This way the church work was going on and at the same time the staving community in that area had their stomach full. It was in October 1947 the it became the cathedral of the Diocese of Medak; the unification of other churches facilitated this.
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| srisrilara.blogspot.com |
Believe it or not the cathedral could accommodate roughly 5000 people at the same time. Mosaic flooring was done with different colors with special tiles imported from England and the work was done by Italian from Bombay. . The cathedral has a dimension of 100 ft (30 m) wide and 200 ft (61 m) long and is a good example of Gothic a Revival style. The interior is characteristic of impressive style of vaulting with massive pillars and nicely dressed grey stone supporting the balcony. Of many attractions, the stained glass windows never fail to attract the visitors. Designed by Sir. O. Salisbury of England, thy were not installed at the same time and became part of church at different periods. So is the tall bell-tower which is 175 ft (53 m) high and its height was reduced on official orders from the Nizam.
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 came up in 1927, two years after the cathedral was built, he nativity window
in 1947 and the crucifixion window in 1958. The Cathedral is now under the jurisdiction of the Church of South India CSI).
For the benefit of visiting pilgrims, several AC rooms and ordinary rooms are provided near the church as Medak is a small town. There is a pilgrims rest house and some restaurants to cater to the visitors.
The strong belief has been that people who come here with a wish or two
having repose in Christ are blessed regardless of the nature of their wish
pertaining to health, etc and it is expected of them to revisit the
cathedral to express their thanks to the Holy Ghost..
Tit bits:
India is one among a few countries in the world where the churches have been in existence since the later part of first century. It was St. Thomas who established what are called ''seven and half churches'' mostly in the south-west Indian state of Kerala. Thus, he had begun the gospel activities here long long ago. Unlike other Indian states, the geography and the climatic conditions of Kerala are altogether different with heavy Monsoon rains. So, his churches did not last for a long time and could be identified by the Crosses installed in front of the churches by him during his stay there. With the arrival of Europeans, construction of churches began in the 15th century.
In the wake of Covid - 19 pandemic all services both in Roman Catholic and Protestant churches across Telangana hand been cancelled t till March 31 of 2020 as precautionary measures to avoid the spread of this disease. it was the first time ever that the church services were not held. the church authorities took the step in the right direction, considering the size of the church .
Like some of the churches in Tamil Nadu, lots of devotees tonsure their heads here in return for favors bestowed on them. Yet another ritual observed is breaking of coconuts at a designated place in the church.
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