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Historical St. John's church Kolkata - reminder of British legacy

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St. Iohn's Cathedral Church, Kolkata (1944)wlog.thefourdy.com
Writers Building and St Andrew's Church, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.www.gettyimages.com

During the colonial days St. John’s Church, Kolkata was an important one  designed by James Agg representing  English and Greek architecture characterized by tall columnsthat support the church complex, impressive portico and eye-catching paintings  by Johann Zoffany, floor with  a rare hue of blue-gray marble, brought from Gaur. The painting  brings out the  Last Supper, according to Indian version. There are large windows with colored glasses and they appear beautifully when the sunlight passes through them. This church has simple altar and behind it, there is a semi circular dome.  Wall of St. John’s Church adorn the memorials of James Achilles Kirkpatrick,  James Pattle, Johann Zoffany's paintings besides numerous plagues. of British people - officers and servants.
St. John's Church, Calcutta (Kolkata)rangandatta.wordpress.com
Memorial of James  Achilles  Kirkpatrick
Architecture of St. John’s Church James Achilles Kirkpatrick, popularly known as the White Mughal  White Mughals died in Calcutta on 15th October 1805 at the age of 41. Though he  was buried at the North Park Street Cemetery, unfortunately  neither his grave nor the cemetery exists today. Is it damaged and lost? No body knows.

Plaque of James Kirkpatrick,erected by his father and his brother
on the southern wall of the St. John’s Church still exists . But the epitaph is odd and inappropriate.

There is a memorial of James Pattle who is  great-great-grandfather of William Dalrymple, noted novel writer, is also located on the south walls of St. John's Church.

Last Supper by Johann Zoffanyas we all know,  is one of the master pieces of Leonardo Da Vinci. But the Last Supper presented  in this church was painted by German  Johann Zoffany. It is  on the walls of the St. John’s Church and the painting done here is not a replica of the original one and carriesIndian touch .  A sword, the top left hand corner of the painting shows a sword, Indian spittoon and a  beasties bag - a goat skin bag used for storing water are the odd items found in the painting drawn by Johann Zoffany.  Yet another  unusual feature of Zoffany’s lies in the selection of model used by  him to represent Jesus and his twelve disciples. Jesus Christ was portrayed as Greek priest, Father Parthenio. Whereas  Judas was portrayed as the auctioneer William Tulloh from whom the Tollygunge, a suburb in Kolkata  was named.

 ASt John's Church was  built  on an old graveyard,  the compound  has a number of tombs and memorials, but only a few dating  back to the date of construction of the church.

The old graves and the monuments of St John’s Church include Job Charnock’s Mausoleum, a Monument dedicated to those killed in the Black Hole of Calcutta, Second Rohilla War Memorial and the graves of Lady Canning, Lord Braboune and the judges of Supreme Court of India at that time, which is now the Calcutta High Court.
Charnock mausoleum - Wikimedia Photowalk Kolkata 20111218 IMG 4567.jpg
 Job Charnock’s Mausoleum, located at the back northwest corner of St John's Church grounds is in memory of Charnock, the founder of Clacutta City.   The octagonal cenotaph, errected by his his son in law  Charles Ayer, includes the grave of Job Charnock.  He died in 1693, just three years after his third visit to what would become Calcutta. The grave gives his date of demise as January 1692. There is a small gated cemetery part-paved with 18th century grave stones.The Mausoleum was built of pinkish stones brought all the way from Pallavaram near Chennai, which later was named after Charnock  called as Charnockite, a kind of granite rock  rich in pink feldspar minerals  that containiodine, hence the pinkish color. Pallavaram is the one of a few places famous for pink granites.

Black Hole of Calcutta Monument erected by Holwell, British general includes a tablet carrying the name of the British who were  imprisoned by the Nawob of Bengal during the siege of Ft.William in a small room, measuring  14 feet by 8 feet without ventilation and consequently out of 146, only 23 survived were purportedly died due to suffocation, heat and stroke. The number of casualty and the very nature of this incident are still a subject of debate.
Memorial of Black Hole of Calcutta. en.wikipedia.org
Rohilla is the name of the Pashtun tribe of the Pakistan and Afghanistan border settled in the Oudah region and they were a menace to the Nawob of Oudah  Shuja - ud - Daula. Conflicts broke out between the Nawob's forces and the tribes. The British backed the Nawob in the 1774 battle. At last, the ruler suppressed the warring tribes. A memorial was erected on the premises of St. John's  church, Calcutta  in memory of those British who lost their lives in the war.

second Rohilla war memorial www.wikiwand.com
Charlotte Canning, the wife of Charles Canning the Governor General and Viceroy of India contracted malaria and died. She  was buried in Barrackpore a memorial was also built  in the St. John’s Church graveyard
Lady Canning's Memorial At St. John`s Church, Kolkataphoto.webindia123.com

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