The Times of India:Kochi:Sunday, February 26, 2012.
In a land dotted with churches, St Raphael's Church at Ezhupunna, near Cherthala, still stands out. Built in 1859, the medium-sized church, with its wide porticos, gabled roofs and latticed balconies, is an effortless amalgam of Portuguese, Dutch and traditional Kerala-temple architectural styles. Since 1995, the parishioners have been petitioning the state government to get the church notified as an ancient monument.
With the government dithering on the issue over the years, the High Court on Friday ordered it to have the church declared a heritage site. The parishioners had approached the HC under the banner of St Raphael's Church Laymen's Association.
In 2004, the parishioners even got the archaeological department to examine its claims and in May last year the department's experts recommended heritage status to the church. "We've been fighting since 2004 and it took eight years and the HC's intervention to get the status," says Michael Tharakan, a resident of Ezhupunna. It was his forefather, Parayil Tharakan, who took the initiative to build the church.
The Laymen's Association used the RTI Act to obtain a copy of the archaeological department's order and moved the court through advocate Babu Paul. When the petition came up for consideration before Justice S Siri Jagan on Friday, the court directed the cultural affairs department to notify the church as an ancient monument.
With the government dithering on the issue over the years, the High Court on Friday ordered it to have the church declared a heritage site. The parishioners had approached the HC under the banner of St Raphael's Church Laymen's Association.
In 2004, the parishioners even got the archaeological department to examine its claims and in May last year the department's experts recommended heritage status to the church. "We've been fighting since 2004 and it took eight years and the HC's intervention to get the status," says Michael Tharakan, a resident of Ezhupunna. It was his forefather, Parayil Tharakan, who took the initiative to build the church.
The Laymen's Association used the RTI Act to obtain a copy of the archaeological department's order and moved the court through advocate Babu Paul. When the petition came up for consideration before Justice S Siri Jagan on Friday, the court directed the cultural affairs department to notify the church as an ancient monument.
.JPG)
.JPG)
