St.Baselios Orthodox Church, Marthahalli

By the abundant mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ, The Orthodox Syrian Christians residing within the geographical areas of Marthahalli , HAL and Whitefield, in Bangalore constituted a building committee in 1966 for constructing a church under the presidentship of Rev. Fr A. V . Varghese. The committee comprised of Mr. P. J Kurian as the treasurer and Mr. N.T. Mathen as its secretary. By virtue of their consistent effort they succeeded in identifying half acre land at Marthahalli for constructing a Church

On 26^th October ,1992 soon after the government’s decision to build a ring- road was announced, a Church Development Committee was formed under the leadership of Rev. Fr. Joseph Thaliyaparambil, Vicar, St . Gregorios Orthodox Cathedral , Hosur Road , Bangalore ,with Mr. A.V Thomas (convener) Mr. M.D John (secretary) and Mr. Babu M Iducula (Treasurer) .On the 22^nd of November 1992 the Diocesan Metropolitan H.G Zachariah Mar Dionysius laid the Foundation stone for this church in the presence of Very Rev. Abraham Marett Cor-Episcopa Vicar of St. Gregorios Orthodox Cathedral, Hosur Road , Bangalore. The first Holy Qurbana was celebrated by Very Rev . Abraham Marett Cor -Episcopa on 21^st November 1993 at St. Antony’s Catholic Chapel at Marthahalli, thanks to the Arch Bishop, Alphonsus Mathias, of the Bangalore Catholic Diocese for His magnanimity. As a final culmination of the efforts of the founding members the newly constructed Church was Blessed in the name of “ ST. BASELIOS” on the 14^th of May 1994 by H.H Baselios Marthoma Mathews II, Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan, assisted by H. G Zachariah Mar Dionysius Metropolitan of Madras Diocese . On the 1^st of May 1995 Rev.Fr Slomo Issac was appointed as the first vicar of the newly blessed church. His services continued till 30^th April 1998.

The church, over the years, grew by leaps and bounds. By the middle of year 2000, the number of Sunday worshipers had increased so much that the Church could no longer accommodate the crowd. In this situation the General body took the decision to extend the west end of the church and build a balcony to create additional space. Renovation work was started under the able leadership of Rev. Fr. John Thomas and the renovated church was consecrated by the Diocesan metropolitan H.G Dr. Yakob Mar Irenaios on 30^th of July 2006.

In the meantime Marathahalli and its surroundings – Whitefield, Sarjapur Road, Old Madras Road etc., part of the main IT corridor in Bangalore, developed exponentially. This, in turn, saw a major increase in the membership and the number of worshipers attending Holy Qurbana on Sunday. Realising the growth potential and the growing increase in the number of Orthodox families’ settling down in this part of Bangalore, HG Dr. Abraham Mar Seraphim, Metropolitan of Bangalore Diocese, suggested exploring opportunities to open Churches/Chapels at Whitefield and Sarjapur.

Responding to HG’s suggestion, the then Vicar, Rev. Fr. Santhosh Samuel, in 2014, identified a Chapel, on Sarjapur Road, belonging to the Camillian Society, for celebrating Holy Qurbana on Sundays. The Chapel was named ‘Holy Trinity Chapel.

The Managing Committee of the Church also decided to construct a building housing the Vicars residence, and two convention halls. A Building Committee with Mr. Mammen Varghese, as the Convenor was constituted for this purpose. The Committee was also entrusted with the responsibility of identifying land for building a church around Sarjapur Area.

The Committee identified and purchased a land measuring 12000 Sq. feet close to Sarjapur Road. The Land has been registered and Katha is awaited.

In the meantime, under the leadership of Rev. Fr. Moncy P Chacko, vicar of SBOC, the managing committee decided to –

1. Start preliminary work related to the construction of a church and raising funds for the same. The target date for laying the foundation stone was fixed for January 2018. A Committee under was formed for this purpose, under the Marathahalli Church.

2. Start preliminary work for renovation of SBOC to accommodate more members. The target date for laying the foundation stone was also fixed for January 2018. A committee under Rev. Fr. Moncy P Chacko with Mr. P M John as Convenor was formed for this purpose.

As approved by the General Body of Marathahalli Church, a Chapel was identified by the Vicar, Rev. Fr. Moncy P Chacko and Mr. Zachariah Avira, Managing Committee Member, and the first Holy Qurbana was celebrated in July 2017. Quite a few members and many believers in that area have been attending Holy Qurbana, celebrated on the 1^st and 3^rd Sunday, every month. The chapel has been established in the name of St. Peter and St. Paul.