Thiruvananthapuram: After renovation stretching over eight years, the seaside church of Madre de Deus, Vettucaud will be reopened with palatial additions. It will be dedicated to the faithful by Latin Catholic Archbishop Soosa Pakiam on Wednesday at 4.30am. The highlight of the church will be the dome which is 60 feet high from the ground. Inside there is intricate relief artwork based on Michelangelo's painting 'The Last Judgment'.
"We have taken all the elements of the paintings and accommodated it in a circular fashion as relief artwork on the dome. There will be 12 glass openings on the dome symbolising 12 tribes of Israel. Above that is the painting of 12 apostles," explained a construction convenor of the church. The artwork was done by Alex Chandy, a Kochi-based Sculptor. Another feature was the Gothic style altar with its background made of glass and teakwood. It had glass paintings which were created by Anthony Karal, a lecturer at RLV Fine Art College Thrippinithara.
The interior of church.
The interior of the church was a combination of Roman, Gothic, Byzantine and Kerala style works. Similarly, 24 important scenes from the Old testament were painted by William Panipicha, an art teacher at Poonthura St Thomas HSS. There were 16 Stations of the Cross as against 14 in other churches. The two extra stations include the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The church has three bells imported from Belgium which will be blessed by Bishop Christudas on Wednesday. The huge high velocity, low-speed ceiling fans were imported from USA. The stone flag post in front of the church was built by experts from Mahabalipuram. Major Archbishop of Syro-Malankara Catholic Church Baselios Cleemis will deliver the gospel speech during the blessing and dedication ceremony. The building will be sanctified by 100 priests.
