Armenian Church, Chennai
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Iridescent (talk | contribs) at 19:05, 24 February 2020 (→Bells: Cleanup and typo fixing, typo(s) fixed: ’s → 's (2)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
13°05′21″N 80°17′14″E / 13.0891°N 80.2873°E / 13.0891; 80.2873
The Armenian Church, constructed in 1712 [1] and reconstructed in 1772, is one of the oldest churches of the Indian subcontinent, located in Chennai. 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.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Altar_Armenian_Church_Madras.jpg/220px-Altar_Armenian_Church_Madras.jpg)
Trevor Alexander was the caretaker of the Church until 2014;[2] as on 2019, Jude Johnson, who is a relative of Trevor Alexander, is the care taker.[3]
The Church
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Armenian_Church_Madras.jpg/220px-Armenian_Church_Madras.jpg)
- 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[4] 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", Reverend Haroutiun Shmavonian, 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.[citation needed]
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 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 (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, then known as Mears & Stainbank, with inscriptions reading "Thomas Mears, Founder, London".
Gallery
-
Bells of the Armenian Church in Madras
-
Belfry of the Armenian Church in Madras
-
The Armenian Church of St. Mary, c. 1905
See also
References
- ^ Haviland, Charles (11 December 2003). "The Last Armenians in Madras". BBC News. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ "Economic Times of India article: The Last Armenians". Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2005.
- ^ Chennai's Armenian connection
- ^ For Whom The Bell Tolls[permanent dead link]
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- The bells of St. Mary’s
- Website of the Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth, Kolkata Armenian Churches in India website
Modern Armenian churches and seminaries | ||
---|---|---|
Armenia | ||
Caucasus | ||
Russia | ||
Europe |
| |
Middle East |
| |
Asia |
| |
United States |
Temples |
|
---|---|
Churches |
|
Mosques | |
Jain temples |
|
Buddhist temples | |
Gurudwaras | |
Parsi temples |
- Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
- All articles with dead external links
- Articles with dead external links from October 2016
- Articles with permanently dead external links
- Use dmy dates from May 2018
- Use Indian English from May 2018
- All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English
- Coordinates on Wikidata
- All articles with unsourced statements
- Articles with unsourced statements from October 2017
- Commons category link is on Wikidata