Holy Trinity Church, Bengaluru

The story of Holy Trinity Church, Bengaluru

Holy Trinity Church stands at Trinity circle at the east end of MG Road, and it is remembered as an Anglican church built in 1851 for the British Regiment stationed there. It can hold 700 people, and it is regarded as the largest “military” church in southern India.

The story starts with pressure from the local English regiment in Bangalore. The East India Company decided to build a second church in the station after protests, because St Mark’s Cathedral was already serving the English-speaking congregation there. Bishop Corrie chose the spot, and the foundation stone was laid on 16 February 1848.

The building you see was finished in the English Renaissance style. Its furnishings and embellishments were designed by Rev W W Lutyens. The bell came from Mears Foundry of London in 1847, and the pulpit and pipe organ were also built in London. The stained glass, showing the baptism of Jesus in splendid color, and the baptismal pond were brought from London too. Queen Victoria’s own West Kent Regiment presented the cross, in memory of those who died when the unit was based here.

Inside, the walls were lined with ornate marble murals and tablets recording great men and women who toiled for the church. Some of the statues were specially carved in England. That gives the place a very direct connection to the imperial military world that created it, while the congregation today is made up of more than 450 families.

The church was consecrated on 25 July 1852 and opened on 8 August, 1852. After Independence, it was taken over by the Christian Indian Military personnel and their families, and it was called Holy Trinity Garrison Pastorate then. In 1965, the Mysore Diocese of the Church of South India renamed it Holy Trinity Church. Times of India says it was renovated in 2003 at a cost of around Rs 25 lakh, and that the original furniture and stained glass were restored.

What is most worth looking for here is the way the church combines its military past with the surviving London-made pieces: the bell in the belfry, the stained glass, the baptismal pond, and the memorial tablets along the walls. If you want the clearest sense of the building’s history, stand back and take in how those pieces sit within the church’s English Renaissance frame.