JungPapst1287: details

2026-03-29T17:10:51Z

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{{Infobox church
| name = Bandel Church
| fullname = The Basilica of the Holy-Rosary, [[Bandel]]
| image = Bandel Basilica, Hooghly (West-Bengal).jpg
| imagesize = 250px
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| caption = The [[façade]] of the Bandel Church
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| location = [[Bandel]], West Bengal
| country = India
| denomination = [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]
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| status = [[Minor basilica]]
| founded date = 1599
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| archdiocese = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta|Calcutta]]
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| archbishop = [[Thomas D'Souza]]
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| deanery = Hoogly
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The '''Basilica of the Holy Rosary''' (commonly known as '''Bandel Church''') is one of the oldest [[Christianity|Christian]] [[church (building)|church]]es in [[West Bengal]], [[India]]. Situated in [[Bandel]], [[Hooghly district]] of West Bengal, it stands as a memorial to the [[Portuguese India|Portuguese]] settlement in [[Bengal]]. Founded in 1599, it is dedicated to [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Nossa Senhora do Rosário, Our Lady of the Rosary]]. It is also a [[parish church]], part of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta]].<ref>{{cite web | title =Calcutta Archdiocese : HOWRAH & HOOGLY DEANERY|work= The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta | url = http://www.archdioceseofcalcutta.in/deaneries-hwh.html | access-date = 2014-08-26 }}</ref> It is one of the most prominent historical churches in West Bengal as well as in India.

==History==
[[File:Our Lady of Happy Voyage - Shrine - Rooftop - Bandel Basilica - Hooghly - 2013-05-19 7789.JPG|thumb|left|160px|Our Lady of Happy Voyage Shrine, rooftop Bandel Basilica.]]
[[File:Statue of Mother Mary (Nossa Senhora do Rosário, Our Lady of the Rosary) with Jesus at the Basilica of the Holy Rosary in Bandel, Hooghly, West Bengal, India, photographed by Yogabrata Chakraborty on October 12, 2017.jpg|thumb|160px|Statue of Mother Mary (Nossa Senhora do Rosário, Our Lady of the Rosary) with Jesus at the church.]]
{{quote box
|quote=…the Portuguese church, which is now the great sight of modern Bandel. This, the oldest Christian place of worship in Bengal, India, was founded in 1599, the year in which [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth]] sanctioned the establishment of the [[British East India Company|East India Company]]. It was burnt in the sack of Hooghly by the Moors in 1632, but the keystone with the date 1599 was preserved and built into the gate of the new church erected by John Comes de Soto in 1661. It is dedicated to Nossa Senhora di Rosario and contains a monastery once occupied by Augustinian friars, the last of whom died in 1869… Some 380 [[Bigha|bigghahs]] of land, out of the 777 granted rent-free by [[Shah Jahan|Shah Jehan]], are still enjoyed… Every November the church is thronged with pilgrims during the Novena of Notre Dame de Bon Voyage.<ref>Cotton, H.E.A., ''Calcutta Old and New'', 1909/1980, pp. 820–821, General Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd.</ref>
|source= ''[[H. E. A. Cotton|Cotton, H.E.A]]'' (1909)
| width = 320px
}}
Around the middle of the 16th century, the Portuguese began using Bandel as a [[port]]. During or around 1571, they were given permission by [[Akbar]], the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal emperor]], to build a town in [[Hooghly District|Hooghly]]. As they began settling around the area, their [[priest]]s began to [[baptism|baptise]] the natives — by 1598, [[Catholic Church in India|Catholics]] in Hooghly numbered around five thousand, including natives and mixed races.

In 1579, the Portuguese built a port on the banks of the [[Hooghly River|Hooghly]], as well as a [[fort]] named Fort Ugolim, and enlisted the services of a band of [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] [[friar]]s, then the largest religious body in [[Goa]]. The following year, Captain Pedro Tavares obtained the emperor's full permission to preach the Catholic faith publicly, and erect churches. Thus the Bandel Church came to be constructed in 1599.<ref>{{cite news|last=Datta|first=Rangan|title=Next Weekend You Can Be At Bandel|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110109/jsp/calcutta/story_13409563.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110116055400/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110109/jsp/calcutta/story_13409563.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 16, 2011|access-date=6 February 2014|newspaper=The Telegraph Kolkata|date=9 January 2011}}</ref><ref name="Santoro2011">{{cite book|author=Nicholas J. Santoro|title=Mary In Our Life: Atlas of the Names and Titles of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and Their Place In Marian Devotion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXWRgP-0KBkC&pg=PA380|date=2011|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-1-4620-4022-3|pages=379–380}}</ref>

This first church was burnt down during the sacking of Hooghly by the Mughals in 1632. A newer church, constructed by Gomez de Soto (also spelt John Comes de Soto), was built over the ruin in 1660. The [[keystone (architecture)|keystone]] of the older church can still be seen on the eastern gate of the monastery, bearing the date 1599.<ref name="Santoro2011"/><ref>{{cite web | title =Bandel Church: Description | work =Hooghly district official website | url =http://www.hooghly.gov.in/description.htm | access-date =2014-08-26 | archive-date =2020-02-19 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20200219181510/http://hooghly.gov.in/description.htm | url-status =dead }}</ref>

On November 25, 1988, Pope [[John Paul II]] declared the sanctuary a [[minor basilica]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary, Bandel | url = http://www.gcatholic.org/churches/asia/1221.htm | access-date = 2014-08-26 }}</ref>

==Layout==
A ship's mast stands in front of the church; it was presented to the church by the captain of a vessel that had encountered a storm in the [[Bay of Bengal]], whose rescue was attributed to Mary's intercession. The church has three [[altar]]s, several tombstones, a [[pipe organ]], and a shrine to Mary.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Bandel Church}}
* [https://bandelbasilica.com Official site]
* [http://hooghly.nic.in/description.htm Hooghly District Official Website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100110180221/http://www.indiantemplesportal.com/west-bengal/bandel-church.html Bandel Church - India Temples Portal]
* [http://www.hooghlydistrict.info/hooghly-district-park-and-picnic-spot-bandel-church.html Bandel Church - Hooghly]

{{Hooghly topics}}
{{Basilicas in India}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|22.9190|N|88.3952|E|source:wikidata|display=title}}

[[Category:Basilica churches in India|Holy Rosary, Bandel]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Hooghly district]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic church buildings in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Rebuilt buildings and structures in India]]
[[Category:1590s establishments in Portuguese India]]
[[Category:1599 establishments in India]]
[[Category:1599 establishments in the Portuguese Empire]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Hooghly district]]

Basilica of the Holy Rosary, Bandel - Revision history

JungPapst1287: details