This afternoon I walked down towards Dharamsala to find the Church of St John in the Wilderness. Built in 1852, the Church is a reminder that McLeod Ganj was once a popular British hill station. It was shrouded in mist when I arrived and looked empty, but I was fortunate enough to bump into the Reverend Kochuparambil J. Kunjumon, the church’s Keralan Pastor. He has been there since 1986, and told me what the church was like when he arrived.
“After the Partition in 1947 this church fell into disrepair. The Hindus and Muslims had no time for Christianity, and no-one came here on Sundays. When I first came here [in 1986], there was no electricity, only a dog.”
“That is now my dog. I used to sleep here in the church as there was no house for me. In the night I heard so many sounds from outside. Sometimes sounds like many people coming. Sometimes sounds like many horses running. But there are no horses here. People said the Devil was here, and after dark they would not enter the Churchyard.”
“So, for seven days I fasted and prayed. On the last day, at midnight, I took my Bible and walked around the church seven times as He told me. From that day, peacefulness is everywhere and the sounds are gone forever. The church is active now - I have around 60 people coming to the English service but very few to the Hindi every Sunday.”
Reverend Kunjumon, when he saw the state of the British Cemetary in 1986, asked the local army Brigade for help. The Commanding Officer, who was also Keralan, sent 80 troops to clear trees and shrubs from among the 449 British graves before they cleaned the outside of the church using scaffolding and iron brushes.
Most interesting for me, apart from seeing how derelict the Church had become, were the inscriptions on the graves and plaques around the church and cemetary. They gave a real insight into how life was for the British colonials here and the sorts of difficulties they faced. Here are a few examples.
Plaques inside the church:
“In loving memory of Thomas William Knowles who met with his death at Dharamsalla by an attack from a bear on the 25th October 1883 aged 50 years. In the midst of life we are in death.”
“To the memory of Lieutenant R.D. Angelo, who died at Wano, Waziristan, 30th November 1894 of wounds received in action against the Mahsuds. This tablet is erected by his brother officers of the first Goorkha Rifles. God is Love.”
Graves from the cemetery:
“To the memory of Fanny Mabel, the beloved child of Mr and Mrs William Ward, born 8th July 1865, died 11th Ocober 1866. For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
And, very sadly, another grave from the same family.
“To the memory of Ralph Morris, the loved infant son of Mr and Mrs William Ward, born 6th September 1866, died 18th January 1867. I shall go to him but he shall not return unto me.”
There were also graves from the disastrous 1905 earthquake that forced the British to abandon McLeod Ganj as a hill station. The whole experience was quite moving.
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