Jashpur: India’s largest church in terms of seating capacity, Church Our Lady of Rosary at Kunkuri in Jashpur district has braced up for colourful Christmas celebrations, attracting huge crowds from the region. Located in a tribal area, this old church which has a capacity to accommodate 10,000 worshippers is famous for Christmas gatherings where a large number of people are not only from Chhattisgarh but also from across the country. A Large number of people from the region are attending the Christmas Eve functions.
Jashpur region has a presence of about two lakh Christians, mostly belonging to tribal communities. Moreover, most of the bureaucrats, belonging to Christian communities in the state, are from this region. Former Chhattisgarh information commissioner Serjius Min, who earlier retired as additional chief secretary, said “We are privileged with the church ‘Our Lady of the Rosary which is the second largest church in Asia. It’s a blessing of God that on the prosperous occasion of Christmas eve and the next day’s mass at the church people come from across the country for the grand celebration.
Min said, “Most of the Christians in the region are literate and affluent here despite being a tribal region. The reason behind that is due to Catholic guidelines, people adopted literacy here. With education, people here have made good in their life.” Pointing out the facts regarding the world-famous church, Kunkuri based St Xavier School principal, Prabhu Narayan Khalkho said, “The church is too old and took 17 years to build. The cathedral has the ace position in terms of sitting capacity in India. It was founded in 1962 in the period of late Rev Bishop Stanislas Tigga and was inaugurated on October 27th, 1979.”
People from every religion come to the church every day believing it will relieve them from their sufferings. “The interesting fact is, it is maintained and monitored by the local tribal communities of the district. This church has seven arcades in a shape of an arch and seven sacraments symbols made of angle iron. A beautiful shrine, just in front of the cathedral building is also inviting the visitor to pray before Mother Mary”, Khalkho added.