 There are umpteen number of Catholic and Protestant churches in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. However, St Paul’s Church is the oldest Protestant church of coastal districts (perhaps in Karnataka too).
Located between State Bank of India and Nehru Maidan, the only Anglican church in coastal districts has a wonderful history. As it had military-related initiation, St Paul’s church is also called as garrison or military church! It is also interesting to note that the church was built using prison labour!!
It is a fact that Mangalore was a place of attraction and a wellknown port-town and trade centre right from the beginning of Christian era, winning the notice of Pliny and Ptolemy. But it was the West Asian trade which made Mangalore a seductive destination after 11th century, as mentioned by Ibn Battuta among others.
However, the entry of the Portuguese as belligerent commercial competitors to the Arabs made Mangalore a reluctant battleground, bearing the full brunt of the Portuguese aggression to grab the profitable spice and rice trade from the Arab control.
The Portuguese fleet, under the command of Admiral Diego de Silvera, attacked and captured the militarily strategic fort of Mangalore in 1568 and built their own fort called Fort of St Sebastian at the place where now stands the Deputy Commissioner’s office. They maintained power up to 1763 when Hyder Ali of Mysore captured Mangalore and built a naval dockyard.
Subsequently, in 1768, Mangalore was captured by the English army.
The changing fortunes of their contests against Hyder Ali had their bearing on the town which changed hands more than once before the Treaty of Mangalore in 1784 secured its possession for Tipu Sulthan. Mangalore was an important location for Tipu Sulthan — both commerical as well as military, which was duly noticed by the British.
In the Anglo-Mysore war of 1799, Tipu’s headquarters, Srirangapatana, was besieged and it fell to the English forces commanded by Col Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington who defeated Napoleon in the battle of Waterloo. Col Wellesley was the brother of the British Governor General of India Richard Wellesley, the second Earl of Mornington.
On Wellesley’s recommendation, the Governor General of India appointed Capt Thomas Munro (later Sir) to take charge as the first Collector of Canara and establish British suzerainty from June 1799.
Need for a chapel
When the garrison was increased in 1837 during the Coorg rebellion, there was a need for a resident chaplain.
As soon as the chaplain arrived, there was pressure to build a church to cater to the needs of British soldiers (citizens). As a result, Rev R W Whitford, the then chaplain, made an application to the Military Board for a church. The Board in turn, passed the recommendation to the government and it was sanctioned.
“It was to accommodate 120 persons and to cost Rs 5,128. Since the budget amount was not sufficient, it was decided to reduce the seating capacity of the church to 100 members. Rev Alfred Fennel who succeeded Rev Whitford in 1842 initiated the work on the church. The building was completed and furnished before Bishop Spencer’s arrival in January 1843 and was consecrated on January 5, 1843,” according to a souvenir in commemoration of the 160th anniversary of St Paul Church.
T R D Andrews, one of the oldest members of the Church and Anglo-Indian, aged 77, who served the church in various capacities including the secretary decades ago, recalled that the only English speaking Anglican church in the region never allowed (in earlier days) Germans (non-British) to climb the pulpit. Presently, he runs a diesel injection workshop in Pandeshwar.
Only clock tower
After the demolition of clock tower in Hampankatta, the only remaining ‘clock tower’ is that of St Paul church. The church tower which incorporates a clock, with its two dials, was made in Basel Mission workshop in Mangalore and was installed by the German missionaries.
The clock functions accurately even to this day. Incidentally, Basel Mission missionaries were also worshipping at St Paul’s Church till Shanti Church (now Cathedral) was established on Balmatta Hill in 1862. St Pauls, a rightful member of Anglican family joined the Church of South India in 1947 and continued to be a part of North Kerala diocese. From 1971 onwards, it is under Karnataka Southern Diocesan administration.
Records of notable officers
St Paul church has a tradition of close association with the Karnataka Theological College (KTC) whose faculty has been seconded as Honorary Presbyters. In fact, the Church meets the spiritual needs of local and visiting Christians from other parts of the country and abroad, who reside at Mangalore for short periods, including students who study at local professional colleges. There are 115 families in the church, said the present Presbyter Rev Prem Kumar Soans, who took charge about 18 months ago.
Interestingly, the church contains records of some of the notable officers of the East India Company who fought and laid down their lives from 1855 and the burial register from 1859. But Rev Soans is apprehensive and said that all records may not be preserved as he could not find a record pertaining to a marriage held in 1963.
On the other hand, KTC Archives Assistant Benet Ammanna said that the Archives have a list of noteworthy personalities who were buried in the cemetery belonging to St Paul Church, located at Old Kent Road. It is an exclusive resting place for the people of British origin who left their homeland never to return again.
It includes Brigadier General John Carnac, Commander-in-Chief of forces at Bengal, who defeated Shah Zaddar in the year 1761. Carnac died in Mangalore on November 29, 1800, when he was 84 years old. |
