Afghan Church, Mumbai
About:
In Colaba Island situated at the southern end
of the city, church of St. John the Evangelist
is located. Work on this church began in 1847
commemorating the Afghan wars. East India Company
had used this place as a military cantonment
area due to the remoteness of this place. At
the southern tip of Mumbai, Afghan Church stands
in a quiet army cantonment, an imposing basalt
edifice with a lofty limestone spire that can
be seen several miles away. In the old days
it had a sizeable flock of British officers
who turned up for the Sunday sermon. At the
entrance, there is a big black board, revealing
that it is an Anglican church dedicated to St.
John the Evangelist. It is impressive with the
wide Gothic Arches and beautiful stained-glass
windows. It also commemorates different Indian
regiments, including the Bombay Army, the Madras
Army, and Ranjit Singh's army from Lahore.
History:
The Directors of East Insdia Company converted
a part of the Colaba Island in Mumbai, into
a military cantonment area, by selecting the
remotest part of the Island with a view that
the area should be isolated from the rest of
the city so that there was not much interaction
between the army men and the civilians in order
to enforce military discipline. There was a
compound located here with some buildings called
'Sick Bungalows' for the invalid officers who
required sea air and sun bathing. Nearby was
a small chapel with thatched roof allowing the
soldiers to perform Sunday services. The conglomerate
of 'Sick Bungalows', during those times, has
now given place to a full-fledged hospital -
'INS Ashwini' - and the chapel gave way to the
imposing church of St. Evangelist, commonly
known as 'Afghan Church'. Few years later, the
government provided the land for the building
of the church on a condition that its steeple
could be seen as a landmark at sea to guide
ships navigating the Mumbai Harbour. Henry Coney
Beare, the City Engineer, prepared the designs
and construction began in 1847. Mr. Henry Coney
Beare was the same person who laid down the
great scheme for the construction of the Vihar
Lake and distribution of water supply by iron
pipes to nearly all parts of Mumbai City. These
memorials take us back to the 'History of Afghan
War'. Sind, which was the northwest gateway
to the Indus valley, had always been a melting
pot for many cultures that met and fused into
the Indian culture forming a multi-coloured
mosaic of the culture of modern India and the
city of Mumbai.
Architecture:
The church consists of the nave and aisles,
fluted columns with Doric style capitals, a
tower and a spire. The walls are made of rubble
faced with coarse Kurla Stone (buff coloured
basalt). The piers, arches, and dressings are
of Porbunder Stone, very similar to the Caen
Stone (cream coloured soft stone from Caen in
Normandy) of the English churches; the roof
is built of varnished teakwood with hammer beam
style ribbing. The floor of the chancel is made
of encaustic tiles (in-laid with coloured clay)
imported from England. It has a beautiful altar,
tall pinnacles, 21 lancet windows with exquisite
stained glass fixed in the triangular apexes,
on either side of the nave. The remaining portions
of the nave windows were fitted earlier with
venetians instead of glass, but during the years
1932 to 1937 quarried coloured glass windows
have gradually taken its place. The 'great west
window', consisting of stained glass with five
lights, has an intricate tracery design above
and is one of Wailes's best works. Likewise,
the 'great east window' is a large triplet lancet
window filled with stained glass of a beautiful
design. The baptistery window, with beautiful
stained glass with triple lights, is situated
at the East end of the south aisle. The inscription
underneath reads: "To the memory of Philip
Anderson, Pastor of Colaba, Bombay." A
general memorial consists of series of white
marble tablets bearing the names of 158 of its
officers. Special memorials to officers, who
died during the last Afghan War, were erected
in 1882. At the entrance of the church one finds
plaque giving detailed information on the history
of this church. The friends of twelve officers
of various corps have erected a reredos (ornamental
screen covering wall at the back of altar).
The altar was given in the memory of two officers
and the marble pavement in the memory of those
who had brethren in the Guild of the Holy Standard.
The general memorial of all the officers, non-commissioned
and the men of the Bombay Army was erected over
the principle entrance in 1883.
Significance:
This was the first church of the famous Victorian
architect, William Butterfield. Most of the
important embellishments, such as the stained
glass windows and the encaustic flooring are
of the finest quality and were imported from
England. The most exquisite portion of the church
- Great West window, was designed by Wailles.
It is the finest stained glass window to date
in the city, superior to both the Rajabai Tower
and the Victoria Terminus both great architectural
buldings in Mumbai. The significance of the
bell tower are the peals of eight bells that
remain unrivalled in western India.
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