Revivalist Style Churches of 19th Century in Ambala Cantonment: An Insight to Holy Redeemer Church Ambala Cantonment

Abstract

The British Raj in India led to different types of developments in various parts of the country owing to their physical, social and cultural needs. The Cantonments were one such significant development under British rule in 19th century. Out of the different typology of buildings made by the British settlers in cantonments, the most popular and most ornate structures are the Churches found across the country. In particular the churches built in the 19th century exhibit more or less similar architectural character and style as the whole world was experiencing the Revivalist Gothic style. The paper looks into the construction of such Revivalist Gothic churches in the newly formed Cantonment at Ambala during the same time period and analyses the architecture and construction of one of the oldest church of the cantonment. The paper brings to light the first Catholic Church in Ambala Cantonment, Ambala, India that is 100 years old and has survived the test of time and continues to be in use. It is an exemplary built heritage reminiscent of the British era that needs to be adaptively reused seeing it as an important typology of building exhibiting the Revivalist style in India. The present research was done as part of a project undertaken in Masters of Architecture under the able guidance of Prof Kiran Joshi.

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Holy redeemer church ambala, Holy redeemer church ambala cantt, Church architecture in india, Holy redeemer church, Redeemer church delhi, Ambala cantonment