Hagia Sophia! The Church of Holy Wisdom!

 Hagia Sophia! What a beautiful name! It is the Church of Holy Wisdom, the Temple of God’s Holy Wisdom, to be precise, built eons back! During my first visit to Turkey in 2024, I missed the opportunity of visiting this most important place of interest in Istanbul. I told myself that day that I will come back to Istanbul, just to visit Hagia Sophia, which I did in August 2026, almost two years later. That was indeed a dream come true. But what is so great about Hagia Sophia? We will see.

Hagia Sophia (in Greek, ‘Holy Wisdom’) was a cathedral, the main church of importance in the region, for nearly 1000 years. In Latin it is Santa Sophia and in Turkish Ayasofya. It was built by Emperor Justinian in AD 537 in the then Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, otherwise known as Byzantine Empire. It served as the seat of Patriarchate of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was under Latin rule and was converted into a Roman Catholic Cathedral. It was reclaimed by Byzantine empire soon after. The Patriarch of Constantine was one of the five patriarchs of the Church before the Great Schism of 1054, when the Western Latin Roman Catholic Church got separated from the Eastern Greek orthodox Church. The other four Patriarchs were located in Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, and the bishop of Rome swallowed up every other patriarch to grow as the mighty Pope!

Earlier to it in the same site two former churches were built, one in AD 360 built by Emperor Constantius II, which was destroyed by fire in AD 404. It was rebuilt by Emperor Theodosius II in AD 415 and this was also destroyed by fire in AD 532. The Emperor Justinian I commissioned the present church in AD 532 at the same site and it was completed in AD 537. He employed famous architects of his time, the Greek mathematician Isdore of Miletus and physicist and mathematician Anthemius of Tralles, to design and to build a magnificent church and it has stood the test of time until now, for almost 1500 years. It was ranked as one of the twenty-five most beautiful buildings in the entire world.  

Hagia Sophia functioned as a Greek Orthodox Cathedral until 1453, when the Ottoman Turks conquered the Byzantine Empire and its capital, Constantinople. They erected four minarets around Hagia Sophia and converted it into a mosque, plastering over the walls and areas where Christian mosaics were found. Islamic calligraphy was placed inside. In 1935 the founding father of the modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, converted it into a museum for everyone to go and see and enjoy. The present President of Turkey, Erdogan reconverted the building into a mosque in 2020, opening only a portion of the building for tourists to visit.

                                                              Hagia Sophia  -inside 

                                                                           Hagia Sophia 

Hagia Sophia

                                                     

                                                         Hagia Sophia under renovation

Be that as it may, Hagia Sophia was and is an architectural marvel. Emperor Justinian’s famous architects produced this engineering magnificence. It has a great Dome, which is roughly 102 feet in diameter and 182 feet high from the ground to the peak. The first of its kind! It contains a ring of 40 windows around the base of the cupola or the dome, to let in light. This gives it a feeling of floating in the clouds. Such a heavy dome was made to perch atop the building without any support beneath, was a marvel of its time. There were pendentives, an architectural invention and these triangular shaped, semi-spherical corner panels transferred the weight from the circular dome to its squire base. These four corner columns of the squire structure supported the load-bearing portions of the dome’s base.  It allowed the massive circular dome to sit on a square base, these four massive pillars forming this square structure. It distributed the dome’s weight over the square and created an open vertical space, as if it opened into the sky. There are two large semi-domes on the east and the west sides of the church to support the central dome and extend the interior space. In the ancient world it was known as an architectural wonder of the world. Over the centuries, 24 buttresses were added to reinforce the structure.

The museum part of the church has a ground floor and a gallery level. The walls and floors are covered with richly colored marbles brought from across the Mediterranean. Green granite stones were brought from Greece, used up in the four columns supporting the central dome, and also over the wall panels.  A white and gray veined marble was brought from Marmara Island and was used for the main pillars, floor slabs, and basket capitals. Dark red and deep purple stones known as Porphyry and Granites were imported from Egypt, and used near the throne and inside for mosaic framing. Omphalion stones were used to form the concentric circles on the floor with multicolored marbles, where Byzantine emperors were usually crowned.  

Colored glittering glass mosaics were brought from various places of the ancient vast East Roman Empire. Byzantine mosaics were set at subtle angels so that the incoming sunlight and candle flames played on these and a shimmering aura was created that was a marvel to those who visited it. The softness and emotional depth of these mosaics are seen as precursor of Italian renaissance. Many mosaic pictures have been painted on the walls and corners of the church interior, most of which have been plastered by the Muslim conquerors, but still some seem to have escaped them and are visible to today’s keen visitors. I will try to describe some of them which I saw when I visited Hagia Sophia. 

          Section of Hagia Sophia showing the way central dome, and the two semi-circular domes

drawing of the plan of construction of Hagia Sophia 

 In the upper south gallery, we can see a 13^th century master-peace known as the Deesis Mosaic Panel, (Gk. Deesis - prayer or supplication to the central figure of Jesus), created in AD 1261, depicting Virgin Mary and John the Baptist pleading with Christ Pantocrator (Supreme and sovereign ruler, Christ), for humanity’s salvation on Judgment Day. Its background consists of millions of angled gold tiles that glitter with changing light streaming inside. This area was reserved for the emperor and his family, and court members during church services. Top half of the panel is still intact, whereas the lower half is almost gone due to neglect and decay. Jesus is seated, holding a book of gospel, his hand raised in blessing. Background is a vast shimmering gold, of thousands of tiny mosaics, tiny cubes called tesserae, made from cut stone, colored glasses, ceramic and clear glass, with gold leaf sandwiched between layers of glass. The Byzantine artists placed these individual tesserae at slight irregular angles into wet paste, so that each cube reflected light differently and the cumulative outcome is be to create a luminous, shimmering effect. That golden hue is still palpable today.

The Deesis Mosaic Panel

For face the Byzantine artists have used tiny stones the size of grain of rice. This made the face of Christ mild and beautiful, giving a life-like, soft painting-like appearance in the panel. John the Baptist has details of unkempt hair on head and beard and rough clothing, showing his desert life. It is similar to optical color-mixing technique employed much later in the 19^th century by the impressionist artists of Renaissance. Originally Deesis was uncovered in 1849 by Fossati Brothers, but it was fully uncovered and restored in 1938 by Thomas Whittmore, an American scholar in collaboration with Byzantine Institute of America, by meticulously removing the Ottoman plaster over it and bringing this masterpiece out for the world to see and admire.  

  The Empress Zoe Panel, a mosaic made in 1042 is located at the eastern wall of the south gallery. It features the central figure of Christ sitting enthroned, flanked by Empress Zoe and her third husband Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos. Christ is seated on a throne, holding an ornamented book of the gospels, with his right hand raised in a gesture of blessing. On the left flank, (the right side of Christ), emperor Monomachos is seen standing dressed in ceremonial imperial regalia, holding a bag of gold in his hand as an offering, symbolizing financial donation to Hagia Sophia. He is wearing a crown with hanging pearls. On the right flank (Christ’s left side), is Empress Zoe in elaborate jeweled attire holding a scroll that represented her endowments and donations to the church. It is stated the originally the mosaic contained the face of Zoa’s first husband, Romanis III Agyros in 1028-1034, and that she altered the face and the inscription on the mosaic to show the face of her third husband Constantine IX whom she married in 1042. 

Empress Zoe's Panel

The Comnenos Mosaic Panel, made in 1122 is located on the eastern wall of the southern gallery. It depicts Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus Christ in the centre, Mary wearing a dark blue gown and holding the Child Christ on her lap. He is seen with his right hand raised in blessing. Emperor John II Comnenos stands to Mary’s right, wearing jeweled imperial robes, and holding a money bag, representing his financial support to the church. Empress Irene stands on Mary’s left, in elaborate ceremonial garments and holding a scroll, wherein which her family’s pious benefactions are written. She is realistically rendered with braided blonde hair and pale features, highlighting her Hungarian heritage. Nearby is depicted their ailing son, Prince Alexios, pale and a picture of illness and grief. 

Comnenos Mosaic Panel

In the main Sanctuary and Altar, important panels are seen. The Apse Mosaic of made in AD 867 is located in the high semi-dome of the eastern apse, over the altar. It has the figure of Virgin Mary seated on a throne holding the infant Jesus. This is known as Theotokos (Gk. for Virgin and Child) Mosaic, the oldest surviving mosaic of the building, may be the first ever panel to be installed after the Byzantine iconoclastic period, during which all idols and images inside the churches were smashed. Mary is seated on a jeweled backless throne with a footstool. She is holding the infant Christ Child on her lap against an original 6^th century gold background. It is placed 16 feet high above the main altar, above and between the windows so that the natural light bathes the picture in shimmering golden glow.

                                                    Theotokos Mosaic Panel 

Some panels are placed directly above the grand doorways used by the emperors to enter the sacred space. The Southwest Vestibule Mosaic was made in 10^th century, may be around AD 944, placed over the exit door, showing Virgin Mary and Child receiving symbolic gifts from the Emperor Constantine on the right presenting a model of the walled city of Constantinople founded in AD 330, and on the left Justinian I offering a domed architectural model of Hagia Sophia itself that he built in AD 537. Virgin Mary (Theotokos) is seated on a backless throne with a jeweled footstool, holding the Child Christ on her lap as he gives blessings. Emperor Constantine the Great and emperor Justinian are dressed in imperial attire

 Emperors Constantine and Justinian with Theotokos

The Imperial Door Mosaic, a Byzantine artwork made in 9^th century, is located in the inner narthex (enclosed hall or vestibule at its entrance to the church) directly above the central doorway leading from the narthex into the main nave (the central principal part of the church, where the congregation is seated). It is positioned above the imperial main gate, reserved exclusively for the entrance of the Byzantine emperor. Christ Pantocrator is seated on a jeweled throne with his right hand raised in blessing and holding an open book in his left.  The open gospel displays the words, “Peace be with you. I am the light of the world.” It shows Emperor Leo VI the wise (886-912), kneeling in prostration in deep humility and submission at the feet of Christ. Virgin Mary on his right and Archangel Gabriel on his left of Christ are shown in circular medallion of portrait busts.

Emperor Leo VI at Christ's feet

Emperor Alexander Mosaic was created around AD 913 AD depicting the Byzantine Emperor Alexander (870-913). It is almost hidden in the upper eastern corner of the north gallery. The emperor is seen wearing the jeweled scarf, an ornate crown and red boots with pearls, holding an orb and a purple silk roll in his hands. 

                                               Emperor Alexander's Mosaic

   

There are also figures of four six-winged Seraphim, positioned in the four triangular pendentives supporting the central dome, painted on the triangular areas between the arches, the pendentives. These might have been created in 1347. The two figures in the eastern pendentives are authentic, whereas the two western figures are heavily damaged and reconstructed later as frescos. They symbolically guard the heavenly throne God and the Church of Holy Wisdom of God.

                                       one of the four winged Seraphim

These are some of the most important mosaic panels visible today. During my visit, renovations were going on in Hagia Sophia and I hope that at the end of the renovation, more mosaics of Byzantine art will be made visible by removing the plastering which covers it all now.

St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy, Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki of 8^th century and many other Basilica were built on the model of Hagia Sophia. It became the foundational blue print for two of the most important mosques in Istanbul, the Suleymaniye Mosque, built on the grave of Suleyman the Magnificent, and the Blue Mosque, built a hundred years later to be a rival to Hagia Sophia, situated just across Hagia Sophia. St Peter’s Basilica was built in 16^th century in Rome and Church of Christ the Pantocrator in Greece was built in 19^th century, both based on the model of Hagia Sophia of the then Constantinople.

What a wonderful journey it had been, to watch the interior of the Church and to witness even the fading Byzantine art of mosaic panels that have escaped destruction at the hands of Muslims. Surprisingly the mosaics of Virgin Mary and Child have survived, may be because, Muslims revere Mary as Miriam, the mother of Jesus, whom they consider as one of the prophets.

My long desire fulfilled, I walked out of the magnificent building, with satisfaction in my heart. Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ for enabling me to visit this grand and most superlative Cathedral of Hagia Sophia. 

 

St. Thomas in Mylapore

 

St. Thomas in Mylapore

How did St. Thomas, a direct disciple and Apostle of Jesus Christ, end up in Mylapore, in today’s Chennai in Tamil Nadu, South India? We have seen that St. Thomas came to India, first to the northern kingdom of an Indo-Parthian ruler, Gundaphorus and on his death, he came in AD 52 to the Malabar region of today’s Kerala in India. He evangelized that area and was instrumental in establishing seven churches in Malabar region, Kerala, and one church in today’s Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu. Today’s existence of Thomas Christians is the most visible evidence of this sojourn of Thomas, as the first direct disciple of Christ to bring Christian faith in India so early in history.

St. Thomas moved from the Chera country in south India (Kerala) to the Pandya realm in south India (Tamil Nadu), and continued his ministry. In this present blog we will see how he came to the opposite coast, Coromandel coast and about his life there. Tradition has it that he came to the Coromandel coast around AD 62. He lived in Mylapore area in a place called Little Mount and continued his ministry. He suffered martyrdom in AD 72 by zealous Brahmins of the area, who resented him converting Brahmins to Christian faith, and speared him in the Little Mount area. He straggled to Parangi Malai or St. Thomas Mount with his bleeding wound and died there. He was buried in St. Thomas Mount, and later removed to Santhome church near the beach in Mylapore. In AD 163 a Christian merchant from Edessa (in upper Mesopotamia, today’s Iraq), arrived at the port of Madras, on the eastern coast of Indian subcontinent, and visited the saint’s grave at Mylapore and participated in the Eucharist, observed on 21 December as the day of Thomas’s martyrdom. He returned again two years later in AD 165, stole the body of the saint in the dead of the night and took it away to Edessa. Some of the bones were left as relics in Mylapore. Today the place where the body of St. Thomas is supposed to be in the Basilica of Santhome church, there is nothing but a bone or two.

Little Mount Shrine

St. Thomas lived in a natural cave located beneath the 16^th century church at the Little Mount Shrine in Saidapet, Chennai. He is said to have lived and preached from this place. The Portuguese built a small chapel over the cave in 1551 which is still preserved inside the Little Mount Shrine complex. The natural cave measures about 14 feet wide, 15-16 feet long, and reaches 7 feet at its highest point. There is an ancient stone cross carved directly into the surface of the rock, near the entrance. There are indentations believed to be the marks of hand and feet of St. Thomas inside the cave. A narrow escape window in the wall is said to be the escape way for the saint to slip away in times of attacks. Near the cross on the rock, there is also a freshwater spring on the hillock, which is said to have sprung when the Saint struck the rock with his staff to bring water to quench the thirst of the people who came to hear him. It is called St. Thomas Fountain. This water is said to have healing properties.

Just outside and above the cave, there is a small stone sculpture on the wall. The Apostle is seen in it as a haloed, bearded figure, holding the Bible and a carpenter’s scale in one hand and the right hand, raised as if to bless people. According to the second century apocryphal text, Acts of Thomas, originally composed in Syriac literature in Edessa (upper Mesopotamia), St Thomas came to India as a carpenter. Below the sculpture is some inscription in Portuguese, which is translated as: “Antonio Concalvez De Taide made this bulwark of St. at his own cost in 1612,” St. being St. Thomas. East India Company records show that this sculpture was erected on the Fort of Santhome, in Mylapore, which was under Portuguese’ possession then, who had fortified the town to protect the traditions of St. Thomas. But, in early seventeenth century, Mylapore was raided by Hyder Ali of Mysore and much of the heritage was damaged. In 1697, the British who was in power then, demolished the remnants of the fort, and established themselves in St. George Fort. Sometimes during these events, the sculpture was removed to the Little Mount.  

Pillar of Faith, a tall column with a cross on the top has been constructed in 2019 to commemorate the Archdiocesan Year of the Eucharist in 2018-2019. The pillar is chiseled from three huge stones from the same rock, to symbolize the Holy Trinity. At its foot we see the Sacred heart of Jesus, Apostle St. Thomas, a grapevine, a dove, and a lamb denoting the risen Lord. An area known as the Holy Land immediately behind the church building has been developed as a mini-amphitheatre with a raised stage, with a Jesus Tower at one end. It has the capacity to seat 2000 people and is used even today for retreats, worship consorts and so on. Around this area, we see statues of many stations of the passion of Christ, which become very meaningful during Lenten season, as devoted followers of Christ follow each station and pray. The twelfth station is housed inside the chapel of the Holy Cross, with a beautiful depiction of Christ on the cross. A huge crown of thorn adorns the entrance to this chapel.

An Armenian tombstone erected in AD 1663 for one Coja David has been found on this Little Mount. It is believed that he constructed the stone steps leading to the Little Mount church at his cost, as a measure of his devotion to the shrine of St. Thomas.

                                          The Church at Little Mount

                                            The Altar and inside of the Church

St. Thomas preaching 

                             The cave in Little Mount where St. Thomas stayed

                                              Way to  the Cave of St. Thomas

                           The altar and the cross engraved on the rock in the cave

                   Entrance to the Little Mount with the figure of St. Thomas 

                                             Passion of Christ depicted 

                                   A crown of thorn at the entrance of the chapel

                                                 Inside of the Calvary chapel

St. Thomas Mount

St. Thomas Mount is 11 kms south of Madras (today’s Chennai), and there is an ancient church on the top of this mount. According to tradition a cross was chiseled on a stone by Thomas himself, before which the saint used to pray for long hours when he was alive. Tradition has it that he was praying before the cross, when he was speared from behind by an overzealous Brahmin. A stone cross, possibly a seventh century stone cross, believed to be this cross was found when Portuguese dug the foundations for the extension of the church in 1547. This stone is supposed to have sweated blood during the Holy Mass in 1558, and 1561, and thereafter every year for some time and then at longer intervals. The last time it sweated blood was in 1704. Eye-witness accounts of such sweating blood have been recorded in 1711 by Father Guy Tachara. In the seventeenth century a small chapel called the “Chapel of Resurrection,” was built using this cross as the altar. Many miracles of healing are said to have taken in the vicinity by a mere touch of the stone and it is a place of faith, pilgrimage and devotion, both by believers and non-believers. In 1908, after much disputation, the inscription around the stone cross was deciphered as “Through the Cross, the Messiah brought salvation to the world.”

St. Thomas Mount is a small hillock in Chennai, and is also known as Parangi Malai. It lies close to the Chennai airport and Guindy. Even today from this vantage point we can see the flights landing or taking off from the airport nearby. It is just 300 feet elevation. According to the Christian tradition, St. Thomas was martyred here in AD 72, or he straggled up to this mount for refuge after being fatally wounded by a spear in the Little Mount (located in Saidapet/Guindy on the banks of Adayar river) which is 4.7 km from this Parangi Malai. And he died in St. Thomas Mount.

A larger church was built by the Portuguese in 1547 over the place where St. Thomas died and was dedicated to Our Lady of Expectation. The church is believed to have served as a lighthouse for Portuguese and Armenian ships in the 16^th century. The sailors on sighting the church are said to have prayed for a safe voyage or thank for safe journey they had had. In 1830, St. Thomas Garrison Church was built to serve British soldiers stationed in the area since 1774. There are 134 steps to the top of the mount and 14 stations of the cross are situated along this path. These steps leading to up to the top of the hill were built by an Armenian merchant by name Coja Petrus Uscan, with a four-arch gateway in the northern base. The ornate arch was built in 1726, as per the inscription on it. A fully asphalted road was laid down up to the top of the hill in 1962 with an imposing welcome arch. Pope Paul II visited the shrine in 1986, and it was declared a minor Basilica in July 2025.

There stands a Calvary Shrine, built in 1963, atop the mountain, placed in the main courtyard outside the entrance of the St. Thomas Mount National Shrine Basilica, with a central figure of Christ nailed to the cross, and three figures, Mother Mary, Saint John the Apostle, and Mary Magdelene standing at the foot of the cross as written in the Gospels, as witness to the scene in Calvary.    

Millions of people from all faiths visit the hill to pay their respects to St. Thomas and to pray. Many healings and miracles are said to have occurred to people of faith. When I visited the Mount and the shrines along with my brother and sister-in-law, on 3^rd July 2026, the day was being observed as the Remembrance Day of the St. Thomas and all the three places we visited, the Little Mount, St. Thomas Mount and Santhome Basilica were decorated and people made a beeline to the cave in Santhome basilica to attend the service held there, then on to the mounts in the evenings to attend services being held there in the churches. The devotion of the people was palpable. 

Sepulchre of St. Thomas at St. Thomas Mount

 

              Thomas as a carpenter shown as carving a stone cross at St. Thomas Mount

                                          Chapel of Our Lady of Expectation in St. Thomas Mount

                                                    Calvary Shrine in St. Thomas Mount

                                           A flight landing in the nearby Chennai airport

Santhome Cathedral Basilica

This church was built in 1523 AD by Portuguese explorers over the tomb of Saint Thomas, the Apostle. This is only one of the three churches in the entire world built over the tomb of apostles of Christ, along with St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City (St. Peter was martyred in Rome during the reign of Emperor Nero in AD 64) and St. James’ Santiago de Compostela in Spain (St. James was martyred in Jerusalem in 44 AD and his remains were brought by sea to Spain and buried there). Portuguese missionaries and explorers arrived in Coromandal coast in 1517 to search for the tomb of St. Thomas. On finding a mud shrine in neglected condition, they got the approval of their king John III of Portugal and excavated the burial site and built a new church directly over the original tomb in 1523 in Santhome church. That is when the importance of the tomb commenced and the world got to know about St. Thomas and his martyrdom in South India.

Historically it is recorded that King Alfred the Great (883 AD) sent his royal envoys to travel to south India with offerings for the tomb of St. Thomas. John of Montecorvino (1291) an Italian Franciscan missionary also visited this shrine and prayed at the site of the tomb. Marco Polo visited Mylapore in 1292 and has recorded information about the tomb and that both Christians and Muslims revered the tomb, where the body of the saint was supposed to have interned, as a pilgrim on his return voyage from China. Some Franciscan friars travelled to Mylapore and visited the shrine in 14^th century. Nicolo Conti, the famous Venetian merchant and explorer journeyed to the tomb between 1435 and 1430 and left notes on the same. St. Francis Xavier had visited the shrine in 1545 and stayed for a year or so in the nearby area. Santhome church was renovated in 1896 by the British in the new-Gothic style. The church was made a cathedral in 1906 by Pope Paul V. Pope Paul II visited the church in 1986. Relics of some bones of Thomas the Apostle, the spear head that was used to kill him, are kept in the lower level of the Basilica, in the tomb of St. Thomas in this church today. 

        In front of the Santhome Basilica, with my brother Suri, and sister-in-law Nirmala

                                                      Inside the church - the altar

                        The underground tomb of St. Thomas in the Santhome Basilica

We the Protestants avoid even visiting these places, as we think it is all steeped in superstition encouraged by the Catholic church. But I do find Catholics much more pious and devoted as compared to the intellectual attitude of the Protestants. In the end, we all worship the same Christ, who died for us on the cross, to bring salvation to anyone who would believe in him. As far as the core message of Christ’s birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension are believed, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, I would consider the other fringe differences in the beliefs as not very important. Disciples like St. Thomas stand witness to faith in Christ, by coming all the way to India, as early as AD 52, to spread the truth about salvation in Christ and save people from their sins. The churches, not only in Malabar region of Kerala, but these in the Mylapore area of Chennai, stand as tall witnesses to the devotion and life of Jesus’ disciples, who carried the good news (gospel) to far reaching countries, including India.

Aren’t we in India privileged to have a direct disciple of Jesus Christ visit us so early in history and bring us the message of Christian faith? As Christian churches and organizations face direct and indirect assaults today, when even preaching the good news could invite the wrath of the authorities, maybe we could take encouragement and strength from St. Thomas’s life, for it was no different then.  Jesus had said in John 5:20, “Remember the words that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater that his master.’ If they persecute Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” Persecution is no stranger to Christian life. We will keep praying for strength and the ability to bear it all in the name of Jesus. Let us say along with Thomas, “My Lord, my God,” and be ready to face anything that confronts us, with prayer and supplications to our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. In His strength, let us march forward, for His glory.       

Tranquebar Mission

                             The New Jerusalem church as it stood in Ziegenbalg's time.

     Inside of the New Jerusalem church showing the altar and the burial place of Ziegenbalg

                        The plaque over the body of Ziegenbalg buried inside the New Jerusalem Church

                             The New Jerusalem Church in Tranquebar built by Ziegenbalg

                                                              A bust of Ziegenbalg

The 300th centenary commemoration statue of Ziegenbalg and inscription about his life and Tranquebar Mission

Tranquebar Mission

Tranquebar Mission? What is that? Never heard of it! Yes, not many would have heard of it. It is actually Tarangambadi, a small place near today’s Karaikal, a coastal city in the Union Territory of Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) on the Coromandel coast. On this coast landed two German missionaries, Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Pluetschau, in AD 1706, some 300 years back, to spread the good news of the gospel of Christ, the first ever Protestant Mission in India. As they were not able to, as usual, pronounce a difficult Indian name, they simply called it Tranquebar, which their tongue could manage! I have studied about this mission in my pre-PhD studies at SAIACS and recently my sister-in-law Nirmala had visited the place with her church members as a group. This kindled my interest. After my sojourn to Malabar coast of Kerala, to study the seven churches planted by the direct disciple of Jesus Christ, who had come there in AD 52, I wanted to go and visit Tranquebar and study the history and renown of that place. So, I hopped onto a plane from Bangalore to Tiruchirappalli (Thiruchi for short), and got onto a cab and drove straight to Tranquebar aka Tarangambadi.    

How this mission happened to be established here is an interesting story. It happened like this. In 18^th century European powers were vying with each other to establish ports of trade around Indian coastal area. Though the Portuguese were the first to come to India, and had a roaring trade in pepper in and around Kerala coast, with Goa as their fortress and port, their power soon waned and other European powers like the British, Dutch, French and Danes competed for the space. Portuguese and French were Catholic powers and the others, the British, Dutch and the Danes were Protestant Christians. Though all these powers brought their own chaplains for the benefit of their own staff and families, they never really thought about spreading Christianity in India. They were too preoccupied with their own internal squabbling and competitions in trade.

Strangely, the first person who conceived the idea of sending missionaries to India was King Frederick IV of Denmark (1671-1730). He was a Lutheran (after Martin Luther of Reformation fame). He directed his chaplain to find some suitable candidates for the purpose of sending missionaries to India, and as there were none in Denmark, they turned to Germany, where a revival movement called Pietism had started (Individual piety and commitment to Christ were stressed in this movement) and was on. Professor A.H. Francke was one of the leaders of the Pietist movement and was working in the University of Halle in Germany. Two students, studying under him, volunteered to go and they were taken to Denmark, ordained as Lutheran pastors in Copenhagen, Denmark, against much protest by the local Lutheran ministers and sent as ‘royal missionaries,’ at the personal expense of the King to India. Thus arrived Ziegenbalg and Pluetschau at Tarangambadi on 9^th July 1706 and the Tranquebar mission started. The first Protestant mission to start in India was a result of a combination of German Pietist Lutherans sponsored by a King of Denmark, also a Lutheran!

Not that things went on smoothly as they arrived on Indian shores to the settlement Of Danish East India Company. Danes had just two settlements in India, both famous today, one in Tranquebar (1620) and the other in Serampore (1676) in Bengal area near Calcutta. As the authorities at the Danish Fort had not been properly informed, no welcome awaited them. After three days in the ship, they were given permission to land and they presented their credential to the Danish Commandant, who was not happy at all to receive them, but grudgingly gave them permission to settle in their area. The official party took them to the market place and deserted them there. They were left standing there with their bags and hats and all. A junior officer took pity on them and took them to his wife’s parent’s place, who in a few days’ time found them a house in the Portuguese (Eurasian) quarters. And they settled down.

Both the missionaries started sincerely to study the then local official language Portuguese and the language of the people Tamil. As Ziegenbalg progressed rapidly in learning Tamil, Pluetschau was assigned to cater to the Portuguese speaking Europeans and Ziegenbalg was to concentrate on Tamil speaking local population. They started an orphanage for orphan children and their first converts were mostly domestic servants of the Europeans. A Portuguese and a Tamil school were started. Ziegenbalg learnt Tamil quickly and as a European speaking Tamil, he attracted quite a crowd around him. He started to preach to the local Hindus in Tamil, discussed Christ and Christianity with them and also talked with them about their own religion, Hinduism. A little congregation gathered and by August 1707 a small mission church was built outside the fort. Five local people who were being taught catechism for a year were baptized in September of that year.  

Ziegenbalg had the gift of learning the languages, and was very methodical in his learnings. He used to sit on ground in the local school, with the other children and practice writing Tamil alphabets in the sand as they did. He had a punishing schedule for learning Tamil. Morning 7 to 8 am, he will memorize previously learnt vocabulary; 8 am to 12 noon, with the help of a local teacher he would learn Tamil literature; 3 to 5 pm he will read a broad variety of Tamil books on his own to comprehend Tamil grammar, prose and literature; 5 to 7 pm he would attend to administrative duties and interact with the public; and 7 to 8 pm, to rest his eyes, he would make an assistant to read classical Tamil literature to him aloud. No wonder he picked up Tamil within six months and started to write books in Tamil soon thereafter.        

Ziegenbalg translated the New Testament into Tamil in 1711 and it was printed and published in 1715, in Tranquebar’s printing press that he had established in 1712, the first ever translation of Christian scripture into an Indian language. The printing press was a gift from SPCK sent in 1711 but with Latin letters. In 1713 Halle sent a Tamil printing press. Alongside he started the first paper-mill in 1715 in the nearby Porayar. At the time of his death, he had translated into Tamil, Old Testament books up to Ruth. He also brought out a printed Tamil calendar and produced the first Tamil dictionary and Tamil Grammar Book. He wrote in Tamil the Genealogy of South Indian gods.

The Commandant of the Danish Fort was quite antagonistic to Ziegenbalg and got him arrested and put him in solitary confinement in a prison inside the fort for four months in 1708 on some flimsy grounds. The commandant was later transferred by the King. Interest in the Mission spread across Europe due to the published letters of Ziegenbalg. He was the first to start schools for boys and girls in India, introduced a tailoring unit to improve employment opportunities for girls. Three more missionaries arrived at Tranquebar in 1709. They brought large sum of money with them and with it, Ziegenbalg purchased land outside the fort to develop the Mission. A large house was built to accommodate all the missionaries, three schools (Tamil, Portuguese and Danish), the printing press and so on. Mission seemed to flourish. He visited Nagapatam (Nagapattinam) outside the jurisdiction of Danish company and established other centers.

Ziegenbalg went to Denmark in 1714 to appraise the King and others of the progress of his work and toured Germany, during which time he married Dorathea (in 1715). They reached Tranquebar in 1716. With the money made available in these tours, he built the first Protestant church “New Jerusalem Church” for the local people in 1716 at Tranquebar, along with a training school for the teachers and catechists. The church is still standing today. But trouble was brewing as the Director of the mission in Copenhagen interfered with the method of Ziegenbalg’s work. The Director wanted the missionaries to only concentrate on the spiritual needs of the local population and not buy property and build churches. And grants were stopped. Deeply distressed, a depressed Ziegenbalg died on 23.2.1719, at the early age of thirty-six. His death had a sobering effect in Denmark. The king removed the Director from his office. But it was too late and the damage was done. Ziegenbalg’s mortal remains were laid in front of the altar inside the New Jerusalem church, Tranquebar, which he had built, and it can be seen even today.    

Ziegenbalg and his wife Dorathie had three sons, two of whom died young. The surviving son later worked as a Professor of Mathematics in in Copenhagen and was director in a Dutch factory. After her husband’s death, Dorathie married a Danish Councillor of Danish East India Company in 1720. She returned to Copenhagen in 1721 with her family, but she passed away shortly after in 1722.

But the Mission itself carried on with its activities. Many more missionaries came from Halle. Protestant missions were started in the other European stations in South India, Madras (today’s Chennai), Cuddalore, Negapatam (Nagapattinam) and Trichinopoly (Trichirapally). First Indian pastor, Aaron was ordained in 1733, and he ministered until his death in 1745. Many more followed, and fourteen Indian ministers were ordained by 1741, by the Tranquebar Mission, in and around Tanjore (Tanjavur), Tirupalatur, and Kumbakonam. An important missionary who came later in 1750 was Schwartz, who became a close confidant of the Raja of Tanjore (Thanjavur), and was instrumental in spreading Christianity in Palamcottah (Pallayamkottai) in Tinnevelly (Thirunalveli) and it went further beyond. German Pietism reached all over the South India in all the European territories, and touched the local people and brought the light of Christ to all these areas. It set a pattern for all later Protestant missions. Even William Carey, the famous missionary of Serampore, who came in 1792, almost a century after Ziegenbalg, and who translated the Bible into many Indian languages, had learnt a lesson or two from the Lutheran missionaries of his time like Schwartz and Gericke of Tranquebar and their methods.   

Presently Tranquebar is run by Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC), founded in 1919 and its bishops are still ordained as Bishops of Tranquebar. Presently TELC functions from Tiruchi as its headquarters and runs some 182 aided schools, orphanages and old age homes, one art and science college and five hospitals in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka and Kerala. The 300^th anniversary of the arrival of Danish Halle mission headed by Ziegenbalg (Tranquebar Mission) was celebrated in a befitting manner in 2006 and a beautiful Memorial has been erected with his statue and detailed inscriptions at Tarangambadi. His house has been converted into a museum. No wonder Ziegenbalg is celebrated as the “Father of Modern Protestant Mission.”

It was my privilege to visit this small, but historically very important place and learn about the history of the first Protestant mission in South India. I returned loaded with gratitude to the way the Holy Spirit had utilized the services of the two young devoted Pietist Lutheran missionaries in this place some 320 years back to spread the love and concern of Christ. The Holy Spirit that guided the formation of the first church in the first century AD, which was active some 320 years back in Tranquebar, we can be sure, is still active in many parts of the world. Praise be to Him.

 

    

  

God's Smuggler behind the Iron Curtain

 

God’s Smuggler Behind the Iron Curtain

God’s smuggler? What an oxymoron! How could anyone be God’s smuggler, as if God condones such an activity? The God who has prescribed Ten Commandments and other moral codes, would he involve a person in smuggling? Still, that is what Brother Andrew writes in his quintessential book “God’s Smuggler.” What was he smuggling on behalf of God? He was smuggling Bibles, lots of them, through the iron curtain, which separated the communist countries from the rest of the world. Wasn’t it a risky business? Of course, yes, he could have lost his life many times over in this business. How did he develop this passion? How did he manage to do it? Let’s see more about that.

Brother Andrew started as many European children do, as a church-going and Sunday Class attending child. He was born in Holland in 1928, one of six children of his parents, and lived in a village called Witte, along the land reclaimed from the sea and the dyke. As his family attended the church dutifully every Sunday, he would find himself a seat close to the church door and slip away to roam around and return just in time when the congregation started to go out after the service. There he stood near the pastor, at the door, as he wished every one good bye, and no one knew that he had been away during the service. Of course, his simple-hearted and trusting family, never suspected it.

In 1940 Germans landed in Holland and started occupation of their area. Rotterdam was bombed and the next day Holland surrendered. Andrew in his wandering over his small village, made friends with all sorts of people. One was an old couple, Mrs. and Mr. Whetstra. He would get a cookie or two from their kitchen. He managed to get a cherry bomb and succeeded in exploding it and run away as fast as he could. Government has called for a general mobilization for the army. Squads of soldiers were entering houses to search for able-bodied men to be conscripted. Young boys of his age and older men raced for the swaps to hide from this forced military service. There was no electricity for the Dutch for it was reserved for the Germans. They used oil lamps making oil form cotton seeds themselves. They lived on rations for two and dug up tulip bulbs to eat to survive. One of his brothers died earlier to that and his mother was on sick bed. In the spring of 1945 occupation ended and the Germans left, and Canadians arrived. People stood in the streets weeping for joy, for the war was over.

When he turned eighteen, Andrew joined the Dutch army in search for adventure, and was sent to East Indies. In Gorkum where he was undergoing training, every Sunday he went to the local church, because families invited soldiers home for lunch, for they were toiling to serve their country, far away from homes at the young age of eighteen and nineteen. Before he left for Indonesia, in his invitation-hunting mission, he had seventy names, who had promised to write to him, while he was overseas. Quite an enterprising chap! When he finally left home, his mother gave him her Bible and asked him to read it, and not being able to say no to his mother he took it and off he went to Indonesia.

During his hand combat training in Indonesia, he realized that he was being trained to kill human beings. On the battle ground he soon became hardened. They had killed not just soldiers, but ordinary working men and women and children. He says, they fought like madmen and then they drank and drank till their reason left them. He was in touch with some of the families in Gorkum, especially to girl Thile, to whom he poured out his heart. His sense of guilt grew like a chain around him, but he could not understand how anyone can forgive him, as Thile suggested. He acquired a monkey as a pet and together they ran for ten to fifteen miles every day. His mother died in the meanwhile. Then in action in 1949, he was hit in his ankle, and was crippled for life. He could never run as he once used to. He was just twenty years old. As he was recuperating in the military hospital, he started to read the Bible which his mother had given him. He was also impressed by the loving Franciscan sisters, who attending to the injured solders and others without a complaint.

Starting with Genesis Andrew read his Bible feverishly. Noting down the questions he had, he wrote them to Thile, who labored to consult, research and reply to him. Still, he was angry, angry at God, for him leaving in this crippled condition. One of the Franciscan nurses advised him to let go the grudge that was keeping him from freedom and happiness. He returned home soon after. He was twenty-one. Two of his siblings had got married; he visited his mother’s grave; and started to use the bicycle, training himself to use his damaged leg. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his life. He met his old friends.

Kees, a friend was absorbed in studying theology, for he was eager to go into ministry. On the invitation of a girl at the rehabilitation hospital, he attended a tent meeting. There were prayers for souls. It was all very funny for Andrew and his friends. They laughed it foo. But suddenly he started to read his Bible again. A week later he started to go to church in his village. Sunday mornings, then every week day evenings and nights he kept going, pedaling his cycle with difficulty. Then he started to attend churches in the neighboring towns. He took careful notes of what the preacher said, and spent the day, searching for these passages in the Bible. His family wondered what had happened to him; he also didn’t know. He spent his time with his friend Kees, his old friends Whetstras, his old schoolteacher, and Thile. One night while a storm was raging outside, he let go of his ego, and turned himself over to God, “lock, stock, and adventure.” He just said, “Lord, if You will show me the way, I will follow you, Amen.” He felt free and happy.

Along with his friend Kees, he attended a meeting of a Dutch evangelist, who enlisted both of them for an adventurous first assignment of arranging an open-air meeting in their own town Witte and start preaching the gospel. When they convened the meeting, everyone in Witte turned out, may be just out of curiosity. While narrating his religious decision, Andrew announced that he would become a missionary. His girl, Thile, was not happy, and stopped being friends with him. He went to the work in a chocolate factory, and met a girl, a sweet and religious one, who had invited him and his friends from the rehab hospital to a meeting in a tent. After knocking at many doors for evangelic training, Kees and Andrew landed in Worldwide Evangelization Crusade (WEC), in their training school in Glasgow, Scotland. They train them for two years and then send them out into the world.

With this started a life of faith, depending for the next meal, or the next penny on the Lord fully. He didn’t want to be missionaries who hinted their wants and, not really depended on the Lord. As he prayed about it for days on end, he was still holding on to his lame leg as an excuse to join as a missionary. But he suddenly remembered the ten lepers who came to Jesus and were healed as they went. He jumped up and said “Yes” to the Lord, lame or not, and that day he was healed and was able to walk without a support. He just had thirty pounds in his pockets, after selling his new cycle, his books and tit-bits, the admission fee for the first semester. He joined the school in 1953, after some initial hiccups, and soon was to learn how hard it was to live on faith.

The school grounded the students in faith from the very start. They had to trust God to do what He said He would do. He witnessed how God met the practical needs of the students, organizers and families connected with WEC. In his own life he started to experience it. He lived frugally and did every mean and manual work himself. The students had to cook, clean and do everything themselves. They also learned some practical skill and Andrew learnt at the Ford factory in London, how to take a car apart and put it back together. Then came training trips in evangelism, an exercise in trust. They were not allowed to beg or throw a hint or borrow any money to conduct these meetings. They had to depend on the Lord to provide. It was His mission anyway. Money came in as they prayed, from parents, from long forgotten friends, and some even said, “God wouldn’t let me sleep until I put this money in an envelope for you.” They learnt that God did supply even if it was bit by bit, and never too much, but just enough for their wants. The students were taught to pay tithes of whatever money the Lord thus provided. 

He had to look to God to supply the next thirty pounds to pay for the second semester. He had no other job, no income and no money. He had to know for sure that God will provide him his practical needs. So, he prayed. In time a cheque came from Whetsras for exactly the right amount. Such gifts came as and when necessary and he was able to pay all the semester fees. He experienced God’s faithfulness continually. He also learnt the difference between a Want and a Need, want being basic necessities, and need being luxuries. God provided for necessities, but not for luxuries. So much for the prosperity gospel preachers!

After completing his two years training at WEC, Andrew went to attend a three weeks youth festival in Warsaw in 1955, and on the side, he visited a few churches there, and discovered that the real biblical churches had no Bibles! They were behind the Iron Curtain of Russian Communist rule. Bible smuggling was a highly remunerative business in these countries, especially in Russia, for people bought them for high prices, as Bibles were rare commodities. Suddenly a decision was formed in Andrew’s mind that he must smuggle Bibles into these communist countries and give them to the churches free of cost. He also realized that his life work was behind the Iron Curtain to strengthen the remnant church that was struggling to survive, to keep the flame burding. That was his calling.

Then started the saga of carrying in his car, presented to him by an old friend, Bibles in the local languages of the East European countries, Poland, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, East Germany, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania, and Russia, smuggling these into these countries. How at each border security-check, God would listen to his prayers and make the guards go blind and not see the stoved away Bibles, and the way these Bibles were then distributed to the pastors and worshippers behind the iron curtain, and how in tears they received the precious Bibles and how happy they were to know that they were not alone in their struggle, but some foreigner cared enough for them to risk his life and come to them bringing the Bibles, and how grateful they were, that these Bibles were donated by the countries in the West like Holland and even the Bible Society in England, all these will fill much more pages. There were severe persecutions too. I am not even attempting to do that. My main purpose of writing this account is to show how Br. Andrew came to accept Christ, a very unlikely candidate, the training at WEC and how he developed the faith that could move mountains with his prayers. A lesson to many of us, who struggle to have such a solid faith.

Brother Andrew worked in this field for many years, risking his life every year, and slowly others, another twelve, joined him and the mission field also widened to include Red China and Arab and Egyptian Islamic countries. With all these, Br. Andrew married Corry, the girl who invited the soldiers recuperating in the military hospital for a tent meeting and later worked in the Chocolate factory, as indicated by the Spirit. They had five children and eleven grandchildren. Corry had died in 2018. Br Andrew died in 2022, at the ripe old age of 94. Praise God for his life and ministry.

Today Russia is open, after the fall of Soviet Republic of Russia in 1991. Still there are other countries where Bible is prohibited, evangelism is a punished and Christians are persecuted. Let’s pray that God of Br. Andrew will raise many others for such an adventurous life in His Service. Amen.