Basilica of Our Lady of Dolours

Basilica of Our Lady of Dolours
Location	Thrissur, Kerala
Country	India
Denomination	Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
Website	www.doloursbasilica.com
History
Founded	1929
Architecture
Status	Minor Basilica
Architect(s)	Ambrose Gounder
Style	Gothic
Specifications
Number of spires	3
Spire height	79 metres (259 ft)

Basilica of Our Lady of Dolours (Puthan Pally) is a minor basilica of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Thrissur in the Indian state of Kerala. The biggest and tallest church in Asia, it is famous for its Gothic style architecture. Built in fine Indo-Gothic style with an area of 25,000 square feet (2,300 m²), it has soaring belfries at the entrance, double storeyed aisles all along the nave and transepts, and eleven altars, five on either side of the main one. It is the largest church in India and its exuberant interior decorations include fine specimens of murals, images of saints and scenes from the scriptures.

The parish and original church building were established in 1814. Thrissur's first Catholic church, it was a center for Catholic St. Thomas Christians in the area (now the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church) for decades. In 1874, the Chaldean Catholic bishop Elias Mellus arrived in India and convinced a large part of the Christian community to accept him as their bishop. The group that followed Mellus was based at Our Lady of Dolours, and eventually separated from the Catholic hierarchy, forming what is now known as the Chaldean Syrian Church.^[1] In response the Syro-Malabar Catholics constructed a new building in 1929. The original church was renamed the Mart Mariam Big Church, and is now the cathedral of the Chaldean Syrian Church.

The construction of this biggest church in India was done in different phases, started in the year 1929. The two front towers are of 146 feet (45 m) height each and the central tower of 260 feet (79 m) height makes this church as tallest in Asia. Completion of the towers were an architectural challenge. Few experts from Tamil Nadu were brought over. Architect who completed the church was Ambrose Gounder.

References

1. ^ Vadakkekara, Benedict (2007). Origin of Christianity in India: a Historiographical Critique, pp. 101–103. Media House Delhi.

• http://www.doloursbasilica.com/history.aspx