Amidst the busy Kala Ghoda vicinity in South Mumbai stood the 223-year-old church of Armenian origin popularly known as St Peter’s Church. The Church which was built by Armenians 200 year ago has opened its doors to the Indian Orthodox Church also known as Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.
Armenian cloth traders migrated from Surat and Malabar and formed a colony in the city 200 years ago. People from Julfa, a suburb at Isfahan in Iran, Istanbul and Beirut came later to the city fearing persecution at their homeland. Being skilled in trade and crafts, they engaged in the various business of jewellery, seals, spices and diamonds. Jacob Peter, a wealthy Armenian merchant and Native of Hamadan in Persia, built this church in 1796. The number of Armenians diminished with age to only one woman, a 71-year-old Zabel Joshi. Zabel came to Mumbai in 1972 after marrying a Gujarati trader Kishore Joshi explained in the statement to Indian Express says that the Armenians have blended well with local residents. She recalled that although they were only 15, they met together on Sundays. Now, most people have died and many have migrated abroad.
Thomas Varghese, a member of Indian Orthodox Church and the caretaker of the Church for the past 10 years exclaimed that it gives him immense pleasure as well as pride in looking after the church which he had been doing voluntarily. Six years ago, the church was renovated. Father Abraham Joseph states that the Armenian Church and the Indian Orthodox Church are sister Churches and they conduct many social activities such as free school education for the slum children. Christians who speak Malayalam gather every Sunday at Church with a lot of enthusiasm to attend mass.
Source: Indian Express
