| Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Pondicherry | |
Front view of the cathedral with Sacred Heart of Jesus statue visible.
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| Location | Pondicherry |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | St. Paul's Church |
| Founder(s) | Jesuits |
| Dedication | Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary |
| Consecrated | 1791 |
| Significant past bishop(s) | Msgr.Michael Augustine |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Cathedral and Parish church |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architectural type | Cathedral |
| Style | Herrerian |
| Groundbreaking | 1699 |
| Completed | 1791 |
| Demolished | Three time in the years:
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| Administration | |
| Parish | Cathedral Parish |
| Archdiocese | Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore |
| Clergy | |
| Archbishop | Msgr. Antony Anandarayar |
| Priest(s) | Rev. Fr. John Duraisamy |
Immaculate Conception Cathedral is the cathedral mother church for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore. It is located in the Union territory of Pondicherry. It is also called as "Samba Kovil" (Tamil: சம்பா கோயில்), which is a phonetic corruption of "Saint Paul’s Kovil" where "Kovil" means church.
Contents |
The Jesuit Fathers came to the French colony of Pondicherry as missionaries in 1689. There they bought a very large garden to the West of the French Fort. In the 1692 they, with the financial help of Louis XIV, king of France, erected a beautiful church which was demolished by the Dutch in the following year. A second Church was quickly built in 1699 but could not last long.
From 1728 to 1736 a large beautiful Church was built on the very site the present Cathedral stands now. It was third by serial. This Church was razed to the ground by the British in 1761 during the Seven Years War.
Erecting in 1765 provisionally (fourth in serial) a functional kind of irregular shaped shed where the Mission Press (official press depot of the archdiocese) in now, since the year 1770 the Fathers were earnest in building the present cathedral on the foundations of the 3rd Church. On 20 June 1791 the main work was finished and the Church was consecrated by Bishop Champenois. The Bell tower was built later. The choir loft was added in 1905. The Sanctuary was remodeled in the year 1970. the esplanade in front of the Cathedral has been remodeled in 1987, to allow people to take part in liturgical ceremonies and special functions held outside.
The Fest of this Church i.e., Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary falls on the 8th of December. Now The church which stands for around 300 years is also the place where the bishop house is also situated. Mass services in Tamil and English are conducted.
It is one of the oldest tourist site in Pondicherry. This Church was also visited by Mother Theresa during her visit to Pondicherry.
As an after math of Demolition of Babri Masjid, Pondicherry chapter of Bharatiya Janata Party threatened to destroy the Cathedral saying that it was build on a former Hindu temple called Vedapureeshwarar Temple dedicated for Lord Shiva under the name, Samba Eswar. For the next few weeks Cathedral was given police protection after this threat.
In the following weeks the then Archbishop, Michael Augustine and the Government of Pondicherry started independent investigation to find out the truth in this matter. Their findings were:
These findings were largely based on the letters to Rome by French Fathers stationed in Pondicherry at the time period and more importantly by the Diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai
The portion of the diary which describes the destruction of the Temple is as follows:
These findings were later confirmed by Writer and historian Prapanchan from Pondicherry.