CATHEDRAL OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY — Attraction in Kolkata

A beautiful house of the holy father in the city, situated in a congested area on the side of a busy main road but having a calm and peaceful environment inside the building. The only Portuguese church in the city, existed in various forms since 1690, but has always experienced some friction with the British. Many Portuguese migrants to India took native wives, and their offspring came to be known as Kintal. Many of these Kintals moved to Calcutta in search of fortune, and the East India Company allowed them to settle in specific areas near the river. Since the Kintals were the only people in India then breeding and selling fowl, the area they settled in is known as “Moorgeeghata” or “the fowl market” even today. Job Charnock had originally granted 10 bighas of land to the Roman Catholics of the Augustinian order to set up a mass hall in the area. But when in 1693 Sir John Goldsborough of the East India Company found the company’s Protestant factors were converting to Roman Catholicism in the mass hall and taking native wives, he ordered them out. The friars would return on his death only 6 months later, and this time they erected a brick Church, a little further away from the original mass hall, and this is where the Portuguese Church or The Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary stands today. The most interesting thing is, there is no restrictions for the photography loving people to click their mobile...

From Prosenjit Das Gupta's "10 Walks in Calcutta" (HarperCollins, 2000): Set up in 1747 in a small compound, the Portuguese Church, formally known as the Cathedral of the Holy Rosary, was the first Catholic place of worship in Calcutta. The church is said to have had a tall spire which broke down and was rebuilt together with the chapel in 1797, thanks to the munificence of one Joseph Baretto. Designed by James Driver, it has two towers, shaped more like minarets, with rounded crown-shaped cupolas on either side of the roof. It has a neat, pedimented porch in front.

Regular service is held here and the Sunday congregation is fairly substantial. Inside, the chapel of the Lady of Fatima has a beautiful altar, facing south, with round stained-glass windows on either side of fluted columns framing a statue of the Virgin Mary. More interestingly, nearly thirty wooden panels in bas-relief depicting the various stages of the Passion of Christ grace the walls of the chapel. There is another beautiful free-standing wooden statuary of Mary bearing Jesus down from the Cross. There are several memorial tablets on the pavings outside the chapel and also built on to its pillars. The serving priests stay in the premises to the rear and side...

The Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary, commonly known as the Portuguese Church, in Kolkata, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta. It is also known as the Murgihata Church and was founded in 1799..... The cathedral has a decorated pediment, flanked on either side by two domed towers and an extended portico with arched entrance way. The interior contains beautiful sculptures including 14 Stations of the Cross. Behind the altar, there are the figures of Madonna and Child. The remains of the first Archbishop of Calcutta lie below the altar..... Job Charnock founded the city of Kolkata in 1690. Portuguese from Hooghly settled in the new town. They constructed a chapel and were attended by Augustinian priests. The Cathedral was founded in 1797. In 1799, the chapel was replaced by the church which is used today as the cathedral. It was the main Church of the Padroado in Kolkata till 1834, when it became the first parish Church of the newly erected Vicariate Apostolic of Bengal. The Salesians took over charge from the Jesuits in 1921 and they, in turn, handed it over to the diocesan clergy in 1972. In 1979, the cathedral annexe was...