State Archaeology Dept helps Mysore Church in makeover after funds crunch


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Bangalore Mirror

The department of archaeology, museums and heritage (DAMH) has provided a major boost to the efforts of restoring and renovating one of the biggest and most famous churches in South India, the St Philomena’s Church in the Diocese of Mysuru, which was constructed in 1936 using a Neo Gothic style. The architecture of this major tourist attraction was inspired by the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.

 

These renovation efforts at this major tourist attraction hit a roadblock due to a severe funds crunch; but DAMH has now infused funds to carry out the funds at a cost of Rs 3 crore.

 

In fact, initial efforts to revive the church were forced to a halt due to the funds shortage. DAMH has now taken up the works and set to begin restoration works by removing the plastering. The restoration will be carried out traditionally without affecting the originality of the church’s interior or exterior design.

 

Moulding is proposed to be done through conventional methods using black jaggery, jute, bale fruit, egg, lime and sand.

 

The granite slabs of the existing structure too will be removed and numbered before the restoration work begins.

"The restoration process will be carried out as it is done with any protected heritage structure without using any heavy machinery. Chains and pulley blocks will be used to avoid even minimum damage," a department source told Bangalore Mirror.

 

The restoration process includes repairing age-old windows and doors, now in dilapidated state, and replacing them with similar wood as used when it was constructed and developed in phases. The internal artefacts will be restored too. The glasses will be cleaned, the officials said.

 

"Scaffolding will be put up before the commencement of work on the church structure to ensure public safety. Later the existing structure - which has fungus, algae and is in bad shape - will be restored to what it was when constructed in 1936," another official said.

 

The works will be carried out by experts under the supervision of officials and experts of the archaeology department. The cornices and designs will be restored, laying plastering lime mortar for small minars with cornices, flowers, stuccos, pillars, dome works and design works as part of restoration. Independent conservation architects specialised in conserving structures of gothic style and heritage structures will be roped in to ensure the originality of the structure is not affected, the brass said.

 

"We have already started the process. The work will be started soon. The restoration and renovation process may take a year considering the huge structure and the various artefacts that need to be taken up for restoration. With this, a longtime call for its conservation is being redressed," Dr R Gopal, commissioner, department of archaeology, museums and heritage told Bangalore Mirror.

 

A neo-gothic wonder

Designed by Reverend Rene Feugue, it is built in the Neo Gothic style. The lofty towers and illumination are a major attraction. The twin spires of the cathedral are 175-feet-tall. It has beautiful windows depicting scenes of Jesus Christ’s life. The cathedral houses an antique statue of St Philomena, the saint from Greece, said to be acquired from France. Two hundred and fifty years ago, a small church had existed. The British moved the capital of Mysore from Srirangapatnam to Mysore city in 1799 after Tipu Sultan’s death. Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar III, gave the British a small plot of land on the Mysore-Bangalore Road. Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV had laid the foundation of the new church in 1933. These towers resemble that of a cathedral in Cologne in Germany and those of St Patrick’s Church in New York. 

 

 

 

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