KUMAAR HOLIDAYS
NO.42, CHOWDARY NAGAR MAIN ROAD,
VALASARAVAKKAM, CHENNAI-87
CELL: 78109 86933 / 78108 96933 / 93810 61000
E-MAIL: kumaarholidays1@gmail.com
www.kumaarholidays.com
www.keralaholidayhub.com
The CSI Church or Christ Church is steeped in
history and had served an integral role in the colonial British era. Built of
rough-hewn granite with un-plastered walls, it was constructed by the British
in 1910. The stained glass windows depicting the saints and Biblical characters
lends the church its unique charm. It has a number of brass plaques in memory
of British era tea planters.
Run by the Church Mission Society, this quiet
church is sought by the religious tourist to pray and to meditate.
A century-old church, owing its legacy
to the British tea planters in Old Munnar, is a place where visitors from
Britain, who are the third or fourth generation descendants of the planters,
arrive to find the life their ancestors led in a far away land.
The present CSI church, built in 1910,
is well preserved. It was constructed using rough hewn granites in Gothic
style. The stained glasses on the sides of the church depict the saints and
Biblical characters. It has a number of memorial brass plaques with the
names of prominent planters inscribed on them.
One plaque reads, “In memory of Lee
William Alexander, who worshiped here till Ju1y 1925, died on January 4, 1944.”
Some others read, “In memory of Marjorie Innes”; “Archibald Williams”, and so
on.
The history of the church is linked to
the missionaries who arrived here. The first to be buried was
young Ilianor Knight, wife of Henry Knight, supposedly a missionary,
and who is believed to have died of malaria in 1899. The church was built in
memory of her in front of a small hill where she was buried, later making it an
exclusive cemetery for British planters. Before the church was constructed,
there was a cemetery at the back of the present structure where many Britishers
were laid to rest. History records that the work of the church was completed
and dedicated on April 16, 1911. An in-house publication of Tata-Finlay Ltd
“Hundred Years of Tea Planting,” says that the church provided refuge for many
during the heavy floods in Munnar in 1924. It was the first place people
reached for refuge as it is on a hill and near the then main town.Rev. J.
Mithran, the present vicar of the church, said that young people from
Britain come to Munnar only to visit the church. A few tombs have the names of
persons buried there written on them, and their descendants come with details
of those buried there.
“It is part of Munnar’s history
and attracts tourists, especially foreigners and the church is maintained
well”, said Riju Varghese, a former staffer of the church.
As one courses through the
history of Munnar, where the Britishers introduced the rope way, railway and
even the first motor bike, one finds many such monuments to its glorious past.
KUMAAR HOLIDAYS
NO.42, CHOWDARY NAGAR MAIN ROAD,
VALASARAVAKKAM, CHENNAI-87
CELL: 78109 86933 / 78108 96933 / 93810 61000
E-MAIL: kumaarholidays1@gmail.com
www.kumaarholidays.com
www.keralaholidayhub.com
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