Have been on road from the 7.00 Am in the morning, Banglore to Mysore and then a whole day spent going from Mysore to Srirangapatnam and coming back. Almost 9hrs straight way, but altast day coming to end and so my sight seeing, Saint Philomena Cathedral being the last destination of the day.
Reached there at 5.45 Pm in the evening , thank fully just 15 minutes before the closing time at 6.00 Pm , after which it would be closed for tourists and only those coming for Mass prayer would be allowed to enter the church.
Once again one more time , like any other place i visited that day , my greedy camera came of no use in the end. Like any other monument i visited that day same was here , camera was not allowed inside only place where i could consume my camera’s battery and memory was outside the church , clicking this magnificient marvel of gothic architecture.
Built in 1956 , is one the largest churches of India , standing in the middle of Mysore city and could be visible from 3 km away making it a land mark. Present structure is some where around 200 yrs old but its history and foundation stone date back some 250 yrs back in the past. It was Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar III, who thought off making a church for all those christians who shifted there base from Srirangapatnam to Mysore , on shifting of capital from later to mysore. Sudden increase in population of Christians made him to do so , and he donated a piece of land to the christian society for this church , which was much smaller some 250 yrs back.
After some years when city expanded and again population of Christians increased , same church was given a make over by the order of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV , who laid the foundation stone of present church on 28th october 1933 , and whose completion in 1956 brought this marvel of architecture , the present day saint philomena cathedral.
Built in the shape of CROSS , The Church has the relic of the 3rd century Saint Philomena that is in a beautiful catacomb that is below the main altar. Her story also dates back to third century , called as a ” child of God “.
“ Philomena was the daughter of the monarch of a small state in Greece. Her parents were childless. They prayed to God and asked Him to bless them with a child and promised to convert to Christianity if their wish was granted. The next year Philomena was born to them. Even in her childhood Philomena showed signs of piety. When Philomena was 13 years’ old her father took her to Rome to obtain the favour of Emperor Diocletion. The Emperor was enthralled by her beauty and wanted to marry her. But she refused and vowed to give herself to God. As she refused to marry the Emperor she was tortured and beheaded in Rome “.
Today , Saint Philomena Church is considered as one of main sacred places for Chirstians across the globe , one could witness the list of thousands of names written on the wall beneath the church where the Relic of Saint Philomena has been kept.
I sat there for some time , keeping myself as much silent i could during the mass prayer , was attending this mass prayer second time in life , previous one very near to my place in Delhi on the Christmas day some years back.
Wish i could click some pictures of inside as well but its not allowed , and breaking the rule specially at sacred places like Saint Philomena Cathedral has never been in my desire and never would be.
