St. Stephen's Church is located on the road to

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

Ooty Ooty (), officially known as Udhagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund (); abbreviated as Udhagai), is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north west of Coimbatore and so ...

, in the state of

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 ...

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 one of the oldest churches in the Nilgiris district.

History

The church dates back to the 19th century. Stephen Rumbold Lushington, the then Governor of

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, who keenly felt the need for a church in Ooty exclusively for the British, laid the foundation for the church on 23 April 1829, to coincide with the birthday of

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

. St. Stephen's Church was consecrated by John Matthias Turner, Bishop of

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, on 5 November 1830. It was opened to the public communion on Easter Sunday 3 April 1831. It came under the

Church of South India The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of mainline Protestant denominations in South India after independence. The Church of South India is the successor of a number of Pr ...

in 1947. The architect in charge was John James Underwood, Captain, Madras Regiment.

Architecture

Front Right Stephens Church Ooty Jun22 A7C 02028

The massive main beam and other timber in the church was taken from Tipu Sultan's palace on the island of

Srirangapatna Srirangapatna is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Tehsil, Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian States and territories of India, State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangapatna, Ranganthaswamy ...

. The material was transported up the Sigur ghat. The architect was Captain J.J. Underwood and the construction cost about Rs 24,000 at the time. The foundation stone was laid in April 1829. A painting depicting the Last Supper is displayed on the wall on the western side, which is situated above panelled doors. The church also features stained glass windows depicting, among other scenes, the

crucifixion of Christ The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...

and Mary holding baby Jesus in her arms. Instead of the usual bell in the tower, 4 hammer like structures are tied on inverted-V shaped wooden planks using wires, which when pulled from the floor, produce a musical sound. The church also has a

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

with a flight of steps to the left of the chancel, a pew with a chancel in a raised position and a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

References

External links

History of the church
Churches in Nilgiris district Church of South India church buildings in India Buildings and structures in Ooty 1830 establishments in India

History

Architecture

See also

References

Further reading

External links