KOCHI: About 75,000 sq ft area, an incredible Roman dome and two huge bell towers.
Reportedly Asia’s largest church, which is in the final stage of construction near St George Church, Edappally, is a spectacle to behold. Once completed, the 25,000 sq ft congregation floor and gallery will accommodate a minimum of 5000 faithful at a time.
"We are following Gothic style of architecture with vertical docks, flying buttresses and pointed interior arches. The decorative work, panelling and the design of the holy altar will be based on this style," says Sunny Kuriakose, senior engineer.
About Rs 10 crore has been spent for the construction so far which will be completed in January 2010. "It was in 2000 that we started thinking about a new church. The conceptualisation took some time and after adequate research the construction started three years ago," says Thomas Mundolikkal, trustee of the church.
Built in an unique hexagonal shape, special steel beams and Australian zinc-aluminium sheets are used for the construction. "Concrete will not support a mammoth structure like this. If we use concrete the risk for leaks is higher. Australian clip-lock sheets are wind resistant and there is no need for drilling which leaves no scope for leakage," says Pramod Shankar, site engineer. An electro-mechanical fresh air system will balance the temperature of the church providing natural cooling effect. "An agency from Bangalore is taking care of this," says Pramod.
The main building has a huge congregation hall and a basement, and to match the structure of the gigantic church a five-storied building is built at the rear for the use of the clergy. The 20,000 sq ft basement will be aligned into small sections to be used for office, utility purposes and for accommodating air circulating pumps. The crown part of the upper dome will be made of brass and the spectacular bell towers on both sides will add to the visual appeal. The courtyard will be landscaped with two ramps on both sides and the space beneath will be used as a cemetery.
When the construction is completed the premises will house three churches - an ancient shrine in the compound built in AD 593, the St George Church and the new church being built. "The oldest shrine is being converted into a museum. This along with St George Church built in 1050 AD will be retained and preserved as relics. Some other buildings in the compound will be demolished for easy access to the new church," says Sunny
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