GUWAHATI: The largest church in Asia was dedicated at Zunheboto town in Nagaland on Saturday. The nine-storey Sumi Baptist Church was built at a cost of Rs 36 crore.
It took 10 years for some 3,000 people to construct the church with a seating capacity of 8,500. The construction had begun on May 7, 2007, and it concluded on March 31 this year. The church has 27 rooms including the main hall.
It has facilities including a conference hall, a seminar hall, a meeting hall, a sick room, a children’s playroom, a dressing room for brides and grooms and a cafeteria. It has 14 office rooms too.
The church, which stands at a height of 1,864.9 meter above sea level, can be seen from anywhere in central Nagaland town. The architect of the building is M/s Akitektura Dimapur and the engineer is M/s Map Project Services Pvt Limited, Kolkata.
The construction board chairman Kiyelho Yeptho told the New Indian Express that the church was built with donations from church members and well-wishers.
“The contributors were mainly church members and well-wishers. The members did the budgeting with some of them sacrificing their one month’s salary. We also received donations from businessmen and well-wishers, particularly Sumis (tribesmen), from across Nagaland. We also took bank loan,” he added.