ABSTRACT

The churches of Kerala of the six-

teenth to seventeenth centuries
exhibits an architectural charac-
ter which is different from that of
the indigenous Church Architec-
ture of Kerala. Preliminary studies
show that the spatial organiza-
tion of these churches also varied
from that of the indigenous
churches of Kerala. Church ar-
chitecture of this period is a fusion
of the Western and Eastern ec-

CHURCH
clesiastical traditions in terms of
spatial organization and plan-
ning.

ARCHITECTURE
ANPHY ABRAHAM

S4 B. ARCH

IN KERALA
MODULE - 6
CONTENTS

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 HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF CHURCHES OF
KERALA OF THE SIXTEENTH TO SEVENTENTH
According to traditional belief, apostle St. CENTURIES: -
Thomas had brought Christianity into Kerala
in the first century AD. The culture and soci- The spatial organization of the churches of
ety of Kerala had also provided an ena- sixteenth to seventeenth centuries also var-
bling environment for the growth of Christi- ied from that of the indigenous church. This
anity. These Christians came to be known was because of the additional space re-
as Thomas Christians and were treated all quirements that arose from the changes in
along on a footing of equality with the Hin- liturgy and ideologies of the Western
dus and assigned a very important place in Church. The indigenous churches had to in-
the economic and social life of the land. corporate the new spatial requirements.
This Christian community, by the beginning Thus, the new church demanded spaces
of the sixteenth century became a major such as,
force in the cultural and commercial scene
(a) Baptismal room
in Kerala.

ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS OF THOMAS (b) Sacristy

CHRISTIANS: -
(c) Priest room
Until 1500 AD, the Thomas Christian com-
munity of Kerala grew under the ecclesias-
(d) Confession room
tical guidance of Bishops from Syria, and
Persia of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The
Thomas Christians therefore were also (e) Space for choir
known as Syrian Christians. They had main-
tained proper relationship with the Church (f) Belfry/Bell tower
of Persia and had inherited the Syrian Lit-
urgy from them. CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF LIFE,
MATTACHERY
INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN ECCLESIASTI-
CAL TRADITIONS: -
Church of ‘Our Lady of Life’, a Syrian ortho-
The Portuguese and the missionaries who dox church situated at Mattanchery in Ko-
reached the Kerala coast in the 16th cen- chi, witnessed one of the major events in
tury brought the Kerala church forcefully the history of Christianity in the country,
under the Western ecclesiastical admin- ‘Koonan kurishu Satya’ or ‘the Oath’ by
istration, overthrowing its connections with Bent cross, an event that led to the emer-
the East Syrian church. This historical event gence of the Syrian orthodox church.
which occurred at the synod held at
Udayamperoor in 1599 AD brought the Syr-
ian Christian community under the Roman
Pontiff. The Syrian Christian community of
Kerala continued under the ecclesiastical
administration of the Roman Pontiff for
more than five decades and Western ideas
flowed into the Kerala church during this
period.

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BACKGROUND: - The congregation of Christians revolting
against the Portuguese Padruado took the
The Christians of Kerala, converted by St. oath of non-submission while holding on to
Thomas, were under the Church of the East a rope that was tied to the cross, in order to
in Persia. In the early decades of the 16th accommodate everyone. The pressure on
century, the Portuguese tried to forcefully the cross bent it and gave it the name koo-
Latinise the Indian Christians. They wanted nan kurishu, loosely translated as the
to represent the Christians in India and re- crooked cross.
fused to recognize the Indian hierarchy. To-
wards this end, they started a Latin diocese
in Goa and another in Kochi in the 16th
century. Their continued attempts towards
Latinisation reached peak point with the is-
sue of the Synod of Diamper in 1599. Follow-
ing this, the Portuguese started to impose
Latinisation in the services and liturgies of
the Christians here.

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERSTICS: -

Church of Our Lady of Life, Mattanchery

was one of the first churches built by the
Resentment over these coercive measures Portuguese in the suburbs of the city of San-
of conversion grew and in January of 1653, tacruz de, Cochin. Built in 1538 AD, the orig-
the Christians in Kerala gathered under the inal church was constructed in wood and
leadership of Archdeacon Thomas (Mar had a roof of vegetal matter. It underwent
Thoma I) at the Church of Our Lady of Life. several transformations, until it was finally
There, they took an oath on the cross - the built on stone and mortar, following general
Koonan Kurishu Sathyam. tendency of the churches in this area. At
first the church mainly served the commu-
They vowed that they would not submit to nity of St. Thomas Christians living in the
Portuguese dominance and would not rec- area, who dedicated themselves to the
ognize any Portuguese Jesuit priest. The pepper trade.
swearing marked a turning point in the his-
tory of Christianity in India as well as in the
relations with the Portuguese colonialists.
The immediate and direct result was the
formation of a new Christian community
known as Jacobites or Syrian Orthodox
Christians.

THE OATH: -

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Although it has been profoundly trans- The three bodies of the façade are sepa-
formed, the age of construction can be rated by double columns, which follow the
verified through the chancel which has Mannerist style in vogue in the second half
thick Tuscan columns that go back to the of the 16th century.
original 16th century building. The main en-
trance which shows signs of being standard A small exterior staircase leading to the bell
Manueline styles from the first decade of tower adjoins the main façade, which was
the 16th century is also from this time. a continuation of very old solution that is
found in the churches of Vypeen and Nara-
kal.

Showing a clear influence of Hindu tem-

ples, the church stands in a square sur-
rounded by high walls and with a portal as
an entrance.

The design translates an archaism that at-

tempts to perpetuate the memory of the
Manueline period and the Portuguese mili-
tary hegemony in the Orient. The church
corresponds to the original model of Man-
nerist church in its architectural plan, a
model disseminated in the middle of the
16th century and which was characterized A large, beautiful cross on a pedestal of
by an interior of simple nave with no lateral Mannerist design stands in the middle of the
galleries. square in front of the church. A very old pa-
rochial house of gracious proportions com-
pletes the ensemble.

ROOFING: -

It has a gable roof which is tied on the ends

to the walls from purlin over the rafters and
can be seen from the interiors. The beautiful
architecture of the church makes it a very
appealing structure of the city.

INTERIOR: -
EXTERIOR: -
The interior is splendid and has numerous
The façade has three stories separated by drawings as well as sculptures dating years
wide friezes. The central body is higher than back. Our lady of life, crucified Jesus, kind
lateral ones, the frontispiece separated by heart of Jesus, Holy family, St. Antony of
wide friezes being flanked by back curved Paduva, St. Sebastian and infant Jesus are
wing panels and topped by a cross. some of the structures displayed. The sanc-
tum sanctorum is located in the centre and

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is raised above the nave. The credence ta-
ble is located amidst sculptures of the cru-
cifix, the Holy Family, St. Thomas, Our Lady
of Life and infant Jesus. The altar is ornate
with carvings of fruits, flowers and leaves.

The nave is separated from the altar and

The east facing church has an impressive chair by an arch with Tuscan columns. The
frontage that reflects the typical Portu- altar stands on a platform raised from the
guese style of architecture. The façade nave level.
with an arched opening and first tier has
MAJOR FEATURES: -
windows between pilasters. It has a free-
standing belfry at the southern side of the o Original church was constructed in
church. wood and had a roof of vegetal mat-
ter.
o Modified church is constructed in stone
and mortar.
o Main entrance following Manueline
styles.

A bell fry(belfry) is a bell hung either at-

tached to the church or standing apart.

o Simple nave with no lateral galleries.

o Façade with three stories separated by
wide friezes.
o Mannerist styled double columns in the
façade.
o Square plot surrounded by high walls
and a portal for entrance.
o A large, beautiful cross on a pedestal of
Mannerist design stands in the middle of
the square in front of the church.
o Gabled roof.

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o Interior decorated with several paint-
ings and sculptures.
o ‘Madbaha’ raised above the nave.
o The altar is ornate with carvings of fruits,
flowers and leaves.
o Free-standing belfry at the southern
side of the church.

CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF HOPE,

VYPEEN
The Church of Our Lady of Hope is also
known as "Igreja Da Nossa Senhora da Es-
perança", a Roman Catholic church in the
Diocese of Cochin. It is located at the island
of Vypeen - the point where the Vem-
banad Lake merges with the Arabian Sea,
with Fort Cochin on the other side.

The church, with an area of 10 km2, occu-

pying southern end of Vypeen Island, is the
northern most boundary of Diocese of Co-
chin. It happens to be one of the oldest
churches in Cochin, built by the Portuguese
in 1605 A.D.

HISTORY: -

During the Age of Discovery, the Roman

Catholic Church established a number of
Our Lady of Hope Church situated in Missions in the New World in order to spread
Vypeen Island and is one of the ancient Ro- Christianity. The missionaries of the different
man Catholic Churches to be found in Ko- orders (Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits,
chi. It was constructed by the Portuguese Augustinians, etc.) flocked out and began
and this church has a statue of Virgin Mary, at once to build churches along the coast
Mother of Jesus Christ holding an anchor. districts wherever the Portuguese power
The Gothic architectural style makes it look made itself felt. This church was built by the
elegant and the interiors are well main- Portuguese missionaries and blessed in 1605
tained too. This church is quite popular, and A.D by Bishop Dom Andrea de Santa Maria
you have people all across India coming O.F.M., the then Bishop of Cochin.
here to pay their respects.

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With an objective to spread Christianity mis- EXTERIOR: -
sionaries who accompanied Portuguese
explorers arrived in Kochi. They provided o The façade of the church is divided into
help and even looked into the complaints three by wide friezes, horizontally and
of the Christians who lived here. Soon they vertically by semi-circular columns.
constructed churches along the coastal o The columns of each stories are of dif-
area and Church Our Lady of Good Hope ferent patterned shaft.
was one among them. This church came
into being in 1605 under the leadership of
the Bishop of Kochi Dom Andrea de Santa
Maria. It was rewarded the rank of a Parish
and was named as the ‘Nossa Senhora De
Esperanca’ which means Our Lady of
Hope. Further restorations for the church
was carried out and the fourth centenary
was completed in 2005.

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERSTICS: - o The façade of the church also has

Gothic styled pinnacles which adds to
o The beautiful architecture of the church
the elegance of the church.
makes it a very appealing structure of
o The church windows follow a simple
the city. The ever-charming Gothic style
pattern and is arched, which was a
gives a rustic touch.
common pattern during that time.
o The shrine is huge and is shaped just a
dome and it also features the wooden
cross which is proudly known as Cross of
the church.

o There is a cross at the entrance of the

church on a pedestal.
o The belfry is located on a structure ad-
jacent to the church.

o The church is positioned at the south

end of the Vypeen Island and it has an
estimated area of 10Km per square.
o Being near to the Arabian Sea the
church is a common place for visit and
worship by travellers or even vessels
which pass by.

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INTERIORS: - o There is an engraved picture of the Last
Supper on side and on the other you
o The interiors look splendid and has nu- can see the carved image of the risen
merous pictures as well sculptures da- Christ.
ting years back.

o As we move past this place, you can

spot the wooden screens which are de-
signed with lot of precision and detail.
There are pictures of flowers, fruits and
o The Lady of Hope with Jesus in her lap, creepers carved on top of the screen.
Our Lady of Fathima, infant Jesus, and o The other highlight of this place is the
Sacred Heart of Jesus are some of the statues of St. Peter and of St. Sebastian
structures displayed. which are placed here but are locked.
o The three alters of which one is solely o Another recent addition to this place is
devoted to Christ Crucified while the the teak wooden rectangular shaped
second features Virgin Mary. The third lectern and has different images en-
one is the most important one and it is graved on it. Human, eagle, lion and
the sanctum sanctorum. bull are shown, and they are adapted
from an open book, Gospel.

ST. FRANCIS CHURCH, FORT KOCHI

Saint Francis Church, in Fort Kochi (Fort Co-

chin), Kochi, originally built in 1503, is one of
o This place has an arched structure, and the oldest European churches in India and
this is the room for worship. It is located has great historical significance as a mute
in the centre and you can notice the witness to the European colonial struggle
floor to be slightly higher as compared that took place in the subconti-
to other areas of the church. nent. The Portuguese explorer Vasco da
Gama died in Kochi in 1524 when he was

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on his third visit to India. His body was origi-
nally buried in this church, but after four-
teen years his remains were removed to Lis-
bon.

The St. Francis Church architecture is the

old European style with very less decorative
elements unlike other European church
construction models. The interior of the
church reflects the ancient Indo-European
architecture with wooden roof and stone
flooring.

The church has a superior structure with a

triangle-shaped wooden-framed roof cov- Francisco de Almeida, the Portuguese
ered with tiles. Inside the church the grave- viceroy, was allowed, in 1506, by the Raja
stones of the Portuguese are on the north- of Cochin to reconstruct wooden buildings
ern wall and that of the Dutch are on the in stone and masonry. The wooden church
southern wall. was rebuilt, presumably by the Franciscan
friars, with bricks and mortar and a tiled roof
was erected. In 1516, the new church was
completed, and it was dedicated to St. An-
thony. The Franciscans retained control
over the church till the Dutch captured Ko-
chi in 1663. While the Portuguese were Ro-
man Catholics, the Dutch were Protestants.
They demolished all the churches except
this one. They reconditioned it and con-
verted it into a government church.

In 1795, the British captured Kochi from the

A memorial was built in 1920 in the middle Dutch but they allowed the latter to retain
of the lawn, in remembrance of the people the church. In 1804, the Dutch voluntarily
of Kochi who laid down their lives in the First handed over the church to the Anglican
World War. Communion. It was placed under the Ec-
clesiastical Department of the Government
HISTORY: -
of India. It is believed that the Anglicans
Vasco da Gama, who discovered the sea changed the name of the patron saint to
route from Europe to India, landed at Kap- St. Francis.
pad near Kozhikode (Calicut) in 1498. He
The Church was declared a protected
was followed by Pedro Álvarez Cabral and
monument in April 1923 under the Pro-
Afonso de Albuquerque. They built Fort Em-
tected Monuments Act of 1904. As a pro-
manuel at the Fort Kochi Beach with per-
tected monument it is under the Archaeo-
mission from the Raja of Cochin. Within the
logical Survey of India but is owned by the
fort, they built a church with a wooden
Kochi diocese of Church of South India. It
structure, which was dedicated to St. Bar-
has services on Sundays and commemora-
tholomew. The neighbourhood is now
tive days. On weekdays it is kept open for
known as Fort Kochi.
visitors.

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ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERSTICS: - The church has a clock on its third level this
is the only church among the three that has
Façade is one of the greatest combinations a clock on the facade.
of the Portuguese in church architecture
the otherwise simple rectangular building EXTERIOR: -
with gabled roof of tiles in Kerala style looks
imposing with this façade. this is called the o The church was originally a wooden
structure dedicated to St. Bartholomew
‘’ Malabar facades ‘’ as this façade is
within the fort built in 1503 by the Dutch.
found only in the Malabar area the façade Later it was reconstructed in stone ma-
is divided into 4 levels by entablature run- sonry
ning horizontally across the façade. o It is a gable towards the west with
arched windows and porches, columns
and pinnacles of very ancient style.
o The exterior is not marked by flamboy-
ant decorations.
o Buttresses almost six feet tall, square at
the base, support the walls which ap-
pear to be at least four feet thick.

Roman arched portal flanked by columns

on both sides and semi-circular along the
arch. The structure is made of lateral stone
plastered with lime and certain vegetable
juices. The exterior is also plastered with lime o The cemetery attached to the church
to give smooth finishing look. contains tombstone with name of
many European military officers who
The lower level of façade has four columns laid buried there.
dividing the façade in five parts horizontally o A war memorial stands in front of the
the columns rest in a pedestal, has an In- church.
dian Tuscan order capital and entablatures
running along the top, across the façade.

Pilasters are built on the second and third

level of the façade, with second level hav-
ing number of pilasters as equal to the num-
ber of columns on the lower level and third
level having only two pilasters.

o The east facing church has an impres-

sive frontage that reflects the typical
Portuguese style of architecture.
o The facade with an arched opening
and the first tier has windows between
the pilasters.

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 INTERIOR: -

o The nave is high, airy, bright and simple.

o Long benches are arranged right and
left of the reading desk.
o A board spanned arch separates the
nave from the chancel, extending
across which, behind the communica-
tion table, is a carved screen, with tab-
lets, gold on blue, let into alternative
panels.

o There is a belfry over the gable front

and stepped pinnacle on the sides. The
bell is located on a small tower on top
of the façade, there is no separate
tower for that.

o There are beautiful wooden carving

and numerous Portuguese and Dutch
inscription found inside.
o The ceiling is very high to reduce heat
inside and resemble a ‘’kettuvallam’’.
o Flooring is done using unpolished gran-
ite.
o Has an entrance hall before the hall-
way six columns support the wooden
o The two pinnacles on either side of the ceiling here.
o The windows are Roman arched, simple
church gives it a traditional look.
windows made in white cedar and
o The doors and windows have semi-cir-
double panelled like the doors.
cular arches.
o The facades are flanked on either side
by stepped pinnacle.
o Presence of clock on the façade.

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 ANALYSIS
o The interiors have two stepped pinnacles
crowning the top of the chancel roof. The
entire experience is the epitome of old Some of the characteristics of the churches
school charm: from the pulpit made of of sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in-
wood decorated to the confessional to the clude: -
baptism platform. o The churches followed a style which is a
mixture of indigenous church architec-
ture that prevailed in that region and
western styles introduced by the Portu-
COMPARITIVE STUDY
guese.
o Most of the churches followed rectan-
The three churches have a lot of similarities
gular plan with a simple nave and no
as well as their own different characteris-
tics. As these churches where constructed lateral galleries.
during 16th and 17th centuries, they show in- o Churches had an imposing front fa-
fluences from both the indigenous church çade ornamented with various ele-
architecture that prevailed in the region as ments like: - Pilasters, Volutes, Pinnacles,
well as western ecclesiastical traditions. Friezes etc.
o The interior is with relatively less orna-
mentation and nave is separated from
altar by an arch opening.
o Arched doors and windows were an im-
portant part of these churches.
o The focus of these churches was the Al-
tar/ ‘Madbaha’, and it usually had a
higher roof than the rest of the spaces.
o The churches also had bell towers either
attached to the church or as a free-
standing structure.

From the above table we can understand

the three churches followed a rectangular
plan, orientation in east west axis, con-
stricted ‘Madbaha’, focus to altar, similar to
the indigenous churches of that area. The
western influence led to providing imposing
front façade, decorations such as pinna-
cles, pilasters, volutes etc.

Our Lady of Life, Mattanchery and Our

Lady of Hope, Vypin are similar to each
other in many ways, the façade with friezes,
cross on pedestal in front of the church etc.
While St. Francis Church, Fort Kochi have a
relatively simple façade.

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THANKYOU