St. Joseph’s cathedral undergoes facelift
April 30, 2010
St. Joseph’s Cathedral, a historic landmark of the capital city will be rededicated on May 1st, 2010.Archbishop M. Soosaipakiam will do the blessing and rededication of the renovated church in the presence of Major Archbishop Moran Mor Baselios Mar Cleemis.
The 137-year old Gothic-style heritage structure, a prominent Catholic worship centre and a major tourist attraction of the city, has acquired a new look with the brick red exterior repainted in white.
“We are going back to the original colour of the church, which was white. The colour was changed to brick-red in 1927, when the bell tower was constructed,” said Parish priest and Forane Vicar of the cathedral C. Joseph.
The entire structure has been reinforced with fresh plaster on the walls, inside and outside.”The contractors avoided the use of cement. The traditional mixture of lime, eggs and certain other materials was used for plastering.We were told that the reinforcement will be good for the next 100 years,” the priest added.
While a change in the colour of the majestic brick-red structure may not be a welcome proposition for many, the re-painting of the cathedral will undisputedly make a unequivocal difference to the city’s skyscraper. It is however, after many rounds of discussions and debates at the parish council and various other fora that a decision to change the colour was taken by the Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram, under whose aegis the church falls.
“The colour of the church has been changed to white because white represents sanctity which is most suited for a church. Also the brick-red colour is a falsification as the church is not a brick-wall structure. The ‘bricks’ were actually painted on the walls,” Fr. Joseph said.
The idea to re-paint the church was first initiated by the State Archaeological Department in 2001. The department, along with the church, then approached the Union Tourism Ministry for a project to renovate the church by maintaining its architectural value and enhancing its tourism prospects.
Originally established as a small parish in 1873, it was elevated to a cathedral in 1937 and then to a metropolitan cathedral in 2004. The last substantial renovation work was done in 1986 as a part of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Trivandrum.
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