Cracks have been noticed on outer walls of the cathedral on MG Road. A study will be done to ascertain the cau... Read More

BENGALURU: A few months ago, the reverend and other officers of St Mark’s Cathedral on MG Road began noticing horizontal and vertical cracks on the external walls of the 200-odd years’ old building.

Constructed in 1812, the structure has developed cracks at different locations, say members of the church, who recently roped in Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage ( Intach ) to conduct a thorough study and carry out repair and renovation work.

“A few months ago, we witnessed a horizontal crack on one of the outer walls. On a closer look, we were alarmed to find the cracks everywhere. We noticed a few vertical ones as well. St Mark’s Cathedral is one of the iconic landmarks in Bengaluru and was, in fact, the first building to come up on MG Road. Its age could be a possible reason for the cracks. Refurbishing and maintaining this heritage building is of utmost importance,” said Reverend Vincent Vinod Kumar, presbyter in charge of St Mark’s Cathedral.

“The electrical wiring in the cathedral is also very old and we want to renew them along with refurbishing the audio and video systems,” he added.

Members have now planned to organise a series of events, including a walkathon on October 26 and a fiesta with the theme ‘renew and rebuild’ on November 2 and 3, to raise funds to refurbish the building and to revamp the entire electrical wiring system.

About 1,500 people have already signed up for the walkathon, which will kick off from the cathedral at 6am on Saturday. The proceeds from the walkathon and fiesta will go towards renovating the cathedral, rewiring of electric circuits and shifting of electric panels inside the vestry to a safer place, renovation of the resource centre, expansion of the music centre and mission work.

As per a preliminary report published by Intach based on three visits to the site, ingress of water from the foundation which resulted in moisture entering the masonry could be a reason for the cracks. The cathedral has undergone some major repairs over the years. The report also revealed there are insect attacks at some spots, where the masonry and plaster have clearly separated.

“As indicated by the client, there’s presence of a construction joint in the plaster between cement and old lime. This may have led to formation of cracks due to material incompatibility and poor workmanship,” pointed out the report.

“It is necessary to assess the complete profile of the masonry walls along with the foundation. An excavation pit needs to be made for the study, following which the real cause for the cracks and damage to walls can be ascertained,” the report added.

INTACH will kick off work at the cathedral after completion of the events planned.

Eventful history: Building underwent major repairs

The foundation stone was laid in 1808 and construction was completed in 1812. It began as a Garrison Anglican church and later became a part of Church of South India after Indian independence in 1947.

As the members grew, a new building was constructed in August 1902 with a seating capacity of 700. However, it collapsed and had to be rebuilt again in 1906. On February 17, 1923 the church building was ravaged by a fire caused by a short-circuit.

As the renovation work was about to be completed in February 1924, the building collapsed again. The reconstruction began in 1926 and was completed in 1927.

