A documentary that traces the history of St. Mary’s Church, Madras – The Hindu

“Westminster Abbey is considered to be the mother church of Anglicans in England. So this (St. Mary’s Church) is considered as the mother church of the (Protestant) Christians in the East,” says church historian Arthur Jayakumar, in the recently released documentary, Westminster Abbey of the East. While the comparison might sound exaggerated, there is no denial of the fact that St. Mary’s is the oldest Anglican church outside the United Kingdom. And because of its strategic location within Fort St. George, then the seat of power, it was associated with many important historical personalities, “who went on to create modern India,” according to late S. Muthiah, the chronicler of Madras.

With the directors of the East India Company not so keen about encouraging religious activities, a little over four decades after Francis Day and Andrew Cogan founded Madras, it was left to the ingenuity of Streynsham Master, the Company’s agent at Madras, to initiate the construction of the Anglican church. With funds collected from more amenable members of the governing council at Fort St. George, Master had the St. Mary’s Church consecrated on October 28, 1680. Probably this led Master being recalled to London soon thereafter by the Company directors. (Streynsham Master’s descendent is Jeremy Hunt, the current Chancellor of the Exchequer of UK).

Yale’s gift

It was at St. Mary’s church that Elihu Yale got married and so did Robert Clive. While Yale’s gift, post his retirement, that led to the establishment of the Yale University is well known, not so known is his equally significant contribution along with the church to the third hospital to be built in Madras, which has now evolved into the Rajiv Gandhi Government hospital. Throwing light on such unknown facts, the film scripted by Rev. Krubha Lily Elizabeth, (who incidentally was a presbyter of the church from 2011 to 2017), weaves a fascinating picture of the church’s history, with the help of the church registry and materials strewn all over such as tombstones, memorials, and gifts to the church, in its aisle, the walls and the courtyard. Not stopping with that, it travels across the land to Masulipatnam, Calcutta, Bombay and Surat, talking to people, to give us a better understanding of those associated with the church and their lasting influence.

The film’s director Rafiq Ismail’s innovative use of miniature clay models of the historic personalities, from Francis Day sitting astride a horse to Clive and Margaret Maskelyne signing the marriage register and many more scenes, all set in appropriately painted backdrops lends a certain charm to the narration even as it brings alive the period. “We actually used these clay models wherever we fell short of painted or sculpted material,” says Rafiq.

So in the case of Thomas Munro, who introduced the ‘Ryotwari system’ and was fondly called as ‘Munrolappa’ by the farmers of Rayalaseema, the narration continues with the help of the portraits and the sculpture of Munro on horseback, staring down at motorists on Mount Road in Chennai. It was at Munro’s behest a committee of public instruction was formed in 1826, which eventually led to the formation of Presidency College.

As the film progresses, and speaks of the finely chiselled marble memorials on either side of the inner walls, one understands as to why St. Mary’s church is known as the ‘Westminster Abbey of the East’. The memorials here were chiselled in London by sculptors such as John Bacon and John Flaxman, whose works also adorn the Westminster Abbey in London. Interestingly, the film reveals another curious coincidence between the two Anglican churches, that of their association with Freemasonry. With many British monarchs, East India Company officials and governors being Freemasons, and Richard Hall Kerr, the chaplain at St. Mary’s, who was also the worship master at Freemason Lodge, it comes as no surprise to see Freemason symbols on some of the sculptures in the church. This refreshing honesty to speak about the church and its congregations past is what makes the film endearing.

In a matter of one hour and forty minutes, the film glides through some of the important contributions the church and its members have made to the Madras Presidency — the education system, healthcare or translation of the Thirukkural into English, and much more. The documentary film made with the encouragement of Rt. Rev. J. George Stephen, Bishop in Madras, and Kattiyakkari Productions, is a valuable addition to our understanding of the history of the region and the forces that shaped us.

The Chennai-based writer is a historian and filmmaker.