Imbibing the spirit of all religions

MANANTHAVADI:  A church has been built in the style of the traditional temple architecture with a stone-carved huge traditional lamp at the entrance, verses from the Upanishads and the Ve
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MANANTHAVADI:  A church has been built in the style of the traditional temple architecture with a stone-carved huge traditional lamp at the entrance, verses from the Upanishads and the Vedas adorning walls and Omkara at the prime spot. At the Catholic church with all the ecclesiastical paraphernalia under the Mananthavadi diocese, Omkara coexists with the Cross along with symbols of other religions.

Nestled at Edayoorkunnu, near Thirunelli here, the Blessed Kuriakkose Elias Chavara Church was recently built under the guidance of Fr Francis Njeralampuzha (CMI), a lecturer at the Mary Matha College here.

While most of the churches follow the western architecture school, Fr Francis opted for the traditional Indian architecture. The church is built with around 10,000 stone pieces. The pillars also are caved from stone. The church is designed in the model of a temple with the round sanctum sanctorum as the model helps concentration of universal energy at the spot which would help believers achieve the maximum energy, it has been pointed out.

Verses from the Isavasya Upanishad (Hiranmayena Pathrena) and the Shanthi Manthra (Poornamada Poornamidam) also found a place on the walls. The walls are adorned with symbols of various religions including Star of David (Judaism), the Omkaram (Hinduism), the Moon and Star (Islam), Yin Yang (Taoism of China) and The Gate (Shintoism, Japan). Apart from religious symbols, the walls also carry symbols from the culture and nature of the district such as Thudi (a musical instrument of Paniya tribe), elephants, birds, eggs, crows, bamboo clusters and the picture of the tribal chief of Edakkal caves.

A compass fixed at the centre of the church points at the Thirunelli temple at the north and Thrissleri temple at the south.

Why the Christian priest opted for a temple model for the church?

"Edayoorkunnu is a place between two great temples the Mahavishnu Temple, Thirunelli, and Siva Temple, Thrisslery,'' says Fr Francis, who is a scholar in all religions.

"While constructing a Christian church in this holy spot of the Hindus, we felt that it should imbibe the spirit of all religions of the world,'' he said.

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