KOZHIKODE: The bicentenary of Basel Evangelical Mission (BEM) will be celebrated with various programmes starting October 9. The three day programmes will begin with a torch-lit procession from Hermann Gundert Church at Nettur, which is the seat of the mission in Kerala, at 9 am on Friday. Later on the day, a cultural rally will commence from Malabar Christian College at 2:30 pm and culminate at CSI Cathedral at Mananchira.
The inaugural meeting will be held at the Cathedral hall, which will be the main venue for the programmes on the following days.
In the following days an exhibition of books and photographs on the working of the mission in Kerala will be held on October 10. A slide show and talk on the yesteryear of the mission by Jayaprakash Raghaviah at 11 a.m. will be followed by a public meeting and cultural programmes at 4:30 pm.
On the final day, on October 11, the declaration of the new Malabar Diocese of the Church of South India will be made prior to the public meeting at 2.30 pm. Dignitaries, including the moderator of CSI G Daivashirvadam, deputy moderator D R Sadananda, treasurer C Robert Bruce and bishops from other dioceses of the church will take part in the public meeting at 5 pm.
BEM was launched at Basel in Switzerland in 1815. The mission started working in Kozhikode in 1842 and CSI cathedral was founded in 1856.
According to historians, the mission has played a key role in the social and educational development of Malabar as well as southern Karnataka. It set up educational institutions and
industries, and made a strong impact in improving the lives of the downtrodden, irrespective of caste and religions. In the industrial sector, the Mission had played a major role by starting tile factories in Feroke and weaving units in Kannur. Even the first dictionary in Malayalam, compiled by Hermann Gundert, was one of the greatest contributions of the mission.