The Cantonment Church Tower is a church tower in Karnal city of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is a historical religious shrine in Karnal. It stands near

National Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

. It has been declared as a historical monument by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. It was the tower of St. James' Church, Karnal, dedicated to St. James, one of disciples of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. The tower is 35 m tall, and is surmounted by an ornamental cross. The huge tower is located between the infantry parade and race course. It can be seen from a distance of 7 km.

History

With the establishment of British cantonment at Karnal, St. James' Church was constructed in AD 1806 by the British. In 1841, when the cantonment was shifted to Ambala, the church was dismantled, but the tower was allowed to stay as it had been built out of the subscriptions of the public who objected to its dismantlement. It was built to meet the challenge of rising power of the Sikh military in the region.

Architecture

The tower has four storeys and on the first storey, Etruscan pilaster has been used. The top storey has a semi-circular dome and the complete exterior is plastered with lime and has fine panelling work with different designs and patterns.{{Cite web, url=http://haryanatourism.gov.in/Destination/cantonment-church-tower, title=Cantonment Church Tower {{! Places of Interest {{! Karnal , last=, first=, date=, website=destination, language=en-IN, archive-url=, archive-date=, access-date=2019-01-18

Administration

Cantonment Church Tower is under the supervision of

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...

along with

All India Christian Council The All India Christian Council (AICC) is a nationwide alliance of Christian denominations, mission agencies, institutions, federations and Christian lay leaders. AICC was formed in 1998 with the declared purpose of to providing a united voice t ...

Graveyard

Graveyard of soldiers is on the left side of the Cantonment Church and on the right side is the graveyard of Indian Christians.

References

Churches in Haryana Karnal Anglican church buildings in India Tourist attractions in Haryana Church ruins in India Former Anglican churches Cantonments of British India 19th-century Anglican church buildings 19th-century churches in India