MadhulikaL4
★★★★4.0Wrote on 1 Dec 2019
‘Patthar Girja’: The stone church
One of the largest and most impressive churches in North India, All Saints’ Cathedral in Allahabad is part of the Anglican Church of North India (CNI) and comes under the Diocese of Lucknow. The church stands in the middle of what is, in essence, a huge traffic island: the road loops right around the circular church yard, with the massive stone church looming high above the trees. All Saints’ was designed by Sir William Emerson, the architect who also designed the iconic Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, as well as Mumbai’s Crawford Market. The church was consecrated in 1887, and is an important example of Indian colonial architecture at its grandest. As its popular local name—Patthar Girja, the ‘stone church’—suggests, All Saints’ is made of beige sandstone. There are rows of tall arched windows on each side of the length of the church. A rose window adorns one end, and there is beautiful old stained glass along the sides and behind the altar as well. The columns have the typical ‘acanthus’ capitals, decorated with bunches of carved curving acanthus leaves. The pulpit is of carved alabaster. The altar too has some beautiful carving, and three arched screen windows behind it that are fine examples of the Indian stone-working craft known as ‘jaali’: stone filigree. If you’re visiting as a tourist, the best time to go is probably around 15 minutes before service begins on Sunday. The church is open by then, and since you can look around inside without disrupting a service, it’s fine. No entry fee is charged, though you’re expected to behave decorously and be silent. The service in English begins at 9AM in the winter (which was as when I visited, in early November). Summer timings may be (I’m not sure) somewhat earlier, and through the year, the Hindi service follows right after the English service.