St Stephen’s Church Ooty Hills, 1920 Postcard
This is an old 1900s postcard of the St Stephen’s Church in Ooty Hills. It is believed that John Sullivan discovered the hill station while he was the collector of Coimbatore in 1819. Although this has been disputed vociferously. He had also to his credit commissioned the building of the artificial Ooty Lake in 1824. For many Britishers stationed in the hill station at the time of the colonial era, a place of worship was a necessity.
It was accomplished by constructing the St Stephen’s church shown in this postcard. The church opened its doors to the laity in 1831 on Easter Sunday. Britisher John James Underwood a captain in the Madras Engineers was the architect of this beautiful gothic style house of worship. See my post- Antique Photo Ooty Town & Church 1890.
Later after India’s independence, it came under the ambit of the Churches of South India diocese (CSI). Read also- Historical Sites in Ooty.
Did you know- the heavy and exotic teak timber beams and columns in the shrine were brought from Tipu Sultan’s Palace in Srirangapatnam.
From the collection- Vintage Raja Ravi Varma “Laxmi” Oleograph., King George Lays Foundation Stone Mumbai – Old Print 1905., Antique Plan – Taking of The City of Cochin 1744.