Century-old church's renovation begins in Kashmir valley, residents laud govt's step

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has begun the restoration work of the century-old St. Lukes church situated at Drugjan Dalgate in the Kashmir valley which is all set to regain its lost glory ahead of Christmas celebrations this year.

The renovation work of the century-old church was taken up under the Jammu and Kashmir government-sponsored Preservation and Maintenance of Architecture and Heritage scheme.

Speaking to ANI, the supervisor of restoration work said that the church is 125-years-old.

"We have worked very hard for it. We have used the same material as was used in the previous times. Kashmir is a valley of Sufis and saints. Kashmir is also known as the valley of Sufis and saints because people belonging to different religions are living with each other in a friendly atmosphere and due to the different traditions and unique cultures Kashmir is a unique example," he said.

The ceiling of the church has been redesigned with the famous and traditional Kashmiri "Khatamband" pieces. Masons, carpenters, artisans and labourers are trying to restore the stone and brick masonry structure that had been decaying for decades.

"The government wants to revive all the old infrastructures, be it church or gurudwara," a mason told ANI.

A resident lauded the restoration of the church and said that the environment for the tourists is being created once again.

"Whenever we go out, we see that all the monuments are maintained very well. This is a very good step to restore the shrines or churches in the valley because the environment is being created once again for tourists and heritage lovers. They have begun to come here," he said.

Recently the government announced to bring back the glory of seventy-five historical and religious places including mosques, shrines, temples, churches and other monuments. Restoration work of more than a century old church namely St. Lukes has started so that the people belonging to the Christian community could celebrate this year's Christmas festival in this historical church almost after three decades.

Because until the 1990s, the gates of the church would remain open and dozens of members from the Christian community would hold regular prayers and the annual Christmas mass would draw a huge gathering. But with the passage of time and prevailing situation, the stone and brick masonry structure fell silent due to closure and absence of worshipers.

( With inputs from ANI )

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