I visited Thrissur in the month of Aug 12 for review of my program.During the last day of stay I got spare time of 4 hours and wanted to explore the places around Thrissur.I got an able guide and friend Dr.Sybil from Thrissur medical college. Luckily for me,he seemed to know many historical places within the radius of 20 kms around Thrissur !Our common interest was historical churches in and around Thrissur.
I have already written about Forane church and we also visited 4 more churches. Each church/cathedral is a masterpiece and we thoroughly enjoyed visiting these holy places.
Our Lady of Dolours Basilica.
Our Lady of Dolours Basilica is a minor basilica of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Thrissur City in the Indian state of Kerala. The third-tallest church in Asia, it is famous for its Gothic style architecture. Built in fine Indo-Gothic style with an area of 25,000 square feet, it has soaring belfries at the entrance, double storeyed aisles all along the nave and transepts, and eleven altars, five on either side of the main one. It is the largest church in India and its exuberant interior decorations include fine specimens of murals, images of saints and scenes from the scriptures.
The parish and original church building were established in 1814. Thrissur's first Catholic church, it was a center for Catholic St. Thomas Christians in the area (now the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church) for decades. In 1874, the Chaldean Catholic bishop Elias Mellus arrived in India and convinced a large part of the Christian community to accept him as their bishop. The group that followed Mellus was based at Our Lady of Dolours, and eventually separated from the Catholic hierarchy, forming what is now known as the Chaldean Syrian Church. In response the Syro-Malabar Catholics constructed a new building in 1929. The original church was renamed the Mart Mariam Big Church, and is now the cathedral of the Chaldean Syrian Church.
The construction of this biggest church in India was done in different phases, started in the year 1929. The two front towers are of 146 feet height each and the central tower of 260 feet height makes this church as 3rd tallest in Asia.
Our Lady of Lourdes Syro-Malabar Catholic Cathedral
Our Lady of Lourdes Syro-Malabar Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral, one of the largest churches in Kerala, is located in the heart of Thrissur City in the state of Kerala, India. Dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, the Syro-Malabar Catholic church is noted for its imposing interior. The main attraction is an underground shrine, considered a masterpiece of architectural design. Fr John Maliekkal is said to have planned and constructed this church. The exterior of the church features an Indo-European facade with pink spires. The centenary of this church was celebrated during the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to Thrissur City in 1986.
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