A landmark that still is

A landmark that still is
Deccan Herald

After the fourth Mysore War, the East India Company chaplains got down to the job of serving to the spiritual needs of the war-torn soldiers. With increasing number of soldiers from Great Britain and Ireland, the job of chaplains became more challenging.

In addition to trading and handling its mercenaries which grew into a full-fledged army, the Company also got involved with the administration of the state and mushrooming churches. The churches, on the other hand, brought with them modern education – including that for women.

Many Indians saw English education as a window to the world and took it up. The church went on to establish hospitals, maternity homes, orphanages, homes for war veterans and old people.


First church

In 1808, the first church, St Mark’s, was built in the remote part of an expansive field near beautiful lakes. It took four years to complete the church. Funding for the project came from the government allowances and the congregation’s contribution of Rs 400.

The church was not so great to look at with rough yellowish walls and a low roof.

Sundays at church

Nevertheless, soldiers, with their rifles and military regalia, visited the church religiously on all Sundays.

They marched from the parade grounds, situated then on the present Bangalore Military School premises and headed north on the Hosur Road.

Their marching route came to be known as Brigade Road and the left turn they took into a ‘kuccha’ pathway was later called Church Street.

New look

In 1901, to accommodate a larger congregation, the church was enlarged and a cornerstone was laid by Ms Robertson, wife of the honorable British resident in Mysore. Unfortunately a few years later the roof collapsed and after that, a fire destroyed it.

Repairs, and restoration were undertaken at a cost of Rs 61,984. By 1927, St Mark’s Cathedral got a new look.

Memorial slabs

Inside St Mark’s, the walls have memorial slabs and plaques. Many are of soldiers who worshiped here and fell in the line of duty.

Captain N B E Dawes, R E, while officiating as Chief Engineer Mysore in 1909, upset from a boat in the flooded Cauvery while he was repairing the Krishnarajendra Katte anicut on July 30.

After swimming to safety, he swam back to help an Indian workman but got drowned in the process.

Then there are those young men who left their homes for an army career to fight in a strange, distant land. Plaques that read: ‘sacred to the memory of John Penn Hickman Esq., aged 35, Major 10th King’s Hussars who died on August 25, 1843’ and a shiny brass plate dedicated to ‘the memory of Capt. Fredrick John Taylor of the 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire Light Infantry who died at the station of fever on August 8, 1886. Aged 32 years’.

Beauty and charm

Among the 200 or so churches in Bangalore, St Mark’s Cathedral stands out for its history, beauty and charm. Bold, strong columns support the roof and the dome. The Cathedral is rich in stained glass windows, a marble pulpit and font designed in London and made in Genoa.

Sonic realism

The St Mark’s majestic pipe organ is widely known for its sonic realism. Not as well known though is that the famous Cowdrey family donated it.

The senior Cowdrey named his Bangalore-born son Michael Colin Cowdrey, to give him the same initials as the Marlyebourne Cricket Club. Colin more than lived upto that expectation by becoming a legend in cricket and one of ‘the game's true gentlemen’.

These are a few glimpses of Bangalore Cantonment’s earliest landmark. To understand and enjoy its rich legacy, one needs to leisurely experience St Mark’s Cathedral in person.