Dec 24, 2022

Scharer Memorial Methodist Central Church, Dhupdal, Gokak

July 23, 2022
We were on a day trip with a short agenda. The primary purpose of the trip was to visit Pushpa's relatives at Yelimunnoli, a village near Hukkeri town. Since we were traveling by car, I decided to add couple of places to the agenda- 1. Arbhavimata and 2. Konnur. The former is a ancient Lingayath monastery. The mortal remains of Raja Mallasarja Desai of Kittur passed away here and his mortal remains were buried here. The latter is a small village known for a Chalukyan shrine, and also remains of prehistoric megalithic tombs. As planned we reached Yelimunnoli around 9 am, stayed with our relatives till noon and then went to Arbhavimata, which is close to Gokak city. Then we headed towards Konnur village via Ghataprabha village. Between Ghataprabha and Konnur is a village called Dhupdal. As we approached Dhupdal, we could see several stone buildings which were surely built in the pre-independence years. Some of the buildings were inhabited while some were abandoned. On the outskirts of Dhupdal I saw a beautiful little church building on the right hand side. I stopped for a few pictures. Since the gates were locked I shot from the road.

I was trying to imagine this place in the 40s, on a Sunday morning. British families walking in this aisle towards the church. A peaceful ambience in this remote location would be something the British loved.

The arch on the gates states that the church was established in 1910. So that makes this a 112 year old church. May be the church building is 90 or 80 years old. This road goes towards Dhupdal, Konnur and then Gokak waterfalls. Gokak waterfalls was a busy place then due to the power generation plant and textile mills. At least one of the mills is still operational.

Not much is known about this church. Had I got a chance to go into the building may I could've known who this person Scharer was. We carry on towards Konnur to see Chikaleshwara Gudi and the megalithic tombs, locally known as Munivasada Guhegalu.

While drafting this post, I remembered a few older articles:
4. Medak Cathedral
.........

No comments:

Post a Comment