Home / International

Karekin II reconsecrates Armenian church in Chennai

by Paul Chaderjian

Published: Wednesday November 12, 2008

Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, outside the Armenian Church in Chennai, India, which he reconsecrated on Nov. 9, 2008. 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 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.