It was in the early 1910s. Delhi had just been proclaimed India’s future capital. Reverend T.R. Dixon was appointed chaplain of a new cathedral to be built there. His first ‘church’ was a room, accommodating 60, near Delhi’s Gole Dak Khana. World War I intervened. The absence of any official support spurred efforts at self-reliance. Henry Alexander Nesbitt Medd was the chosen architect, assisted by a high-powered building committee with Sir Hugh Keeling, Sir Alexander Rouse and others, and with the support of Sir Edwin Lutyens — whose monumental style with a Mughal flavour, which Medd so admired. Years later, on February 23, 1927, the foundation stone of the Cathedral Church of the Redemption, was laid by Lord Irwin at a solemn service. The cathedral was consecrated by George Barnes, the bishop of the Lahore Diocese. It was opened for worship on January 18, 1931. Several gifts were received from friends and parishes abroad. The crown-embossed wooden front pews and the silver cross on the high altar were donated by King George V, while the reproduction of Giovanni Bellini’s ‘Madonna and Cherubs’ above the altar came from the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice.On August 17, 1933, Lady Willingdon laid the foundation of the parsonage with a silver trowel, burying the day’s issue of The Hindustan Times and The Statesman as well as ‘coins of the realm’ in a time capsule. This building was to serve as the residence of Delhi’s bishops.When Gandhiji was assassinated on January 30, 1948, a grieving congregation assembled at the cathedral to ‘commend the Father of the Nation into God’s hands’. Lord Louis Mountbatten, governor-general, read the biblical line: “The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God.” The sonorous pipe organ came alive and the congregation sang Gandhiji’s favourite hymn, ‘When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died.’ “Nothing would have pleased Bapu more,” said Aurobindo, Delhi’s bishop, “than our resolve to be ambassadors of healing and reconciliation.” The cathedral family of Hindi, Tamil and English-speaking members are trying to do just that, by getting involved in various public service initiatives, including the care of the children of leprosy patients. It is a tribute to this historical institution that the cathedral has recently been declared a heritage monument.
