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PROF. MENACHERY PAPERS AND ARTICLES [DRAFTS]
Draft of Article in
CBCI KCBC Apostle St. Thomas St.
Francis Xavier
Jubilee Documentary Committee [Chaired
by by Bishop
Thattungal] Volume,
"CHRISTIAN
CONTRIBUTION TO NATION-BUILDING"
POC 2004 Ed.
PONNUMUTHAN, AERATH AND MENACHERY
01.01 Intercultural
nature of all art:
What art and
architecture is purely indigenous? There is no art or architecture - no
sociocultural formations of any significance, anywhere in the world -
relating to a nation, a region, a religious or racial or linguistic
group - that is fully local or indigenous. The art and architecture of
India - secular or religious - is no exception. Thus Church Art and
Architecture of India from the commencement of the Christian presence on
these coasts at the dawn of the Christian era have been to a greater or
lesser degree influenced by those of other nations and religions as they
in turn have been influenced by Indias wealth of artistic and
architectural traditions. All the nations and cultures that came into
contact with India - the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the
Romans, the Moguls, the Parthians, the Iranians, the Arabs (of Pagan,
Jewish, Christian, and Islamic persuasions), and the Europeans of a
later date including the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Danes, the French,
and the English have all left their mark on the society and culture of
India, as has also been done by the eastern countries and cultures.
01.02 Aspects of art
here studied:
The topic "Christian
Contribution to Art and Architecture in India" is indeed vast and
complicated, as most
other topics in this volume are. In addition to the necessity of
discussing the chronological, geographical, and denominational aspects,
the styles, varieties, types, and schools as well as the genres,
localities, media, approximate dates, materials used, purposes and
uses, to name but a few details, of each object, and each group of
objects, of art and architecture have to be considered.
01.03 Chronological
divisions of Christian Culture:
Take for example the
chronological divisions. The history of Christianity in India and
hence of Christian culture may be said to roughly fall into certain
epochs or into various periods: e.g. a) the first few centuries Indian
and Persian influence, b) the Padroado period, follwed by c) the
Protestant centuries, and the d) the Propaganda period, e) periods and
pockets influenced by personnel from different regions of Europe and
America, and, f) the post independence period. The nomenclature employed
to describe these periods does not necessarily signify that all the
trends appearing in each time-span were only specific to the source/s
indicated by the epochs designation. In general we may treat the story
of chrstian art and architecture in India by dividing it into 1) the
Pre-European period, 2) the 16th to 18th Century developments, and
finally 3) the modern period.
01.04 Regions:
Among the
geographical divisions with special reference to Christian art and
architecture must be studied Malabar i.e. Kerala, the Konkan belt and
the areas under predominant Portuguese influence even upto Mumbai and
Vasai along with Portuguese pockets elsewhere, locations associated with
the Mogul court, Bengal, the French pockets, and the Carnatic with
special reference to the Tamil country, and many other areas of
Anglo-American influence.
01.05 Genres:
Again, consider the
genres. While performing arts like song, music and dance, and literary
arts like poetry, or the drama or rhetoric do not come under the purview
of this article, many genres of fine arts like architecture, sculpture,
painting must be discussed. So also objects utilizing or made out of
different media or materials like stone (granite, laterite, marble,
sandstone), wood, metal and metal alloys (gold, silver, iron, bronze,
brass), pigments (wooden panels, murals, frescos, canvasses, cloth
paintings, colouring of statues and other wooden objects), ivory, bone,
glass, precious stones, shell, plaster, straw, nutshells, leaves,
bricks, mud, clay, concrete, ...all claim our attention.
01.06 Items of
artistic and architectural significance:
There are a large
number of items of artistic and architectural significance in the
religious and domestic / civil life of Indian Christians which come
under one or more of the divisions and categories adumbrated above.
F.i., in the churches there are ever so many types of roofs, ceilings,
facades, porticos, verandahs, naves, chancels, altars, altarpieces,
statues, candlesticks, pillars, doors, doorways, architraves, pulpits,
crosses, cross pedestals, chalices, censers, censer-boats, bells,
belfries, books, book-illustrations, and bookmarks, bibles and bible
stands, choirs, tabernacles, monstrances, railings, wall paintings,
wooden panels, cloth paintings, vestments, beams, rafters, processional
umbrellas, canopies, chariots,... and a thousand and one other objects
to be considered. And there is a plethora of household utensils and
features of domestic and civil architecture to be considered.
01.07 A viable
scheme of study:
Of course it would
be next to impossible to at least cursorily deal with even a fraction
of all this. Hence it may be more practical to make an attempt to
discuss the main instances and trends in the chief centres of Christian
art and architecture then and now, such as (1) Kerala upto the 17th
century, (2) the Mogul court, (3) the Goan circle and pockets of
Portuguese influence, (4) other regions, (5) some notable architectural
landmarks, (6) some remarkable works of art, (7) the 20th century.
However in an article of this size even these topics could not be
discussed in any detail.
02.01 Kerala Upto
the 17th Century:
The location of the
state of Kerala on the western seaboard, at the centre of the
international highway of seaborne trade connecting the East and the
West, [and the North with the South] made it a meeting point of many
worlds, a melting pot of races and creeds, from early times.1 The Hindu
monarchs and chieftains of the Sangam and post-Sangam period ruled over
a fertile agricultural tract the peace and safety of which were
guaranteed by the Western Ghats on the one side and the Arabian Sea on
the other. The land itself was [for long] a secret shared between the
sea and the mountain, an illegitimate child of the two natural forces,
protected by and provided for by them in a special way.2 But already we
find in the first centuries B.C.E. / C.E. that while the monsoon route
connected Muziris (Cranganore) directly across the Arabian Sea with
cities in the west (e.g. Alexandria, Aden) the West Coastal route gave
its ships ready access to the Indus3 and to countries to the North and
Northwest in Asia and Europe.4
02.02 Foreign
influences:
It would appear that
the impact of her trans-Arabian-sea visitors were much more pronounced
in the case of Kerala than that of her mainland neighbours, during and
after the Sangam age. This contact with the countries west has paved the
way for considerable influence of the societies and cultures of those
lands and their peoples on every phase and aspect of the life of the
inhabitants of Kerala. Thus from the arrival of Vasco da Gama in 1498,
Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and England have had a great deal of
influence on the people of Kerala not only in the matter of material
cicumstances of life but also in the field of ideas and ideologies. One
of the
strongest areas
where this influence is manifested is in the field of Kerala art and
architecture in general and Christian art and architecture of Kerala in
particular.
02.03 Pre - European
period:
Christian art and
architecture in Kerala in the pre-European periods had developed
obtaining nourishment from two sources: one, from the countries in the
near-east including perhaps Greece, Rome, Egypt and the other Middle
East countries from which ideas and practices were imported by
missionaries and traders, and two, the indigenous forms and techniques
of art and architecture that existed in the land.
02.04 Nature of
Keralas cultural heritage:
By a happy mingling
of these two streams already by the arrival of the west in Kerala there
was existing here a strong tradition of Christian art and architecture
which was notable for its aesthetic as well as pragmatic excellence. The
Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and the English and also the
missionaries from Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium &c. brought with them
their own art traditions which resulted in adding certain features to
the already existing structures and traditions without trying to or
succeeding in totally replacing the cultural heritage of the Christians.
Hence today one can see a harmonious blending of the East and the West
in the Christian art and architecture of Kerala although examples are
not altogether lacking of attempts made to implant certain incongruous
elements into Kerala's cultural formations.
02.05 Two-fold
approach:
Hence to understand
and estimate the quality and quantity of Kerala Christian art and
architecture it may be best first to analyse the nature of such art and
architecture at the coming of the Portuguese in 1498 and thereafter to
study the items introduced by various western administrators and
missionaries, along with their varieties and spread.
02.06 Two pictures:
Two pictures are
available about the churches and churchbuilding activities of the
Christians of Kerala at the beginning and end of the sixteenth century.
At one end we have the account given by Joseph the Indian and the letter
written by the four bishops in 1504.5 At the other end of the century we
have the documents of the Synod of Diamper in Malayalam as found in many
old Kerala churches6, in Portuguese in the work of Gouvea7, and in
English in the work of Geddes8.
02.07 Similarity of
Hindu and Christian places of worship:
The tale of how
Vasco da Gama went into a Hindu temple in Kerala and mistook it for a
church and venerated the idol of Bhagavathi (?) mistaking it for an
image of the Blessed Virgin Mary would have clearly illustrated the
similarity of the Houses of God in Hinduism and Christianity in Kerala
had we any assurance that Gama already knew about the shape of Devalayas
in the land from his many spies and scouts.
02.08 State of
affairs at the beginning of the 16th century:
The description of
the reception given to the bishops at the beginning of the 16th century
by the faithful sheds considerable light on the state of the churches,
the Christians and their cultural and artistic traditions: ...they were
received by the faithful with great joy and they went to meet them with
joy, carrying before them the book of the Gospel, the cross, censers,
and torches...9. And they, the bishops consecrated altars...10.
02.09 At the end of
the 16th century:
In the Synod of
Diamper, 1599, there were represented more than a hundred churches of
the St. Thomas Christians. This indicates the existence of a very large
number of churches already at the coming of the western powers to India.
The description of the visits of Archbishop Dom Menezes to various
churches before and after the Synod throws some light on the structures
and arrangements of the churches before western elements and types were
introduced into Malabar.11 It may be remembered that the churches and
all their belongings were the property of the parishioners and each
church was built completely from the parish revenues and subscriptions
from the local faithful. A student selected from the parish and educated
by the parish was the vicar in each parish. It was only after the Synod
that westernisation of institutions and structures commenced / gained
momentum. The bishops started to have any say whatsoever in the affairs
of the parishes only much later, and even today in most Nazraney
Churches the parish retains a great deal of autonomy.
Hence as has
already been remarked to understand and estimate the quality and
quantity of Kerala Christian art and architecture it may be best first
to analyse the nature of such art and architecture at the coming of the
Portuguese in 1498 and thereafter to study the items introduced by
various western administrators and missionaries, along with their
varieties and spread.
03.01 The three
objects in front of the Kerala church:
There were three
striking objects of significance in front of the typical Malabar
churches, either inside the courtyard or just outside it: (1) the
open-air granite (rock) cross which the present writer has christened
Nazraney Sthamba, (2) Kodimaram (Dwajasthamba) or Flag-staff made of
Keralas famed teak wood (e.g. at Parur), and often enclosed in copper
hoses or paras (as at Changanassery, Pulinkunnu, or Chambakkulam), or
made out of some other wood or other material, and (3) the rock
Deepasthamba or lampstand. Sthambas or pillars of some type or other are
to be found among the Budhists, Jains, Hindus, etc. in India.Such
pillars and structures were part of the Christian heritage of Kerala
much before the ascendancy of Vedic Hinduism in these parts , although
J.Ferguson does not appear
to have known or
cared for the rock monumental Sthambas of Kerala .12
03.02 Open air
granite crosses:
The ubiquitous cross
of Malabar churches is best represented by the rock crosses, mostly
outside the churches. The open-air rock-cross of Malabar is an obelisk,
a tall stone column, with four, sometimes decorated, slightly tapering
sides. Rome has many obelisks (from Egypt and East, but no originally
cross-bearing structures decorating the piazzas and squares); London has
one on the banks of the Thames lovingly called Cleopatras Needle; Paris
has one at the place d la concorde; and even New York has one in the
central park. Many memorials like the WashingtonMemorial are
obelisk-shaped. The Asoka Pillar and other such Indian pillars were
influenced by the Graeco-Parthians, under Egyptian-Persian influence.
The Nazraney sthamba is a direct descendant of the obelisk, and much
closer to it than the other Indian pillars- in shape, method of
constuction and transportaion, method of erection, function, and solar
symbolism. The Roman obelisk, bearing crosses today, have been converted
to Christianity, while Keralas cross-shaped obelisks were born
Christian13. The obelus and the double -dagger reference marks in
printing may be profitably recalled here. Such obelisk crosses continued
to be erected mostly in front of churches even after western ascendancy
without much change although a few changes in the motifs on the
pedestals etc. could be noticed.14
03.03 The three-tier
gabled indigenous architecture of Kerala churches, which lacked facades
until the coming of the Portuguese, immensely gains in richness,
symmetry, and beauty because of the open-air rockcrosses, some of them
more than 30 feet in height including the intricately carved pedestals,
and monolithic shafts. No other community in Kerala has such a huge
monumental stone structure. The indoor counterparts of these crosses
have the earliest carvings in Kerala of the national flower lotus and
the national bird peacock. Perhaps even the national animal tiger is
first depicted in Kerala art in church sculpture. There was perhaps no
rock carving in South India prior to the period of these indoor crosses.
The motifs, message, and images on these crosses and their pedestals
display a remarkable degree of Indianness and Malayalee Thanima or
identity. Vedic Hindu Gods and Goddessess like Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva,
Sapthamathas, Jeshta
etc. appear in the art of the central Guruvayoor/Palayoor-Quilon part of
Chera country only after the 9th-13th centuries, and even in the
Salem-Erode section, and the Trivandrum-Cape Comorin section Vedic Hindu
deities appear in art only as late as the 9th century A.D.15
03.04 The base with
a socket, the monolithic square and slightly tapering shaft with
cylindrical terminals, the horizontal piece forming the arms with a
double (hole) socket in the middle, and the capital with a cylindrical
bottom end are the four members of the open-air cross. They are so well
chiselled and proportionate that when put together the socket and
cylinder arrangement enables the cross to stand by itself. However for
the bigger crosses, pedestals in the form of sacrificial altars or
Ballikallus are found, often carrying exquisite reliefs of the flora and
fauna of the land in addition to scenes from daily life and biblical
scenes. The cross which represents the supreme Bali (sacrifice) or
Mahabali appearing on the Balikkallu or sacrificial altar most
appropriately represents the Calvary events and sheds plenty of
light on the
ideological, historical, cultural and technological bent of mind of the
forefathers.Compare with the base of the Obelisk of Theodosius,
Constantinople,.A.D.390.
03.05 The obelisk is
a ray of the sun - here a ray of Christ (of Horus -Xt. the sun-God).
This ray helps the lotus near - universally depicted on such crosses to
blossom
forth representing
in a typical Indian poetic conceit the grace received by the sin - bound
human soul (panka jam) from Christ. Lotus representing the sun is found
in other early Indian art also.The half dozen interior Pehlavi inscribed
crosses, some of them surely of pre- 7th century origin, which were
mostly tombstones before they were put up on the altars, have generally
the dove (Holy Spirit) depicted on top of the clover or flowertipped
equal-armed Greek cross, in addition to the lotus at the bottom. In this
three piece (Thri-kanda) cross one might, perhaps, with considerable
effort read the lotus represented Brahma (Father), the flowery cross
(Son), and the dove (Holy Ghost). But the lotus has more universal and
more diverse implications in the various eastern creeds.
03.06 The
arrangement to hold wicks found on the crosses may be related to the
necessity to preserve fire, and the effort to make it available to the
common people in the dim past, when Homakundams were rare in Kerala or
beyond the reach of the common folk. It is perhaps in connection with
the need to preserve fire that the oil-Nerchas and oil Araas or
chambers of the churches, and the compound -wall rocklamps are to be
evaluated. The oil related objects in the churches also indicate the
connection of this Christianity with the trade of the land, especially
oil-trade. The bell like arrangement on some crosses also are
noteworthy. Veneration of the cross, angels, Adam and Eve... and of
course the Indian Cross itself are some of the religious carvings on
these structures.
03.07 Deepasthambas
and Deepams: The square or polygonal shape of the individual pieces in
the granite or rock lampstands at Kallooppara, Niranam, Kundra, and
Chengannur churches indicate the
antiquity of such
lampstands in the churches. Unlike in the churches, in the temples the
tradition of these lamps continued and thus developed in to the
present-day round shape of the pieces. In art history generally the
simpler forms make their appearance first, and refinements and
complications indicate a later date. Even when the tradition of
lampstands declined in the churches, many open-air crosses had
wickholders incorporated into them, with the advantage that wind and
rain did not put off the flames. Church walls still display rows of
rock lamps. Inside the churches the tradition of bronze lamps
continued vigorously, representing a variety of shapes and types, and
some lamps having even hundreds of wickholders, e.g. the Aayiram Aalila
lamps at Arthat or Angamaly.
03.07 In front of
the church the third interesting object is the flagstaff, sometimes
covered with copper paras. Every festival is announced with the
Kodiyettu or flag-hoisting, a tradition going back to early Buddhist
times at least. All these three objects in the courtyard of the church
have a variety of liturgical functions associated with them.
03.08 Baptismal
Fonts: Crossing the portico or mukhamandapam one enters the Haikala or
nave beyond the huge doorway with intricately carved doorpanels called
Aanavathils. Either in the nave or in the little room set aside as
baptistry one comes across the rock baptismal font. There are
interesting rock baptismal fonts at Edappally, Kanjoor, Mylakkombu,
Muthalakkodam, Changanassery, Kothamangalam, Kadamattom etc. The
similarity of these baptismal fonts with illustrations of the fonts used
for the baptism of Constantine (4thC.) and Clovis (Rheims C.496) is
remarkable. All the old baptismal fonts are of granite or very hard
laterite. They are all huge in size indicating that baptism by immersion
must have been the order of the day. Many of the dozens of old baptismal
fonts depicted in the STCEI15 & the ICHC16 were probably of a date prior
to the decree of the Synod of Diamper which made permanent fonts more or
less compulsory. Although most of the old baptismal fonts/ baptistries
are found near the west end or middle of the nave on the northern side -
Kaduthuruthy(Big), old Edappally, old Kanjoor, Changanassery (Southern
side), in many churches, mostly Jacobite/Orthodox they are today found
close to the sanctuary e.g. Angamaly (Middle-church), Kallooppara.. They
are exquisitely carved with reliefs of the baptism of Christ, Mary
feeding the Child, angels, or Indian crosses. There are also wonderful
motifs of leaves, the basket pattern, coir pattern, etc. engraved on
these stones. By the way the very Malayalam word Mammodisakkallu
indicates a font made of stone. Another term is mammodisath-thotti. The
Holy Water Font is called Annavella Th.-thotti, also generally of stone.
The Architraves and doorposts in many churches are good examples of
south Indian rock-carving. (e.g.old Kayamkulam, Chengannur, Kanjoor).
But the rock-baptismal fonts are the real pride of many an old church.16
03.09 Another
aspect of church architecture that has scarcely been affected by the
later types from abroad is the old three tier gabled wooden roofing with
the highest roof for the Madhbaha or Sanctum Sanctorum and the lowest
for the Mukhamandapam or portico with the nave or Hykala having a roof
of middle height. Although the rock crosses, the flagstaffs, the rock
lampstands, the baptismal fonts, and the three tiered roofing pattern
have not been much affected by the western visitors and administrators
many of the objects found inside the churches and the very appearance of
the inside have undergone many changes after the arrival of the
Portuguese and other westerners. Let us look at some of these changes.
04.01 There is an
interesting description of Kerala churches in the account of Joseph the
Indian, c.1500. The Christians have their churches, which are not
different from ours, but inside only a cross will be seen. They have no
statues of the saints. The churches are vaulted like ours. On the
foundation is seen a big cross just as in our place. [May be the open
air cross?] They have not any bells. 17 There is much truth in the
statement of George Varghese: But once these churches came under the
jurisdiction of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, the ornate
monumentality of the European churches was introduced into the small
temple-like Syrian Christian churches, which even did not have windows
in the early past. Thebaroque and ornate altars with statues and
foliages replaced the Chaldeo-Syrian altars, which were in fact
only stone-tables
with nothing more than candles, Chalice and the Holy Book on them, the
bare necessities for observing the Holy Mass. Despite unpleasant
frictions with the Portuguese, both in political and ecclesiastical
matters, this was the golden era of Church Art in Kerala. They
introduced the Romano-Portuguese style, which was assimilated with such
artistic and structural finesse by the artists of Kerala, so that it
created some of the finest pieces of artistry in the Nazraney school.
Later, the British also were equally enthusiastic in introducing their
skills and forms into the Church Art of Kerala. Hence, from a
conservative perspective, the art in these churches may appear eclectic,
with diverse traditions, both western and eastern, superimposed one over
the other. The exclusively Asiatic symbols like stone lamps, flag masts,
stone-crosses, arched entrances etc., untouched by the foreign hands,
co-exist with the Renaissance frescoes, and the Baroque Art of Europe in
the same church-complex. There is, in fact, an underlying unity behind
this apparently confused juxtaposition of images, symbols and monuments;
this is due to the fact that as universal archetypes, images and symbols
of religions, both in the west and in the east, have many common
elements.18
04.02 Among the
additions which took place in Kerala churches with the advent of
Europeans might be counted paintings and sculptures on a large scale,
imposing altarpieces or reredos; rostra or pulpits, statues of all
sizes, types and shapes; plaster mouldings and pictures; huge bells and
belfries. Murals and frescoes on a very large scale make their
appearance as well as paintings on wood panels and clothe. But the most
apparent introduction of the Portuguese was the facades they put up
between the portico and the nave in order to impart a Christian
appearance to the churches.19
04.03 The mural
tradition of Kerala is ably represented in the churches of Kerala. Many
pictures depicted on the walls of Kerala churches may be older than the
well known Mughal and Rajput paintings.20 Some interesting murals, all
of which use only pigments extracted directly from natural objects like
leaves, laterite stone, &c., are to be seen in the churches at Angamaly,
Akapparambu, Paliekkara, and Cheppad. Silparatna esp. its Chitralakshana
division , the Sudhalepavidhana etc. deal in detail with the colours and
additional materials and their application in Indian mural painting. It
is interesting to note that the early paintings and iconography of
Kerala churches strictly adhere to the concepts of Indian sages and
craftsmen on these matters. Interesting old-time wooden panels are seen
at Piravaom, Kottayam, Changanassery and Ollur churches. The vast
interior of the Ollur church has thousands of square feet covered with
frescos.
04.04 Today we
have a few churches and places of worship in Kerala which adhere more or
less to one or other of the classical christian architectural styles
like the Basilican, Romanesque, Byzantine, Gothic, Baroque, Rococco,
etc. but more often than not the churches built in the twentieth century
are combinations of various styles, both eastern and western. Elements
of Saracenic, Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist origin are also common. And
there are a large number of churches which are like any other place of
assembly such as a Cinema-house, an international conference centre, or
a town-hall, or Kalyana Mandapam.
04.05 Kerala
churches built, restored, or reconstructed after the 16th century have
many features in common with such structures elsewhere in India, esp. in
Goa and environs, and as such are not treated separately.
05.01 Portuguese
Influence and the Goan Circle: After the arrival of Vasco da Gama and
more especially after the commencement of Portuguese ascendancy in India
two distinct patterns of Christian art developed, one within the areas
of Portuguese influence, mostly along the coasts of the peninsula, and
the other at the Mogul (Mughal) Court in the North.
05.02
Twelve years after
the arrival of da Gama at Calicut in Kerala Alphonso de Albuquerque
brought Goa under Portuguese rule in 1510. Thirtytwo years later Francis
Xavier arrived in Goa in 1542. Christian communities began to grow up in
Goa. In the words of Mathew Lederle, S. J. :21 It was a characteristic
of the Lusitanian period that the newly gained Christian Faith found
expression in feasts, customs, songs, dances. In Goa grew up what has
become up to now the only complete form of Christian art in India,
comprising both the sacred and the profane, encompassing the whole of
human life. We speak of the Indo-Portuguese Baroque. This phrase is not
to be taken in too literal a meaning. Though being predominantly
Baroque, it was not restricted to Baroque nor to Portuguese. Almost any
form of European religious art of the 16th to 18th centuries and
cultural traditions of various countries left their traces in Goa. The
Portuguese were great builders and promoted architecture more than any
other form of fine art. The Christian art of Goa reached its climax in
church building. [For some illustrations cf. Thomas
Encyclopaedia,Vol.1.] These churches were elaborately decorated; they
expressed the Baroque ideal of making visible here on earth the
heavenly darbar, centred round the Eucharistic presence of Christ among
his people.
The composite
Indo-Portuguese culture which developed in Goa [and elsewhere in India]
over more than 450 years of Portuguese presence in this locality of
Indias West Coast, is a fascinating but vast subject..with...the shapes
which European Baroque, with the Christian art and architecture which
came with it, took in the hands of the Indian artisans and craftsmen who
had their own repertoire of skills, styles and motifs, developed through
millennia of building and carving - the unique, locally developed style
of the Hindu temple and its companion lamp-tower...22
05.03 Cochin
continued to be the Portuguese capital in India until 1530. Western
style forts, houses, churches with their spires, and monasteries began
to be built in Cochin and Goa. Fort Manuel at Cochin was enlarged and
the Mattanchery Palace, now called the Dutch Palace was constructed and
gifted to the Maharajah of Cochin
for the favours
granted. In Cochin even today can be seen many of the churches and
convents the Portuguse built - such as the St. Francis church, the first
European place of worship in India perhaps, where Vasco da Gama was
first buried, although the church itself became afterwards a Dutch
church and later an English church and finally came to be under the
Church of South India. It is a protected monument today under the
Archaeological Survey of India as is also the so-called Dutch Palace not
very far from it. In this locality can also be seen the Santa Cruz
Cathedral, the palace of the Bishop of Cochin, the St. Bartholomew
church, the Dominican church and the St. Pauls church.
05.04 Already by
1542 Francis Xavier writes that Goa is a city entirely of Christians,
something worth seeing. There is a monastery of friars,... he continues,
and a noble cathedral with many canons, and many other churches. City
planning and building activity continued apace so much so by the end of
the 16th century Goa is compared to Lisbon and is termed the Rome of the
East. And Francois Pyrard has this to say: The buildings of the churches
and palaces, both public and private, are very sumptuous and
magnificent. The Se Cathedral begun in the middle of the 16th century,
some years after the completion of the first church of St. Catherine of
Alexandria, and the church of Our Lady of the Rosary are examples of the
earliest large-scale building activity in Goa. The latter brings to mind
the contemporary need for a church to be also a fort at the same
time.
05.05 The
ecclesiastical furniture of that time was artistically formed altar
pieces, pulpits, statues, sepulchres, tombstones, chairs, tables,
confessionals. Special attention was given to the sacristies, their
ceilings, their walls, their almirahs. [See the illustrations in Vol.II
(1973) and I (1982) of the Thomas Encyclopaedia.] Even now a large
number of excellent statues both in churches and in homes are still
available, done in wood or in ivory, the delight of the tourist and the
souvenir collector. These statues betray their European artistic
inspiration, but they also show the hand of the local artisans. Some
figures have local face expressions. In a large stucco representation in
the Margao church, the Virgin in standing on a peacock which may have
been influenced by the presentation of Parvati standing on a peacock.
Goa had a developed art of painting, first done by Europeans, then taken
up by local craftsmen. Often the paintings were on wood, as it was
difficult to get a good canvas. Murals too are to be found, as also work
in precious metals. The most outstanding piece of craftsmanship done in
Goa is the reliquary of St.Francis Xavier executed in Goa in 1936-37.
Embroidery too, was encouraged. The Indian contribution to Goan art is
more in the decorations than in the church structures, which on the
whole, kept the forms of their European origins.Though the employment of
Hindu artisans to produce objects of Christian worship was forbidden by
ecclesiastical and secular authorities, both Christian and non-Christian
artists were employed even by religious orders.23 The new
Euro-impressed, Indian Baroque made its first appearance in Kerala,
where Catholic churches came up on the Indian temple plan [Kerala
architectural plan], giving full scope to the native wood-worker to show
on a wider scale than he was accustomed to , his carving skills while
sculpting church-ordained motifs and themes. These skills were to meet,
in a dazzling display of gold painted wood carving, the challenges of
crafting ceilings, outsized altars, retables and pulpits in numerous
churches in Goa and other Portuguese territories on the West Coast.24
05.06 The tower of
the Augustinian monastery, the Jesuit hospital, the Bom Jesus Basilica
cloisters and the shrine of the saint, the church of St. Peter, the
Santa Monica, Rachol, Pilar are only some of the edifices which must be
studied for their architectural features and artistic treasures. And
many other churches and public buildings in the various divisions of Goa
still proclaim the glory of Golden Goa as sung by Luis de Camoens in his
celebrated epic Os Lusiadas.25
05.07 The
Hellenistic inspired Gandhara school of art and the Indo-Persian
creations of the Mughal period have been claimed as Indian art. The
European-Christian inspired art of Goa, too, has to get its place among
the various forms of Indian art.26
It is remarkable
that Goan art reached its highest development during the 17th century, a
period of political decline, and of a growing Hindu dominance of Goan
economy. The Christian art of Goa was carried on not by political
patronage but by the devotion of the people. (For this section
cf.E.R.Hambye, S.J., Christian Art in Goa-Some Reflections, Journal of
the Asiatic Society of Bombay, XIL-XIIL,1966-67, New Series,
pp.194-202).27
06.01The Mogul Court
and Christian Art 28: The Christian art in Goa grew up within a
Christian community reflecting the socio-cultural mood of this
community. Something quite different developed in Northern India at the
court of Akbar(1556-1605). The Mohammedan empire in the North was
different from the various smaller political powers in the South of
India. Akbar, open to other religions, invited Jesuit priests to his
court. They aimed at gaining influence at the highest cultural and
intellectual level. Jesuits stayed at the court from
1550-83,1591,1595-1603. They could even continue their stay when
Aurangzeb ascended the throne in 1658.
As there were no
large Christian communities in the North there was no need for big
churches. The Jesuits made good use of paintings, and especially
engravings which were more easily available and transportable. These
gifts were appreciated for their
artistic qualities
and for their religious contents. For example they presented to Akbar a
copy of Plantins Polyglot Bible printed in 1569-72 for Philip II of
Spain, illustrated with engravings by Flemish artists of the school of
Quentin Matsys.
Akbar ordered his
court painters to copy the new art. They copied, adapted and in some
cases created new pictures, a happy blending of Christian content and
local forms. Throughout the period there was interest in and preference
for religious themes. This continued even when secular pictures reached
India through officials of the East India Company and the Dutch embassy.
Religious pictures in India at that time referred mainly to mythology or
they showed human beings who were not divine. The Gospel scenes appealed
as they showed the divine through human forms. They were religious
paintings with historical motives. The Jesuit mission at Agra succeeded
not only using art as a very effective missionary medium, but also in
founding a new school of painting. This was profoundly influenced by
Western techniques and was in a way of Christian art, yet it was also
free enough and copious
enough to be a
genuine and almost a major element in the art-life of its time and
place.(J.F.Butler, op.cit., p.66) At present, upto one hundred Christian
pictures of the Mughal period are still in existence. Besides paintings,
ivory and wood work, statues and panels with Christian themes were
produced at that time.
Along with the
general decline in creativity during the period preceding British rule
in India, Indian Christian art also lost its impetus. Of the works of
the later period some have their origin in Pondicherry, Vishakapatnam
and other centres of French
influence.
Some Sources for
Christian Art in the Mogul Court:
Space does not
permit the present writer to go deeper. However exhaustive information
on this phase of Christian art in India can be obtained from the Sir
Edward Maclagan, The Jesuits and the Great Moguls, London 1932. The
chapters dealing with the first, second, and third missions to Akbar
(II, III, IV), and the fifth chapter dealing with Jahangir, must be
read. But more especially chapter XIII entitled Culture and Language
(pp. 190 - 202) and chapter XV, The Missions and Mogul Painting (pp. 222
- 267). The works by Fr. Hosten also has a great fund of information on
the present topic.
Attention of the
reader is invited to these illustrations in Maclagans book: The first
Jesuit mission arguing before Akbar (Narsingh); The Good Shepherd
(Maskin); S. Matthew (Kesho); The court of Jehangir, including a Jesuit
priest; Shah Jahan and a
courtier, with
Christian symbols (Bichitr); S. Cecilia (Nini); The inn at Bethlehem; An
Indian artist drawing the Madonna (Kesho); and Figures from Durer.
The interest shown
by Akbar and Jehangir in the missionaries and the western paintings was
not unmixed. For example see this passage in Jahangir and the Jesuits,
London, 1930: While he (Jahangir) prized the sacred pictures which the
Fathers gave him, not, as they fondly imagined, out of veneration for
the subjects represented, but because he had a passion for works of art
and curios of all kinds, and especially for pictures, of which he was
not only an enthusiastic collector, but a very competent judge.
Indian Christian Art
in Modern Times: When the third period of Christian influence in
India began, its
missionary method was pioneered by William Carey in Bengal, stress was
laid on literature (the Bible) and education. The fine arts were
neglected; compared with the previous period there was less interest in
music, drama, feasts and festivals.Church buildings showed often the
influence of the country of origin of the respective missionary society.
Still, as regards painting there have been more creative attempts during
this modern period than ever before. We find two types of paintings:
those done by non-Christians and those done by Christians. This
corresponds to two efforts at understanding Christ in relation to Indian
traditions. Non-Christian painters expressed their search and insights
in relation to the person of Christ, Christian Painters interpreted
Christ through the means of Indian traditions. Christian painting in
India, and especially its modern period is excellently treated by
R.W.Taylor, Jesus in Indian Paintings, Madras, CLS, 1975.
Contributions of
Non-Christians to Indian Christian Art28:
Members of the
modern renaissance movement in India showed great interest in Christ,
especially during the early religion based period, above all in the
Brahmo Samaja movement of Bengal, and then again in the Gandhian
movement. The first modern school of art in India, the Bengal School of
Art centred in Shantiniketan, was through the Tagore family closely
linked with the Brahmo Samaja movement. Also Gandhijis influence was
felt at Shantiniketan. C.F.Andrews lived there for some time.
Nandalal Bose
studied under Abindranath Tagore and exercised great influence in the
Bengal School. Of the Christian painters Angaelo da Fonseca and Vinayak
S. Masoji studied under both of them. One of the recurring themes of
Nandalal Boses Christian paintings is the cross. Representations of
Christ on the cross and his passion, his love of the humble and the low,
along with the representation of the incarnation (Christ and his mother
Mary) will for many an artist be the medium through which they express
their own ideals and struggle, their experiences and insights.Jamini
Roy, for several years chose Christ as a main theme for his paintings.
He did not belong to the Bengal School, but drew his inspiration from
Bengal folk art of Western Europe. K.C.S.Paniker carried on the spirit
of India in a modern form. Intense in his colours and expressive in his
form he was often drawn to Christian themes. R.W.Taylor sees in his
Christian paintings a pronounced social dimension and a tendency largely
towards the events of the passion.(R.W.Taylor, op.cit., p.78). It was
also Paniker who said, and this shows one of the reasons why he was
attracted to paint Christ, If you scratch Christ there is the carpenters
son, something authentic.(Taylor, ibid, p.73). P.V.Janakiram specialised
in wash and tempera techniques and later in sculpture and reliefs.
Christian themes are recurring in his works. The most often portrayed
theme is the cross, followed by the theme of the Virgin and the Child.
Christian themes with these artists share their place of predominance
with many other themes and there are many artists who never painted any
explicitly Christian subject, yet the number of those who did is
astonishingly great.
Christian Artists in
Modern Times30:
During recent times
several Christian artists have come forward to express their Christian
Faith through the medium and form of Indian art. The comprehensiveness
and openness with which this is done is something new. The newness is in
this that the artist, not always consciously perhaps, regards the
traditional and contemporary forms of Indian art as his own also. He is
not an intruder into something not related to him. Still he has to do a
pioneering job. Christian paintings now in use in homes and churches
are to a large extend western and often than not of an inferior quality.
The artist can in a visible way express the ideal of the integration of
the Christian community in the country. He can also contribute towards
activating an Indian orientation of the Christian communities. The
people using religious art in India are not always attuned to modern
trends in painting. Indian Christian works of art are more accepted if
they are linked up with one of the periods of the past: Ajantha, Mughal,
Neo-Bengali. Experience shows that the artists themselves undergo a
change. We can recognise the development of an even greater
individuality, a more personal note as the years go by.This requires
that the individual artist finds encouragement, enlightened sympathetic
criticism - and also patronage. Art can only progress if the artists can
also live from their art. The purchase of original works for homes and
institutions is a very realistic way of promoting art.
The Christian artist
in India is confronted by a number of difficulties. The popular, widely
accepted bazaar art shows that many are satisfied with cheap,
artistically inferior works of art, as their artistic taste remains
underdeveloped. It is a widely spread opinion that representations
related to a historic religion have to show the religious events and
persons in a historically true setting, in something like a photographic
presentation. But with the exclusion, perhaps, of the shroud of Turin,
we have no historically correct representation of Christ. Besides the
art of painting is different from the photographic art. An artist
expresses in colour and form what he feels, how he understands. He does
this through the media which are congenial to him, the media from his
own culture. In Western modern art, Christ is portrayed in many ways; he
is seen as the leader of masses, the redeemer, the man of sorrow, the
bringer of peace besides all the various other forms Christian Faith or
the inspiration of his person suggests. He is depicted in realism,
impressionism, expressionism, cubism and many other trends of painting.
An Indian artist will look at Christ through Indian eyes and this will
give his discovery meaning, form and beauty.
In the Bible, for
example, in the childhood narrations of Christ, passages are expressed
as midrash. Midrash means research.The sacred writer searched the old
scriptures for passages which would interpretatively depict a present
reality. That the child was brought to the temple 490 days after the
angels announcement to Zachariah depicts the 490 years mentioned by
Daniel and supposedly required till the coming of the Messiah. The child
brought to the temple is therefore the Messiah. Should one not speak of
a cultural midrash also? Searching in the treasures of a given
tradition, modern and ancient, the artist takes the language of this
tradition to explain his own insights. As there are many traditions in
India the Christian artists in India may speak in many ways of the one
reality of his Faith.
(e.g. the cross) or
at least neutral symbols (e.g.flame, flower, gesture of offering), they
are reluctant to accept symbols with a typical Hindu cannotation
(e.g.the word OM). Art India, Pune a publishing centre for Indian
Christian art, prints pictures with various symbols, the same amount at
the same time. It is possible, therefore, to determine the likes and
dislikes of the buyers.It has to be kept in mind that most symbols, in
the course of centuries, have been given various meanings. Let us take
the symbol of the peepal tree. Ancient Indian tradition represents the
cosmos in the form of a giant, inverted tree. This tree, a peepal tree,
buried its roots in the sky and spreads its branches over the whole
earth. It represents creation as a descending order. There have been
interpretations which were pantheistic and therefore not acceptable to
Christians. There were also other interpretations fully agreeable with
Christian ideas. This gives the symbol a certain ambivalence. A
Christian can see in the inverted peepal tree a representation of
creation in a descending order. This can point to Christ, as He, through
Him and for Him all things were created, appeared as man and Saviour.
The peepal tree reminds then of the first creation and of the new
creation brought about by the coming of Christ. (In this sense the
peepal tree has been used for a Christmas card by Sr.Veera Pereira.)
Symbols become part
of a culture; they stay even when philosophies change; they are then
reinterpreted.This holds good also as regards basic concepts, e.g.
karma,maya,etc. Symbols may even have been given tantric interpretations
with erotic meanings, even shocking erotic meanings. But this does not
mean that these symbols are necessarily connected with such meanings. If
a symbol is reinterpreted, it is done in the hope that the new meaning
can hold its ground, does not lead to syncretism, and strikes a new cord
in the depths of ones soul.
The number of
Christian artists who struggled to present their Faith through the
medium of Indian culture is considerable. One of the great pioneers is
Angelo de Fonseca, a Catholic of Goan origin who grew up in Pune and
studied under Abanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose. When he left
Shantiniketan, Abanindranath gave him the commission, Now go out and
paint churches. It was only towards the end of his life (he died in
1968) that the general climate had changed in favour of Indian art. He
worked for many years in the inspiring atmosphere of the Anglican
Khrista Prem Seva Ashram, Pune. His more than 500 paintings show how he
grew in his work, how he left the early Bengal School influence and
developed his own style- mainly,harmonious,impressive,with its clear
lines and the
preference for earthen coloured shades. A.da fonsca freely shared his
wide experience when an altar had to be erected, an ecclesiastical
vestment designed, a church built, and vessels to be used. He pointed
our how much, genuinely good, was available in the small shops of the
cities and in the bazaars.
Alfred D.Thomas, an
Anglican, from Uttar Pradesh, depicted Christs life and ministry. His
Christ had the ideal male body of classical Indian sculptures,with broad
shoulders and narrow waist. His Christ was soft but not feminine. His
women had the fully flowered female forms of the classical tradition.
Vinayak S.Masoji,
born 1897, at Kolhapur, a member of the United Church of Northern India,
studied at Shantiniketan, and became the Director of its Kalabhavan. He
painted, modelled, worked with leather, wood and in Batik. He wanted to
express a message that India could understand. In the Mughal style of
painting he found a method suitable to tell stories, in his case to
retell biblical events in an Indian setting. A biography is now being
prepared and published by friends.
Angela Trinidade,
comes from a distinguished artist family of Bombay. She painted Christs
life in the Ajantha style, a wide step away from the Western techniques
of her father, often called the Rembrandt of the East. Later she changed
and painted in
triangular forms.
She explains this to be the result of a religious experience she had.
Now she wants to express everything in this triangular trinitarian
form.
Frank Wesley, a
Methodist from Northern India, lives at present, like A.D. Thomas and
Angela Trinidade, outside of India. He intends to paint the external
rather than the historical Christ, to paint Him with Indian
feeling.(c.f.R.W.Taylor, op.cit.p.135). Frank Wesley likes to use
symbols. He is a gifted artist,able to use various styles and methods.
In this way he conveys an idea more than he reveals himself.
The most popular
Christian artist in India at present, (popularity here means demand for
her paintings), is Sr. Genevieve, now at Bangalore, a nun of French
origin. She likes to give importance to lines and to striking colours.
(There are two
pictures by her in
the Thomas Encyclopaedia II, 1973.) Her figures, often the humble, the
meek in the spirit of the Gospels, have an intense quality of
Indianness.
She painted many
scenes of the Lords life, especially Christmas scenes. She has prepared
huge compositions, slides series, film strips, and the Old Testament
series of the NBCL Centre, Bangalore. Sr. Genevieve, in more recent
years, has raised a voice of warning against the use of Hindu symbols,
which she regards, to a large extent, as unsuitable for use in Christian
paintings.
Sr. Genevieve's
disciple, Sr. Claire from Andhra Pradesh, a convert from Hinduism, is a
member of the same religious congregation as Sr. Genevieve. Sr. Claire
has great talent, her paintings are attractive, simple, and full of
feeling. At Nueremberg, Germany, a calendar for 1976 with her pictures
was published. She writes about these pictures, I love our Mother Mary
so much that you will find her on all my pictures. Recently she has
worked with cloth also and for silk-screen printing and painted two sets
of stations of the cross.
Jyoti Sahi, Catholic
from Bangalore, had some ashram experience and has a wide cultural
background. He built his home, an artists ashram, in a village near
Bangalore. He wrote ( 19.2.76) about a prospective chela, I would teach
the person what I can, but would expect the person to be fully involved
in my work, that would be not only painting, but helping in the village,
doing things about the house, even gardening at times, helping me to
teach others - you know, the sort of creativity events I am increasingly
involved in. It would be good if he thought of the possibility
of religious art
being his profession eventually. Jyoti Sahi combines art with
theological reflection. His lectures at the Jnana Deepa Vidyapeetha,
Pune are greatly appreciated. For him the symbols of the Hindu tradition
are to be creatively interpreted. It can be said about him, that he
searches for the Unknown Christ in Hinduism. Missio, Germany, published
a beautiful calendar with mandalas (symbols helpful for meditation) in
1975. This was received as a gift of the Indian Church to a Church in
the West, in a spirit of partnership.
Due to shortage of
space we can mention only the names of other Christian artists: A.
Alphonso, Madras; Sudhir Bairagi, Bengal; Frederick Chellappa; Anthony
Doss; F. N. DSouza; Eustace Fernandes, Bombay; John W. Gonsalves; Taba
Jamyang, Mussoorie; Peter Lewis; K.N. Misra, Lucknow; Lemuel Patole,
Bombay, (now - 1976 -
in the USA); Albert
O. Pengal, Bombay; Duckett J. Prim; G. D. Paul Raj; Olympio C.
Rodrigues, Bombay; V. M. Sathe; G. R. Singh; Sr. Sylvestra, FMM, Madras;
Sr.Theresa, O. Carm., Sitagarha; Marcus Topno (+), Ranchi; Joseph V.
Ubale (+), Bombay; W. Vandekerckhove, SJ, Ranchi. In the field of
painting modern Indian Christian art has achieved considerable results.
As regards statuary, most of what is produced is on the level of
artistically inferior plaster-of-Paris production. The artistic level of
the 17th century has not been reached. The more extensive use of wood,
metal and ivory for statues would mark a big step forward. The present
(1976) mood for function and utility does not include sufficient
encouragement for the promotion of embroidery and woodwork.
Conclusion:
A number of other
artists and a large number of objects of art and architecture aught to
be dealt with in this article. Some areas and locations are almost left
out. But it is hoped that a general appreciation of the origin and
development of Indian Christian art, its variety, its spread, its
influence could be gained from what has been attempted here.
Notes:
1. M. G. S.
Narayanan, Cultural Symbiosis in Kerala, Trivandrum, 1972, p.1.
2. Id., p. vii.
3. George Menachery
in Kodungallur : City of St. Thomas, Kodungallur, 1987, p.4, et.sq. of
2000 reprint.
4. Id. p. 19, n.3
which refers to the many relevant maps in Bjorn Landstorm, The Quest for
India, Stockholm, 1964 and in the Atlas by G.M. in Menachery, George
(Ed.), The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Vol. I, esp.
those dealing with the Journeys of St. Thomas, Marco Polo, B. Diaz, &
St. F. Xavier.
5. We quote from the
edition by Schurhammer, Georg, The Malabar Church and Rome,
Trichinopoly, 1934, the relevant portion of which is reprinted in the
Indian Church History Classics, Vol. I The Nazranies, Ed. G. Menachery,
Ollur, Jan. 1998, pp.526 - 529.
6. Cf. Scaria
Zachariah, Udayamperur Soonnahadosinte Kaanonakal, in Malayalam, 1998.
7. Jornada, Lisbon
and Coimbra, 1606. A new English translation is being published by the
LIREC, Mount St. Thomas, Ernakulam.
8. London, 1694;
reprinted in Vol. II of Hough, History of Christianity in India, pp.511
- 683; and a new rendering in Menachery (Ed.), The Nazranies, pp. 31 -
112.
9. Schurhammer, op.
cit. p.526, col.2 in The Nazranies.
10. Id., ibid.
11. Geddes, op.
cit., passim. Visits to Mangate (Alangad), Cheuree (Chowara), Canhur
(Kanjur), Molandurte (Mulanthuruthi), Carturte (Kaduthuruthy), Nagpili
(Nagapuzha), Diamper (Udayamperur),Paru (Parur), are quite illuminative
in this respect.
12. History of
Indian and Eastern Architecture, London, 1876. Quoted by Menachery,
George in Pallikkalakalum Mattum (Malayalam), Trichur, 1984, p.60.
13. This writer
during interviews on Radio Vatican in 1975 and 1978.
14. For these
thoughts vide G. Menachery, Pallikalile Kala, Mathrubhoomi Weekly, March
1978.
15. For details
Pallikkalakalum Mattum and also paper by Menachery, G., Social Life
and Customs of the St. Thomas Christians in the Pre-Diamper Period, Mt.
St. Thomas, June 1999. Printed in The Life and Nature of the St. Thomas
Christian Church in the Pre - Diamper Period, Ed. Bosco Puthur, Kochi,
2000, pp.188 - 203. Also the writers papers at the World Syriac
Conferences and the Societas Liturgica Congress reproduced in various
issues of the HARP, Kottayam (Ed. Dr. Jacob Thekkepparampil) and the
St. Thomas Christians Journal. Rajkot ( Ed. Mar Gregory Karotempral).
16. For hundreds of
illustrations dealing with the art and architecture of Kerala Christians
see Vol. II of the STCEI (alternately the Thomapedia) and the Nazranies.
17. India in 1500 A.
D. about Joseph the Indian by A. Vallavanthara, Trivandrum, 1984,
chapters 4 and 5.
18. His unpublished
paper Construction of Images in the Art of Early Christian Churches,
presented at Trichur and Kottayam which may be seen on the ICHR
website. Also see articles by Dr. James Menachery and P.Andrews
Athappally in the STCEI, II, Trichur, 1973.
19. From Yule Ed.
Cordier, Travels of Marco Polo , Vol. II, London, 1926 reproduced in
the STCEI, II, pp.12, col. 2 ff.
20. George
Menachery, Malayala Manorama, Sunday Supplement, April 19, 1987.
21. Unpublished
article written by Mathew Lederle (21.2.1976) for the St. Thomas
Christian Encyclopaedia of India now scheduled to be included in STCEI
Vol.III.
22. T.P. Issar, Goa
Dourada The Indo-Portuguese Bouquet, Unesco aided work, Bangalore,1997.
This interesting volume has an excellent collection of photographs
dealing exhaustively with the art and architecture of the Goan Circle
along with many insightful comments.
23. Lederle, op.
cit.
24. Issar, op. cit.,
p.35.
25. There were
constructed in Goa hundreds of churches, chapels, wayside crosses and
statues, monasteries, and convents in the 16th, 17th, and 18th
centuries. For example 25 churches in Ilhas, 25 in Salcete, 7 in
Marmugao, 27 in Bardez, and dozens in other locations including Old Goa.
Other Portuguese territories also had their own share of churches in
these centuries. Cf., f.i., An Illustrated Guide to Goa, Furtado,1922
(pp.183 ff.). Also cf. the many other guides, ecclesiastical
directories, and publications.
26. Lederle, op.
cit.
27. Lederle, op.
cit. As this pathbreaking article written in 1976 by. Fr. Lederle for
the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia could not be included in the 1982
volume by this writer and as it did not see the light of day during the
authors lifetime large portions from it are being reproduced here for
the first time.
28.Lederle, op. cit.
29.Lederle, op. cit. 30.Lederle, op. cit.
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