A marvel of history in Kotgarh area of Shimla district, the 145-year-old St Mary’s Church, is in a state of utter neglect.
St Mary’s Church is one of the oldest chapels in North India and is a tourist attraction too, but the authorities in the state and the Centre have not maintained the monument over the decades.
Situated amid the beautiful apple orchards in Kotgarh, the Church has traditional and cultural importance. The Church was once the epitome of the missionary culture in the small village of Kotgarh, 80 km from Shimla, but no longer.
The back wall of the church is dilapidated. The whole building is crying for maintenance inside and outside. The church’s priest, Victor Khojji had even written to the state tourism authorities that the church is not in good condition and it requires construction and repair of some parts, including the roof.
“The tourism authorities replied that the construction and repair of religious institutions does not fall in the priority of the tourism department,” Khojji said, sharing the contents of letter.
While Kotgarh is famous for the introduction of commercial variety of apples by Satya Nand Stokes (Samuel Stokes), who was initially a missionary from US, it also has a missionary history attached to it.
Local residents say the Christian laymen, who lived in Shimla, had visited Kotgarh in connection with their official duties as military and civil officers of British East India Company.
Many stories are associated with the inception of the church. Some people believe that the chapel was installed in 1843. But as per the alternative church records, the foundation of the present church building was laid in 1872 due to the untiring efforts of Reverend W Rebsch.
In 1873 the present beautiful wooden Church with graveyard was completed.
In the beginning, St Mary’s Church, Kotgarh, was within the Diocese of Calcutta. Later, it became part of the Diocese of Lahore.
Kotgarh is an important place in the history of missionaries. “The mission started as an independent one when the military and civil officers had been struck by the appalling ignorance and illiteracy of the people of the region.
These were the reasons which inspired these Christians to form a Himalayan mission,” said the Priest. He said with the increasing number of Christian converts then, the need was felt for building a church for worship.