Srinagar’s oldest church reopens after getting facelift
SRINAGAR: A church built over a century ago in Srinagar’s Dalgate area has reopened ahead of Christmas over three decades after it was closed when insurgency erupted in the region in 1989. Prayers were held at the newly renovated Saint Luke’s Church on Wednesday.
“We sang carols and the father gave a speech. We were overjoyed and very happy. We do not have words to express... It is such a joy that this church has opened again after over 30 years,” said Kennedy David Rajan, a worshipper, who runs an NGO. Rajan said the church’s reopening is a dream come true. “...we were eager that prayers resume here again, which has happened after decades.”
According to a plaque at the church, it was built in 1896 and was dedicated to the then bishop of Lahore. It is located near Srinagar’s Chest Diseases Hospital, which was established by Christian missionaries.
Mohammad Rafiq, 41, a local resident, said his great grandfather worked with the missionaries who established the hospital in the late 1860s and later the church. “They (missionaries) were doctors and established the church near the hospital...” He said he would visit the church as a child and local Christians prayed there during the peak of insurgency.
“I remember as children, we would go on Sundays and the father would come and open the church to pray. It used to happen as a low-key affair. Even a few families used to live in the church during the militancy.”
Grace Paljor, an educationist, said the church’s opening is a sort of an expression of the government’s “gratitude” to their community’s contribution in the fields of health care and education. “It was very significant... the influence of the Christian community in the fields of medicine and education has been impactful.” The church was in a dilapidated state until it was restored as part of the Srinagar Smart City Project. Zahoor Ahmad, an engineer associated with the project, said the church has been handed over to the tourism department.
“One of the components of the Smart City Project is the upgradation of existing shrines . ... this church is one of the prominent sites since 1896 and we gave it a priority. There was some delay in renovation due to Covid-19 but for the past few months, the tourism department has done good work. Our target was to restore it by Christmas...”
He said a lot of work went into the renovation. “It was a challenging job to get...masons and experts. We restored its khatambandh (traditional Kashmiri wooden ceiling), brickwork, and flooring,” Ahmad said.
Suhaib Naqashbandi, an architect involved with the project, said the church was a listed heritage site and one of the few places with Gothic architecture in Kashmir. “It has significance in terms of religion and also...heritage. In Srinagar, we have Mughal architecture... Gothic architecture... can [be] found only at two to three places...[in] Kashmir.”