Saint Mary Church of Chennai (

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

: ), constructed in 1712 and reconstructed in 1772, is one of the oldest churches of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, located in

Chennai 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 ...

. It is famous for its belfry of six. The Church, also called the Armenian Church of Virgin Mary, is located on the Armenian Street in the neighbourhood of George Town. Trevor Alexander was the caretaker of the Church until 2014; as on 2019, Jude Johnson, who is a relative of Trevor Alexander, is the care taker.

The Church

* Functioning only as a heritage site, the Church is opened for visitors from 9 am till 2:30 pm. * It is funded by the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

For Whom The Bell Tolls
/ref> and maintained by The Armenian Church Committee in Calcutta. * The graves of about 350 Armenians have been laid out throughout the Church. * The founder, publisher and editor of the world's first Armenian periodical "

Azdarar ''Azdarar'' ( hy, Ազդարար) (pronounced Aztarar in Western Armenian) was the first Armenian language newspaper ever published. It was established on October 16, 1794, in the city of Madras (now Chennai) in India by Father Harutyun Shmavony ...

Harutyun Shmavonyan Harutyun Shmavonyan ( hy, Հարություն Շմավոնյան) (born Shiraz, Persia in 1750 - died Madras, India 1824) was a priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the founder of the Armenian journalism through publishing of the Armenia ...

, is buried here. * The Belfry adjacent to the main Church structure houses six large bells which are rung every Sunday at 9:30 am by the caretaker. The Armenians were a select group of merchants in Madras Presidency. They walked all the way from Armenia, through the Hindukush mountains and came down to Madras. When the British were trading cotton cloth, Armenians dealt with fine silk, expensive spices and gems. Madras must have housed a small but a thriving Armenian population. Today there are none of them left.

Bells

The six bells are all of different sizes, varying from 21 to 26 inches, and weigh around 150 kg each, They are believed to be the largest and heaviest bells of Chennai. The bells were cast at different times as noted below: *One bell, with Armenian inscription dates to 1754. This was recast in 1808 and also bears

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

inscription. *One bell's inscription indicates that it dates to 1778. *Inscriptions on two bells indicate that they were given to the Church in memory of 19 year Eliazar Shawmier, buried in the Church's garden. Shawmier was the youngest son of a leading Armenian merchant of the city 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 ...

(now Chennai) on whose private chapel ground the present Church stands. *The remaining two bells date to 1837 and were cast by the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells a ...

, then known as ''Mears & Stainbank'', with inscriptions reading "Thomas Mears, Founder, London".

Gallery

File:BellsArmenianChurchMadras.jpg, Bells of the Armenian Church in Madras File:BelfryArmenianChurchMadras.jpg, Belfry of the Armenian Church in Madras File:The Armenian Church of St. Mary, 1905.jpeg, The Armenian Church of St. Mary, c. 1905

References

External links

The bells of St. Mary’sWebsite of the Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth, Kolkata Armenian Churches in India website
{{Places of worship in Chennai Armenian diaspora in India Armenian Apostolic churches in India Churches in Chennai 18th-century churches in India 18th-century Oriental Orthodox church buildings

The Church

Bells

Gallery

See also

References

External links