Church

Its courtyard, which is decorated with innumerable tombstones, war memorials, stone tablets, graves, paintings and other historical artifacts, is a goldmine for ...

It is believed that Zoffany intentionally painted faces of Jesus and others by copying faces of his friends and foes.While the face of Jesus was done in resemblance of his friend Father Pathenio of Greek church the face of Judas was done in line of William Tulloh with whom the painter had a bitter relation. The memorial tablet of Alexander Calvin, one of the rich businessmen of Calcutta, has a statue of a woman in Indian sari with a kalash holding in one of her hands. The stone tablet in the memory of Charles Lionel Showers, Humphry Bagot and Wilson Broughton is an excellent one. In one of the small monuments, one can find a priceless piece of plaque that contains the memorial details of those British soldiers who died in World War I. It was dedicated to all fallen British soldiers who participated in the 2nd Rohilla War under the leadership of General Sir Robert Abercromby. As this issue was never accepted by Indians, a movement executed in 1940 by Muslim League and supported by Subhash Chandra Bose forced the monument known as Holwell’s monument uprooted from Dalhousie square to this church ground. The first four Bishops of the church were Middleton, Heber, James and Tarner. It is assumed that the stone used in spires and floors were taken from the ruins of Gour in Malda but recently citizen historian Subhadip Mukherjee who had seen the archive of the church has claimed that these stones were actually ordered from Chunar and not taken from Gour. However thanks to its usage of stone the church is known as “Pathure Girja” as well. Thanks to its cemented political position in India and growing European population in Calcutta, East India Company finally sanctioned a plan to establish a premier church in Calcutta and the idea of St John’s came into existence. The church established in 1713 was destroyed by Siraj’s army in 1856 and its last priest Rev Garvas Belami was killed in a famous blackhole massacre inside Fort William. Its courtyard, which is decorated with innumerable tombstones, war memorials, stone tablets, graves, paintings and other historical artifacts, is a goldmine for one who is interested in knowing Calcutta’s history and growth of the British East India Company from Bengal.