St. Stephen's Church, Ooty,
Nilgiris
St. Stephen's Church is located in Ooty Town in Ooty Taluk of Nilgiris District
of Tamilnadu. St. Stephen's Church is situated on Ooty to Mysore
Route. It is one of the oldest churches in the Nilgiris district.
History
The church dates back to the 19th
century. Stephen Rumbold Lushington,
the then Governor of Madras, who keenly felt the need for a church
in Ooty exclusively for the British, laid the foundation for the church on 23
April 1829, to coincide with the birthday of King
George IV. St. Stephen's Church was consecrated by John Matthias Turner, Bishop of Calcutta,
on 5 November 1830. It was opened to the public communion on Easter
Sunday 3 April 1831. It came under the Church of South India in
1947. The architect in charge was John James Underwood, Captain, Madras
Regiment. The construction cost about Rs 24000 at the time.
The entire church was built
using high quality wood. The timber used in the church was taken from Tipu
Sultan’s palace on the island of Srirangapatna, after the defeat of Tipu Sultan
in the hands of Britishers. An Anglo-Indian orphanage was maintained for long,
but it was wound up with the starting of the St. George Home in Ketti. For the
first time, an Indian chaplain, Rev. M. Dorai was appointed in June 1981. Till
then it was the British who were chaplains. The last British chaplain was Rev.
John White. The 150th anniversary of the church was celebrated in
April 1981.
Architecture
The church has a fine pew with a
raised chancel. There are stained-glass painting on the eastern side as well as
behind the chancel depicting Mary holding baby Jesus in her arms and the
crucifixion of Christ among others. On the Western wall, above the paneled
doorways, is a large life-like painting of the Last Supper. The vestry is in
the cellar down the chancel. The pulpit is on the left of the chancel and
attached to it is a small flight of steps.
Instead of the big metallic
bell, one comes across novel but antique hammer like structures (four in
number) tied on to inverted "V" Shaped planks, with ropes. There are
four thick iron bars on the Eastern as well as the Western side screwed on to
thick wooden beams and they hang from above at different heights in a slanting
fashion and face each other.
There are pulleys attached with
solid wires, which operate the hammers, and which reach the ground floor
through the gaps in between the planks on the floor. The entire structure is
housed on a tall, sturdy stool, which is open on all the fourth sides. When the
wires are pulled from the floor, a rhythmic musical sound is produced. It is
situated in the attic of the third tier of the church.
Timings
The visiting hours are from 10.00
am to 1.00 pm and 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm each day. On every Sunday, there is
service from 8.00 am to 11:00 am.
Connectivity
The
Church is located at about 2 Kms
from Ooty Bus Stand, 2 Kms from Ooty, 2 Kms from Ooty Railway Station, 19 Kms
from Coonoor, 29 Kms from Kotagiri, 50 Kms from Mettupalayam Railway Station,
84 Kms from Coimbatore and 87 Kms from Coimbatore Airport. Private Taxis are
available from Ooty and Coonoor to reach this place. Ooty is well connected to
Coimbatore, Kerala and Karnataka.
Location
