Photo: Suswa9498 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Cape · Church

Our Lady of Ransom Church

அலங்கார உபகார மாதா ஆலயம்

Gothic towers rising above the fishing shore.

Move across the photo, or drag it on a phone, to look around.

You arrive

You see the towers long before you reach them, pale spires standing high over the low roofs along the shore, with the central one catching the sun at its gold tip. The road brings you closer and the sea is right there beside the church, moving against the coast. Boats lie along the sand nearby. Then the facade fills your view, and you stand with your head back, surprised by how tall a Gothic church can look on this southern coast.

Our Lady of Ransom Church · Photo: rajaraman sundaram · CC BY 3.0

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The facade from the shore

Start outside and walk back far enough to take it all in. The church is 153 feet long and, by the district's figures, 153 feet high, with towers that give it a vertical energy unusual among the low buildings of the coast. Sea wind crosses the open ground. Look at the gold-topped central spire, then turn around, because the sea behind you is the reason this church faces the world the way it does.

Our Lady of Ransom Church · Photo: M.Mutta · CC BY-SA 3.0

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Into the nave

You step through the doors and the wind stops. The interior is simple, and height does most of the work, drawing your eyes along the length of the nave toward the altar. Your footsteps sound louder here. Light falls from high up in long shafts. Find a bench near the back and sit down for a while, since the coolness alone is a kindness after the sun outside.

Our Lady of Ransom, the old church · Photo: Alanbrindo · CC BY-SA 4.0

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At the altar

Walk up slowly toward the altar, which Trawell describes as golden, and let your eyes rest on its shine against the plainer walls around it. Mother Mary is honoured here, under the title Our Lady of Ransom. People from the fishing parish come in to pray alongside visitors, so be quiet and keep to the side when a service or prayer is under way, and take your photographs discreetly if at all.

Our Lady of Ransom Church · Photo: rajaraman sundaram · CC BY 3.0

04 / 04

Back toward the sea

Leave by the main doors and pause on the steps. The change is immediate, with glare and sea noise returning all at once. Walk around the grounds toward the shore and look back at the towers from the side. This church stands where fishing families have lived for centuries, and from here the connection between the building and the water is plain: it was built by the sea and for the people who work on it.

Being here

You see

Tall pale towers, a gold-tipped spire and a simple interior with a golden altar.

You hear

Sea wind outside and hushed footsteps inside.

You smell

Candle wax inside and salt air outside.

You feel

The wind dropping as you pass through the doors into cool shade.

Look around

The story

Tombstones unearthed at Kumari Muttom, dated 1496, show that Catholics have lived in this area for centuries, and record a local ruler's edict funding the lights of the church. When St. Francis Xavier came to Cape Comorin in 1542 he found a shrine here, Our Lady of Delights Grotto, which became a centre for Jesuit missions along the coast. The area became a separate parish in 1862 and the present church was built in 1914. The district gives its size as 153 feet long, 53 feet wide and 153 feet high. Wikivoyage describes its Gothic style with Portuguese influence and its gold-topped central spire. A ten-day festival is held in the second week of December.

Sources: Kanniyakumari district: Temples, Churches, Masjids · Wikipedia: Our Lady of Ransom Church, Kanyakumari · Wikivoyage: Kanyakumari · Trawell: Kanyakumari places to visit

Close by

Beach

Triveni Sangam and Kanyakumari Beach

Where a subcontinent ends and three waters meet.

Sea

Sunrise Point

Dawn comes up between the rock and the statue.

Town

Vavathurai Shore

The working seafront of a fishing parish.

Sea

The Ferry to the Rocks

The short crossing that takes you off the end of India.

Photo: gayathri g a · CC BY-SA 4.0

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