Begum Sumru's Basilica of Our Lady Of Graces, in Sardhana, near Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India.
As you are about to leave Meerut along the road to Muzaffarnagar, Roorkee and Dehra Dun, you see a sign board on your left with Sardhana written on it in bold type. It stands there to indicate the road that turns off to a town 22 kms away. The road to Sardhana is tarred and for the most part shaded by trees on either side. After 16 kms you cross the broad Ganges canal built in 1848. Then the road turns right, and as it does, you see the church of Sardhana in the distance. On the side of the road, to the right of you, you see a small canal that was dug many years ago by the Begum of Sardhana, as an outlet for the water that used to flood the lower part of Sardhana during the monsoon.
As you are about to enter Sardhana, with the church dwarfing all the buildings around it, if you look to your left, you will notice large monuments in Muslim art, about two hundred yards away. This is the catholic graveyard, now under the care of the Archaeological Department, and within whose sacred ground, the remains of many, connected with the Begum, lie buried under large monuments erected to their memory.
To your right, as you enter Sardhana, is a tarred road that comes from Daurala, a town famous for its sweets. Barely 15 kms away, this is the closest railway station. Many find it more convenient to come to Daurala by train and from there catch a bus for Sardhana. Buses run every hour. But on the other hand the Meerut-Sardhana route, though 22 kms has a bus service every half hour.
On entering Sardhana the road runs to the right of a big artificial lake. This lake and another further in, are the result of removing earth to raise the level of the church and form building material for it. The road goes along a wall that encloses a huge compound. Above the tops of the many mango trees that this wall encloses, you see the steeples of the church stretch into the heavens. Eventually you come to a massive gateway on your left, with huge iron gates locked just enough to prevent heavy vehicles from entering. The reason the gates are closed to heavy traffic, is that the road from the gate to the church would easily be spoilt if constantly used by buses and cars.
As you look through the gateway, you see the church at the end of a long shady avenue.
Source - http://sardhanachurch.org/TowardsSaradhana.aspx
The architect of the Church was Antonio Reghellini, an Italian from the city of Vicenza. The Church is based upon St. Peter's Basilica in Rome with touch of Palladio and some Indian architectural influence. The altar and its surrounds are of marble set with coloured stones. Much of the rest of the interior is also in marble, and everything is of the very highest craftsmanship. It is illuminated from an octagon set in the dome, from which the sun streams in. Reghellini completed the church in 11 years. The church is noted for the use of semi precious stone work, a Greek colonnaded veranda,an elevated altar with a stained glass dome and there are two spires and three Roman domes that add to the building's grandeur. Near the sanctuary is a majestic 18 feet high edifice over the Begum's tomb. Carved by the Italian sculptor Adamo Tadolini and transported to Sardhana from Italy to Kolkata by ship and by boats and bullock carts from there, it depicts Begum Sumru on the throne, smoking a hookah with Europeans and Indians in audience. It depicts her with a scroll from Emperor Shah Alam II bestowing upon her the fiefdom of Sardhana after her husband's death. Also depicted are her adopted son David Dyce Sombre and her diwan, Rae Singh who was the great-grandfather of Motilal Nehru.
Source - Wikipedia
This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at wfi @ vsnl.com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.
