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Former Caretaker of Madras Armenian Church Complains It’s Being Neglected

Dear Friends,

It was indeed a happy moment for me to be at our church for Christmas on Jan 6.

We said a prayer and lit some candles and I also rang the bells. A special prayer was also said for the Armenians in Syria, in the hope that peace returns. I also placed some flowers on the grave of the father of Armenian journalism, Rev Haruthiun Shmavonian grave.

The maintenance of the church is still poor despite church members’ instructions to the caretaker on December 12 to better the upkeep. I decided that I would clean some of the pictures myself. I pray that the present caretaker takes more interest to keep our church clean and neat. He also informed me that the church roof leaks severely when it rains and also discovered that rodents have started burrowing their way into the property and many hairline cracks are visible in the pillars. Let’s hope that all this will be rectified at the earliest. The Armenian church in Madras is of historical importance for Armenians throughout the world.

then went to the cemetery which is four kilometers from our church to put flowers on the grave of the former caretaker Mr. George Gregory and his wife Joan. I was shocked to see the condition of the cemetery. The quarters where the Gardner family lives has caved in due to the heavy rains last November. They are now somehow managing with a small tent on the property. This needs immediate attention and I hope something will be done soon. The garden needs to be maintained properly. The main gate has fallen off and needs to be fixed.

It pains me that when I was caretaker for the church from 1994-2004 we put our hearts and soul to maintain our beautiful church and cemetery, and too see them now being neglected is heart breaking. For a brief period in 2008, they were maintained very well. But now they are neglected once again. Though the Kolkata church was kind enough to carry out extensive repairs a few years ago, this work needs to be reviewed periodically. God bless the Indian Armenians and Mayr Hayastan..

I also urge our respectful pastor in India Rev. Fr.Khoren Hovanissian to intervene in this matter along with the honorable committee members. 

Michael Stephen

Bangalore, India.

Former Caretaker -Armenian Church of Madras, India

#Լիզ Չեյթր

Comments (9)

Karen Mkrtchyan
Boghos jan, I wrote to the Fund. Posting the Reply I got from them. Dear Mr. Mkrtchyan, Thank you for your letter and your interest in the Hayastan All Armenian Fund initiatives. We are, indeed, cooperating with a number of governments that are interested in reaching out to Armenia and implementing development oriented projects. The Government of India is one of these friendly governments. Our foundation has started cooperating with the Indian government in 2008. The first project carried out with their support was the renovation of Artsni village school in Lori region of Armenia. The second project (600,000 USD that you mentioned) saw the establishment of 72 computer labs in all of the schools of Tavush region of Armenia. The two projects together amount to 850,000 USD of support from the Government of India within the last four years. Now, this is a cooperation that we hope will continue and it would be great if the Armenian community of India also had a role in this cooperation. Please let me know your ideas on the topic. It will be good to hear from you. Sincerely, Vardan Partamyan Head of Projects and External Relations Deparment Hayastan All Armenian Fund Tel.: +37410 521505 ext. 107 E-mail: [email protected]
Boghos
Baron Mkrtchyan Baron Sassounian has given a detailed explaination in a constructive write up in Hetq on the 28th of December and many other media publication but I have seen no progress in finding out where the funds came from and wonder if anyone knows yet, I have also written to the Armenian Telethon Fund organisers the Director oh Hayatan all Armenia fund and they have not replied, All the donars names are their except INDIA,WHY? Who is our secret donor who will not disclose His or Her name or organisation. Once again this year they are having the same Telethon I hope this year the Indian donor is revealed so we can congratulate the Phantom. I hope this year the Telethon 2013 is observed closely by all the donors and organisations who will be hosting this event. but first I am still curios as you are of the Armenians in India sending this big amount to us. I am very suprised how there is no evidence of the Hndkastan fund being donated, has Mr Sassounian found who has donated so generously? maybe Hetq and other Media reporters investigate this so can do the searching and tell us here who gave such amount as written by Sassounian. I saw Armenia Church in India I hope the donor give you the Armenian India people the money to do your Church and Cemetary. Waiting for the Phanthom still!!!
Anon
Angel bedrossian the Armenian Church in India is very wealthy, their church enormous investments give them approximately US $500,000 income in INTEREST alone every year. they do not need donations they need motivations. dont waist your money. they need to invest some of their wealth in basic acommodation for church caretakerss so these things dont keep hapening.
Helena
Requests should be made of His Holiness, he has control of all the money in India!
alek khosrovyan
Another Armenia tragedy. how low the church managers could go. No vision no interest simply hard hearted. Wake up you fossilised reptiles of the past. What is the need of all that money the church is sitting on if the managers are reluctend to make use of it for the very historical reason. This is far worst than scrouge.
Helena
@Joseph, u are right about the altar, but he has control of everything Armenian in India! People don't believe it but its true. His entire cult and followers are full of lies, theft, deception and greed! All the sins in the Bible he has!
Helena
@Alec, jan it's not the managers. They are good people. It's just the dirty work and damage done by Sonia John! The managers are always ready and willing to do renovations, I have seen the good work they have done. The have even contributed to the renovations and upgrades of the schools. I have pictures to prove it, pictures that I have taken when I went there and saw first hand what they have done. The kharnakitch is His Holiness.
krikor
What a shame to see a masterpiece of our history being left neglected. The armenian church of Madras that I visited in person few years ago is one of the jewels of armenian heritage in India. When I visited it, the garden where, clean and full of flowers. The church was in excellent condition . I was amazing to see such an old armenian church still preserved in India. I knew Mike when he was in charge of the church, and it's clear that altough he is not in charge today, his heart still is. For me, he would be the best person to be the caretaker of the church. Why give that position to strangers when an armenian like Mike is sincerely interested in keeping and protecting the church. Our historic landmarks start in Armenia and Turkey, but don't finish there. Let's protect our armenian historic sites for us and for the future generations to come .
Karen Mkrtchyan
It was only recently that in the Hayastan Fund Telethon $600.000 was pledged from India. Whoever pledged that amount ( I fail to know a rich Armenian in India who did that ), he/she/they could have at least looked after what we have in India first. What is the point of making news by donating that amount of money when the church under our nose is in this shape?

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