Karekin II reconsecrates Armenian church in Chennai

by Paul Chaderjian

Chennai, India - The bells of the Armenian Church in India's fourth-largest city rang once again on Sunday, November 9, after decades of silence. Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, came to Chennai from Holy Etchmiadzin to reconsecrate the newly renovated Soorp Asdvadzadzin or St. Mary Mother of God Church.

Chennai - formerly known as Madras - is approximately 850 miles from Kolkata and on the southeastern coast of India and the Bay of Bengal. This city, created by the British in the 18th century, was once home to a vibrant Armenian community. Part of the legacy of the Armenian merchants who once thrived in India is a set of foundations that support Armenian community and church activities in the country.

It's not known whether any Armenians live in Chennai now.

Erma Aghajanyan and Parthic Rathanam, a husband and wife now living in Lake Victoria, Tanzania, attended the reconsecration service Sunday. They said that they were planning to buy an apartment and move to Chennai. The couple first visited the church two years ago and have been here six times since.

"This will be a place where we'll be coming," said Ms. Aghajanyan, a native of Armenia. "We were interested, and we were excited that there is an Armenian church in Chennai."

Her husband of two years, Mr. Rathanam, was born in Chennai and knew about Armenians because St. Mary's is located on Armenian Street. Mr. Rathanam worked in Armenia for two years, and that's where he met his wife.

"We have seen the Armenian cemetery here," Mr. Rathanam said to the Armenian Reporter before the consecration service. "The same Armenian merchant who built this church had built other Armenian churches in India."

When the couple was told the church would be reconsecrated in November, they made plans to be in Chennai and witness the ceremony.

Anointing and blessing

The reconsecration ceremony of this Armenian house of worship entailed first blessing and anointing the center and two sides of the altar - known as the jagad, or forehead - and then blessing and anointing the foundations of the church.

The forehead of the altar is consecrated in the name of the church, St. Mary, and the 16 foundations and columns of the church are consecrated in the names of the four evangelists - Matthew, Mark, John, and Luke - and the remaining ten apostles, the 13th apostle - St. Paul - and St. Gregory the Illuminator.

Consecration involves washing the altar and columns of the church with water, wiping them with wine, and then anointing them with the Holy Muron, or chrism.

Cotton balls were placed on the Muron to hold it in place; however, this is not part of the liturgical ceremony. A small cotton ball is place on the spot so that worshipers do not accidentally touch the Muron or rub it off.

After the anointing and blessing service, the Catholicos spoke to the more than two dozen people who had gathered to witness the consecration.

"This church was built by our fathers in 1712, and for 300 years this church conducted its mission in the life of our nation dispersed here in India," Karekin II said. "It taught them the Christian gospel and preserved for them the national legacy."

The Catholicos said that even though the Indian-Armenian community had diminished in size over the years, the Armenians who remain in Kolkata have continued to protect and keep alive the faith of their forefathers in "this hospitable land."

The Armenian Community Council in Kolkata is responsible for St. Mary's, and it embraced the renovation project as directed by the Catholicos.

The renovation committee said some 160 people have been working on the structure for the past 18 months, and there was another six months of work to be done.

Saving a historic community

"Following the election of Karekin II as Catholicos of All Armenians in 1999, we were anxious to reestablish our ties with this small active community here," said Fr. Ktrij Devejian, who was assigned by Karekin II as a pontifical representative of Etchmiadzin to India in 1999.

During his first of six visits to India, Fr. Devejian discovered that the Indian-Armenian community needed much help from Etchmiadzin. The resting place of generation of locals - like St. Mary's - had fallen into disrepair, were nearly abandoned, and in dire need of attention.

"In Kolkata, there is the Armenian College and Philathropic Academy, which had been going through some difficult times because of poor management and the lack of oversight," said Fr. Devejian.

Referring to the Catholicos, he added, "Vehapar felt that we need to be more actively involved in the running of that school, to have greater control over the instruction, to make sure the students were well fed, nurtured, cared for, their health care was provided, and most importantly, the standard of education was raised in that institution."

At the time, the Armenian College had nearly 100 students from Armenia and Iran. Fr. Devejian said that the Catholicos was truly worried about the well-being of the students, their education, and their future.

"I was disappointed to see our churches in disrepair, closed, the school in disrepair. The morale of the students and instructors was very low," said Fr. Devejian. "Upon returning to Holy Etchmiadzin and presenting my report, Vehapar began a very ambitious task of saving the Indian-Armenian community."

Fr. Devejian said that he was inspired and motivated by the long, exemplary, and rich history of Armenians in India.

"The people of the Far East, the people of India, the Armenians of that time were unbelievably faithful, unbelievably yearning for the homeland," he said. "They wanted to see a bright shining Armenia, and by the grace of God, we have that today."

A new beginning

Shortly after Fr. Devejian presented his findings to the Catholicos, the spiritual leader of all Armenians assigned a permanent leader for the Armenian-Indian community: Very Rev. Fr. Oshagan Gulgulian.

"I cannot tell you how happy I am to see how so much has been done by the Very Rev. Fr. Oshagan Gulgulian and by the Armenian Community Council of Kolkata in such a short amount of time," said Fr. Devejian. "They deserve so much of the credit, as does His Holiness for his vision and encouragement to them to make sure that we did not lose any more treasures in the Far East."

Unlike the renovated St. Mary, Fr. Devejian said, many Armenian churches in places like Rangoon, Myanmar - formerly Burma - and Dhaka, Bangladesh, have been lost.

"In Thailand, there was a historic Armenian community," said Fr. Devejian. "We have no idea if there was ever a church. In Indonesia, there were two historic churches. In Harbin, China, there was an Armenian church. In Singapore, there exists an Armenian church."

In India, there were at one time more than 10 Armenian churches. The reconsecration of St. Mary's is part of the Catholicos's vision to bring back to life what once was.

"Today, you're seeing the first fruits of that result," said Fr. Devejian. "The church in Madras had to be preserved because it was in danger of ruin, and today you see before you a beautifully renovated, clean church with its doors open. The altar was reconsecrated before our people, visitors to India from throughout the world, and all of our Armenians here. And it is truly a joyful day."

Fr. Devejian said that these holy Armenian sites were the fortresses of the Armenian people's faith throughout the 16th and 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

"It is our obligation to them, and to the bodies that lie in these courtyards and these tombs, that we continue to keep their memory alive," he said.

Fr. Devejian said it is amazing to read on these tombs about their devotion to Armenia, and their devotion to Holy Etchmiadzin, and their devotion to their nation.

"When you have a chance, go inside and read the inscription on Khaja Voskan Bedros' tomb," said Fr. Devejian. "The man lived his entire life dreaming of Armenia and the homeland, and this was in the 1600s and 1700s. A generous man, a successful man, a wealthy man, and the inscription says, ‘His head was always in the clouds, but his heart was always in the homeland.' For that reason, upon his death, according to his will, his heart was removed from his body, placed in a golden casket, and sent back to the land of his forefathers, buried alongside his grandfather."

Local reaction

Among those attending the ceremony was Sunil Surin Sobpr, a Kolkata native, who was summoned to the altar along with other members of the Armenian Community Council of Kolkata by the Catholicos in recognition for his and the Council's efforts.

"We have a caretaker out here," said Mr. Sobpr, "and His Holiness has said that once the church is renovated and we have living quarters here, he is going to send a priest and a deacon here and try to revive the community in Chennai."

"We have restored quite a lot," said Council member Susan Margaret Reuben, who was also recognized by the Catholicos. "But there is still a lot to do, and that's going to take more time. We just sort of drew up something before His Holiness could come up here, because it was in a very bad shape. We will revive, and we will be having masses here."


(c) 2009 Armenian Reporter