Medak Church stands gloriously as the main landmark of Medak City, in Andhra Pradesh, amidst sylvan surroundings. Built on an extensive scale in pure white granite, this gothic style structure is one of the largest and one of the best churches in the country. Constructed by C.W.Posnett, the magnificent Medak church stands on a sprawling 1000 acres of land in Ghusnabad. The church with its immense beauty was sanctified on 25th December 1924 and took ten years to be completed.Made of solid white granite Medak Church stands at 173 feet tall. The church, the single largest diocese in Asia and the second largest in the world after the Vatican is built in solid white granite.In 1896, when the district of Medak was struck by famine, Rev. Charles Walker Posnett, a missionary, fed all the people who were hungry in that region. He proclaimed that because of the help of Lord Jesus he could do that and advised that as a 'thanksgiving' people should help/contribute in building a church. Thus it started the momentum for constructing the church and it is said the local farmers only toiled to construct this magnificent church.Medak Church was constructed between 1914 and 1924 and Thomas Edward Harding who is an architect put in all his best efforts building the cathedral. For the floor, tiles from famous potteries were shipped from England. The tile's design is an intricate one in six colours - red, brown, black, yellow, chocolate and grey. The marble on the chancel floor and the place behind the Holy Communion are from Italy, for this Italian workers were used to do the laying of the tiles.What sets the Church apart are the three stained glass windows, created by Sir Frank O' Salisbury of London who painted them in a small studio for nearly 40 years. They constitute 'the gospel trilogy' in art - the nativity, the crucifixion and the ascension. Made of solar glass, the windows appear in all their glory when its bright and sunny. All the stained glass windows have inscriptions in English, Hindi and Telugu. The Hindi inscription came later when Vijaylakshmi Pandit, sister of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited this Medak Church and said that national language should also be seen on the stained glass, then the Hindi script was added on the panes.The tower is 173 feet high, with four pinnacles. In a way the Nizam of Hyderabad is said to have stalled the process of building a taller church, who laid down a condition for the construction of the church that the length should not be more than that of Charminar.The sprawling church compound has 13 institutions, which include a B.Ed college, a junior college, hostels for boys and girls, an old age home, an office to take care of properties and an agricultural centre.Very naturally, Easter, Christmas and New Year are celebrated with great pomp in Medak Church. Medak is 90 kms from Hyderabad and is well served by road network
What do you think of this story?
Select one of the options below. Your feedback will help tell CNN producers what to do with this iReport. If you'd like, you can explain your choice in the comments below.
Be and editor! Choose an option below: