The Sacred Heart Catholic Church is an architecturally notable church in

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, India. The design combines Gothic principles, Indian craftsmanship, and a Russian dome. It was built in the 1870s by

Frederic Growse Frederic Salmon Growse (1836 – 19 May 1893) was a British civil servant of the Indian Civil Service (ICS), Hindi scholar, archaeologist and collector, who served in Mathura and Bulandshahr in the North-Western Provinces during British rule in ...

, a British civil servant, and convert to Catholicism, on the site of a shed which had previously been used as a Catholic chapel. Growse paid a third of the cost, with donations also being received from the bankers Seth Lachhman Das and Seth Lakhmi Chand, and others. The

Persian carpet A Persian carpet ( fa, فرش ایرانی, translit=farš-e irâni ) or Persian rug ( fa, قالی ایرانی, translit=qâli-ye irâni ),Savory, R., ''Carpets'',(Encyclopaedia Iranica); accessed January 30, 2007. also known as Iranian ...

covering the steps of the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

was given by John W. Tyler, and the

stations of the cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

came from the 10th Royal Hussars. Examples of local art are seen in the carvings on its doorways, window traceries and the kiosks by the dome. Growse intended it for a mixed congregation of Europeans and Indians.

Origins

The first stone was laid on 18 January 1874, on the site of a shed which had been used as a Catholic chapel dedicated to St Francis Apostle of the Poor. Mathura already had an

Anglican church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

, built in the

Italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

, for the use of British troops stationed there. Frederic Growse, an officer posted to Mathura in the 1870s who had converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, was an enthusiast for Indian arts and crafts, and set out to plan a Catholic church in that style."Notes of the Quarter (April, May, June, 1893) III Obituary Notices"
''

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

'', July 1893, pp. 650–652. File:Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart, Mathura.png, Sacred Heart Catholic Church at the time of its construction File:Interior of the Catholic Church.png, Interior view (19th century)Growse, 1883, pp. 417–418.
/ref>

Design and construction

The church's grounds and general proportions were planned according to Gothic principles, while the rest of the church is "purely oriental in design". He employed local craftsmen. Examples of local art are seen in the carvings on its doorways, the window traceries and the kiosks by the dome. Growse initially proposed to design the dome based on the spire of the Hindu temple Madan Mohan, at Brindaban, but fearing opposition, changed his plan and designed it in the Russian style instead. After the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

, attempts to introduce

Indo-Saracenic architecture Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal, or Hindoo style) was a revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and government ...

was seen by the British in India as controversial. Growse regarded the church as unfinished, due to his forced removal from his post at Mathura to serve in another district. File:Sacred Heart Catholic Church Mathura1.jpg, Exterior File:Sacred Heart Catholic Church Mathura2.jpg, Unfinished pillar File:Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Mathura (Good Friday).jpg, Interior File:Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Mathura) interior.jpg, Interior File:Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Mathura) celing.jpg, Ceiling

Contributors

Frederic Growse paid one third of the cost of the church,"Obituary"
''

The Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review and Oriental and Colonial Record The Oriental Institute was a British educational institution in Woking, Surrey, established by Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner. It was also occasionally called the Oriental University Institute. History The site of the Royal Dramatic College was p ...

'', New Series, Vol. VI, Nos. 11 & 12 (1893). pp. 223–225. and donations were also received from the bankers

Seth Lachhman Das Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. Ac ...

and

Seth Lakhmi Chand Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. Ac ...

,Growse, 1883, pp. 15–16.
/ref> Captain Boyce Combe, the Lord Bishop of Agra, Seth Gobind Das, and others. The crucifix was donated by Lord Ralph Kerr, the

covering the steps of the

was given by John W. Tyler, the stations of the cross came from the 10th Royal Hussars, and the crystal chandelier for the choir from John Ellis of Agra. Lala Badri Prasad donated a marble chair, Lala Ratan Lal gave the font, and Seth Raghunath Das donated a further marble chair and chandelier.

Reception

Growse was proud of the church, saying that visitors would "immediately understand that it was a Catholic Church, built in an eastern country for the use of a mixed congregation of Europeans and orientals" that mixed "oriental and western ideas".Metcalfe, 1989, p. 101. He reproduced favourable press comments in the reprint of his book '' Mathurá: A district memoir''.

References

External links

* {{commons category inline, Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Mathura) Gothic Revival church buildings in India Roman Catholic churches in Uttar Pradesh Mathura Churches completed in the 1870s