Our Lady of Dolours Basilica alias Puthenpally (

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

: പുത്തൻപള്ളി, meaning: New Church) is a

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

of the

Syro-Malabar Catholic Church lat, Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium mal, മലബാറിലെ സുറിയാനി സഭ , native_name_lang=, image = St. Thomas' Cross (Chennai, St. Thomas Mount).jpg , caption = The Mar Thoma Nasrani Sl ...

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

City in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

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 ...

. The tallest

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

and the third tallest in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, it is famous for its

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

. Built in fine Indo-Gothic style with an area of , it has soaring belfries at the entrance, double-storeyed aisles all along the nave and transepts, and eleven altars, five on either side of the main one. It is the largest church in Kerala and its exuberant interior decorations include fine specimens of murals, icons and statues of saints, and scenes from the Scriptures.

History

The parish and original church building were established in 1814. It was

's first Christian church inside the fort gates (Ollur Syro-Malabar church est. AD 1718, daughter church of Pazhuvil church, is the first Christian church in the

Thrissur Municipal Corporation The Thrissur Municipal Corporation is the civic body that governs the Thrissur city in Kerala, India. It is the third largest city Corporation in the state of Kerala by area and fourth largest in population. Established as a Municipality since 19 ...

). It was a center for the

St. Thomas Christians The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, ''Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani'', ''Malankara Nasrani'', or ''Nasrani Mappila'', are an Ethnoreligious group, ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the state of Ker ...

in the area (now the

) for decades. In 1874, the

Chaldean Catholic , native_name_lang = syc , image = Assyrian Church.png , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows Baghdad, Iraq , abbreviation = , type ...

bishop

Elias Mellus Mar Yohannan Elias Mellus (or ''Milos'', ''Milus'') (1831–1908) was a bishop of the Chaldean Catholic Church. Elias Mellus was born on September 19, 1831, in Mardin. He entered in the monastery of Rabban Hormizd Monastery, Rabban Hormizd in Alq ...

arrived in

by the request of the Syro-Malabar Christians and convinced a large part of the Christian community to accept him as their bishop. The group that followed Mellus was based at this church and eventually separated from the Catholic hierarchy, forming what is now known as the

Chaldean Syrian Church The Chaldean Syrian Church of India ( Classical Syriac: ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ܕܐܬܘܖ̈ܝܐ; Malayalam: / ''Kaldaya Suriyani Sabha'') is an Eastern Christian denomination, based in Thrissur, in India. It is organized as a metropolitan provi ...

.Vadakkekara, Benedict (2007)
''Origin of Christianity in India: a Historiographical Critique''
pp. 101–103. Media House Delhi. In response the Syro-Malabar Catholics constructed a new building in 1929. The original church was renamed the

Mart Mariam Big Church Marth Mariam Cathedral is the cathedral of the Chaldean Syrian Church of India, part of the Assyrian Church of the East. It is located in Thrissur City in the state of Kerala, It is the city's first Christian church inside the fort gates and is ...

, and is now the cathedral of the Chaldean Syrian Church. The current building is known as Puthanpally (New Church) for this reason. The construction of this church, the biggest church in

was done in different phases, starting from the year 1929. The two front towers are of height each and the central tower of height makes this church the 3rd tallest in Asia. Completion of the towers was an architectural challenge. A few experts from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

were brought over. The architect who completed the church was Ambrose Gounder. File:rose window.jpg, Rose window File:transept.jpg, View from the balcony of the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

s. File:Main alter.jpg, The main altar

Mass timings

Ordinary days : 6.00 am, 7.30 am, 5.30 pm Friday : 6.00 am, 7.30 am, 10.00 am, 5.30 pm, 7.30 pm Sunday : 6.00 am, 7.30 am, 9.30 am, 4.45 pm, 6.00 pm (Eng), 7.30 pm

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basilica Of Our Lady Of Dolours Our Lady of Dolours, Thrissur Churches in Thrissur Gothic Revival church buildings in India Tourist attractions in Thrissur 1814 establishments in British India Syro-Malabar Catholic church buildings Churches completed in 1929