The restoration work of St. Raphael’s Church, built in 1859 at Ezhupunna, has begun as part of the efforts to conserve monumental buildings. The present condition of the church has been studied, and measures are being taken to ensure the upkeep of the church through the Department of Archaeology.
It had been initially decided in 1995 to demolish the church and build a new one in its place, but there was opposition to the proposal considering its prominence in the history of churches in the State. A team of archaeologists was entrusted with the task of examining the condition of the church and submitting a report, based on which the restoration works are now being carried out.
P.A. Lalan Tharakan from the Parayil Tharakan family had approached the Department of Archaeology in 2004 with a plea to bring the church under the Kerala Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1968. Some family members had also approached court on the issue, and the Kerala High Court directed the State in August 2018 to take a final call on declaring the church as an ‘ancient monument’ under the 1968 Act.
The St. Raphael’s Church at Ezhupunna.
P.H. Hormis Tharakan, a member of the Parayil family, said that after 27 years of efforts, repair work on the church had begun. The church, he said, was built by Parayil Avira Tharakan in his own property. The architectural style of the church is a blend of Portuguese and Dutch designs. The monument also has striking features of Kerala’s famed ‘Thachu Shasthram’.
He said the State government had issued a preliminary notification to declare the church a protected monument in 2010. In 2020, the government declared the church and the compound on which it was located as a protected monument.
