Kashmir's 125-Year-Old Church, Abandoned for Decades, to Reopen by Christmas

The 125-year-old Saint Lukes Church, one of the oldest in Kashmir, will be re-opened for public by Christmas after being restored to its former glory as it was left in disuse since 1980s. The renovation of the church, which is located adjacent Chest Disease Hospital, was undertaken by the Jammu and Kashmir tourism department under the ‘Smart City’ project.

“The Gothic style of architecture has been followed to the dot by artisans, especially inside the prayer hall. Kashmir’s traditional woodwork has lent grace to the ceiling and the main door of the hall,” Athar Aamir Khan, commissioner of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, told News18.

Amir said about Rs 80 lakh were spent on the church renovation, which started in May. The doors of the church were buried under muck and the exterior of the building had dirty splash of rain water, the roof was leaking, windows rusted and glass panes broken. “We revived it to its past glory and did not tamper a bit with the orginal design. We bought glass panes from outside the country to match the older ones,” Khan said.

The church at Dalgate in Srinagar is located at the end of the western slope of the Shankaracharya hill and on its east lies the old Chest Disease Hospital, which is an architectural marvel itself built by the British missionaries more than a century ago.

Residents of the locality told News 18 that the church was abandoned for over five decades after the J&K government took over the Kashmir Mission Hospital from the missionaries. It was later named as Chest Disease Hospital.

“As a child, I used to come here often with my Christian friends. But God knows where they are now. I hope the reopening of the church will reunite us,” said Sajjad Bashir, a resident of Dalgate. He was recounting some old stories to his young daughters and showing them the church and surroundings. “I pray the church becomes a reason for us to meet,” he said.

The hospital and the church within the campus were built by the Neves brothers in 1888. Later, the Bishop of Lahore threw it open for people in 1896. The place used to be agog with worshipers and tourists every Sunday. “We would walk by the church and they would offer us sweets and toffees,” recalls Mohammad Shafi, a local resident.

A tourist, Brendon Thomas, told News18 that he was always “curious to come here after reading about it some days back. This is in my list of what needs attention.”

The Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and tourism department took up the conservation work of the church after locals raised the concern.

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