“Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in”.
Thus say Isaiah 58.12 in the Bible. Yet, in the present world we witness many historic churches crumbling to dust to give way for modern ones. One among the “twin churches”, which is dedicated to Mary, erected in 1864, located at Ramapuram, a quaint little town in Pala, Kottayam, is a striking example of this phenomenon. A group of people are seeking permission from the Supreme Court to demolish the twin churches to provide a better view of the new colossal church that is getting constructed just behind them.
Based on available historical records, the presence of a Christian community at Ramapuram dates back to the last decades of the 12th century. The twin churches consists of two architectural gems. The smaller, and the older one is known as St. Augustine’s Church. It dates back to 1450. This church is a place of pilgrimage because the mortal remains of the Blessed Thevarkattil Kunjachan remains interred here. This church has been twice rebuilt, the latter in the Portuguese architectural language in the year 1599. The altar of this church epitomises the Indian architectural style and the murals prior to the advent of the Portuguese.
When the number of believers grew the elders of the time conceived the idea of a bigger church without demolishing the small church, which gave birth to the laying of the foundation stone of the second church in July 1865. Later a presbytery was built to the east of the bigger church. The twin church complex is quite famous and has today become a popular pilgrim centre for Catholics.
Ramapuram church
This second church is the one that is now facing a risk over its existence. Both the churches display salient architectural features representing the early colonial period with their façades presenting physical characteristics and elements that are reminiscence of the bygone Portuguese era.
Since the place has become a popular pilgrim centre, a third church, large in structure, was constructed. A section of the administrators and the parishioners are of the opinion that the second church needs to be pulled down so that the façade of the new church is visible. But is destruction the only alternative? Can’t we learn the good lessons taught by many churches that underwent transformation in European countries from where the strong architectural vocabulary of churches in Kerala got infiltrated?
Ramapuram church
Situated on the left of Mondego’s river bank, next to park Portugal dos Pequeninos in Coimbra, Portugal, the S. Francisco Convent built in the 17th century has witnessed several changes in its history. It was converted as a textile factory in 1888 and deactivated in the 1980’s. In 1995, the convent was purchased by Coimbra City Council and converted into a cultural centre. The St. Francisco convent and its campus consists of three physical components such as an old church, cloisters and a new auditorium with 1,225 places, along with several multi-purpose rooms. This centre hosts all sorts of activities from music to contemporary circus, theatre to conferences.
Another noteworthy preservation through adaptive reuse is a 15th century Dominican church into a modern-day bookstore in the Dutch city of Zwolle. A 700-square-metre shopping area on three added floors, which can be removed in the future without damaging the existing building, was introduced to convert this church and put it to use. Many such good examples of adaptive reuse of churches are found in other parts of the world.
In 1961, urban activist Jane Jacobs in his book titled The Death and Life of Great American Cities , discusses the economic advantages that certain types of businesses have when located in older buildings. He spells out that while new buildings make sense for major shopping malls and chain stores, other businesses such as museums, bookstores, ethnic restaurants and antique stores thrive in old buildings.
St. Mary’s Church at Ramapuram
By pooling in the creativity and technical know-how of a conservation architect, the old church of Ramapuram, with all its embodied energy and heritage value, can be very sensitively converted to function as a museum of international standards to showcase the history of Christianity in Kerala, the rising of the twin churches at Ramapuram, the parish and life and service of the blessed Kunjachan.
This church bears testimony to religious tourists and long-time residents to the aesthetic and cultural history of an area and is an important part of our landscape. Quite mercilessly we have left the second heritage church to get vandalised by natural agents so that it will succumb to natural disappearance soon. Let our ancient ruins get preserved and let us not tamper with history by the demolition of this church rich in its intrinsic and extrinsic values.
The author is a conservation architect and academic
