Incredible Medak- Church of World’s Second Largest Diocese నవంబర్ 5, 2007

Church that needs to be cherished

The solid white granite Medak Church, standing tall at 173 feet, may be part of the ‘Incredible India ‘ campaign, but it is in a state of utter neglect, says Sapna Kaushik

As a visitor exits out of the city from Hyderabad airport, a large photograph beckons him. It is a picture of the Medak Church that is put up as part of the ‘Incredible India’ campaign.

In a sense, it reflects how the church is being promoted or not being marketed by tourism officials. “Shouldn’t it be in the arrival lounge rather than being in the exit lounge?” asks a visitor.

Not surprising then that there are hardly any visitors to the church. On an average, only 25-odd visitors come to the church a day for a dekko. But on Sunday, this could swell to 2,000, with two sermons being conducted in the church. Most visitors are from nearby Zaheerabad, Bidar, Nizamabad, Nalgonda, Warangal and Mahbubnagar district.

The church is a mere two-hour drive off National Highway 7 from Hyderabad. Though it is part of the Incredible India campaign launched last year, very little has been done to maintain the church that owes its name to ‘methukulu’ (meaning rice in Telugu), which is why the place is also called Medak.

In 1896, when the district was struck by famine, Rev. Charles Walker Posnett, a missionary, evolved the ‘food for work’ programme. If villagers contributed to building the church, they could in turn earn food. That set the ball rolling for this renowned Gothic structure.

From 1914 to 1924, the farmers toiled to erect the church and Thomas Edward Harding, the architect, left no stone unturned in building the cathedral. For the floor, tiles from famous potteries were shipped from England. Then, Italian workmen were brought from Bombay to lay them. The tile’s design is an intricate one in six colours — red, brown, black, yellow, chocolate and grey. The marble on the chancel floor and the reredos behind the Holy communion is from Italy.

What sets the Church apart are the three stained glass windows, created by Sir Frank O’ Salisbury of London. They constitute ‘the gospel trilogy’ in art — the nativity, the crucifixion and the ascension. Made of solar glass, the windows appear in all their glory when its bright and sunny. All the stained glass windows have inscriptions in English, Hindi and Telugu. The Hindi inscription came later, at the instance of Vijaylakshmi Pandit, sister of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who felt that the national language must find a mention on the stained glass.

The church, the single largest diocese in Asia and the second largest in the world after the Vatican , is built in solid white granite. The tower is 173 feet high, with four pinnacles. If it hadn’t been for the Nizam, the church would have been taller. Old-timers say that when the cathedral was to be built, the Nizam had one condition, that the church should not be taller than the Charminar

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