Immaculate Conception Cathedral (, ) is the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral church, or ...

for the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore () is a Latin Church, Latin metropolitan see of the Catholic Church of Pondicherry (city), Pondicherry and Cuddalore in India. History With a land area of 11,348 square kilometers, th ...

. It is located in the

Union territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: Places in India * Puducherry (union territory), formerly known as Pondicherry ** Puducherry (city), capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district The Puducherry District, also know ...

. The church is also known as Samba Kovil (), which is a phonetic corruption of "

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

's Kovil" where "Kovil" means church.

History

The

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Fathers came to the French colony of

Pondicherry Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...

as missionaries in 1689. There they bought a very large garden to the west of the French Fort. In 1692 they, with the financial help of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

king of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Fra ...

, erected a church which was demolished by the Dutch in the following year. A second Church was quickly built in 1699 but could not last long. From 1728 to 1736 a large church was built on the site of the present Cathedral. This third church was razed to the ground by the British in 1761 during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. Erecting in 1765 provisionally (fourth in serial) a functional kind of irregularly shaped shed where the Mission Press (official press depot of the archdiocese) is now since the year 1770 the Fathers were earnest in building the present cathedral on the foundations of the 3rd Church. On 20 June 1791, the main work was finished and the Church was consecrated by

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Champenois. The Bell Tower was built later. The choir loft was added in 1905. The Sanctuary was remodeled in the year 1970. The esplanade in front of the Cathedral was remodeled in 1987, to allow people to take part in liturgical ceremonies and special functions held outside. The Fest of this Church i.e.,

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

falls on 8 December. Now the church which stands for around 300 years is also the place where the bishop's house is situated.

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

services are conducted in Tamil and English. It is one of the oldest tourist sites in Puducherry and was visited by

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...

during her visit to Puducherry.

Gallery

The Church

File:Puducherry Cathedral 1860.jpg, Photo taken in 1860, possibly by French photographer Charles Moyne.BBC In pictures: Former French colony of Pondicherry in India
/ref> File:ImmaculateConceptionPondy28.JPG, Nave File:Puducherry Immaculate Conception Cathedral interior(2).jpg, Central altar of the church with the bishop's

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

visible on the right hand side covered with a green cloth File:Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Puducherry Cathedral.jpg, Right side Altar for Our Lady of Immaculate Conception, renovated during the year of Faith File:Pondy cathedral view from altar.jpg, Main Door - View from the central high altar

Statues and Altars in the Church

Joseph pondy cathedral.jpg, St. Joseph's Altar OL good health pondy cathedral.jpg, Our Lady of Good Health Altar Sacred Heart pondy cathedral.jpg, Sacred Heart Altar Theresa of lisieux pondy cathedral.jpg, St. Theresa of Lisieux Altar OL Rosary pondy cathedral.jpg, Our Lady of Holy Rosary with St. Dominic Francis of assisi pondy cathedral.jpg, St. Francis of Assisi Baptismal font pondy cathedral.jpg,

Baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

Stoups pondy cathedral.jpg,

Stoups A holy water font or stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or other Christian art. It is used in Catholic, as well as many Lutheran and Anglica ...

Grotto pondy cathedral.jpg, Grotto near the gate Christ the King, Puducherry Cathedral.jpg, Christ the King statue installed by Bishop Colas in 1933

Cathedral Cemetery

Cathedral Cemetery, Pondicherry (1).jpg Cathedral Cemetery, Puducherry (4).jpg Cathedral Cemetery, Puducherry (5).jpg Cathedral Cemetery, Puducherry (6).jpg Cathedral Cemetery, Puducherry (7).jpg, Missionaries buried here Tombs of Bishops - Cathedral Cemetery, Puducherry.jpg, Tombs of Bishops of the Archdiocese

References